Iwacai: Acai Seed Mala

Acai berries are a superfood from South America. The beads are the dried seeds of the fruits, which are very much like a wood bead. The cream color is natural, the other colors are dyed.

This mala is made with blue, pink and cream colored acai seed beads. Acai beads are irregular shaped which gives this mala a rustic natural design. The cream colored seeds have a speckle in the center and that is their birthmark. Each seed has one and each one is unique.

Acai was first used by the indigenous and so, the fruit was named "iwacai" which comes from the Tupi tribe meaning "the fruit that cries". The legend says that the chief Itaki ordered all newborns put to death during a starving time for the tribe. His own daughter Iaça gave birth to a child, a baby girl that was also sacrificed. On the next full moon, after the sacrifices had taken place, Iaça woke up to the crying of a child. She was startled to see it was her daughter standing next to a palm tree in the moonlight smiling at her. Iaça ran to her and clutched her in her arms. The next day Iaca’s body was found holding tight to the palm tree and gazing up at the berries with her dark eyes. The chief Itaki demanded that the berries be retrieved and made into a drink that was then named “Acai” after his late daughter Iaca. (Iaca is Acai spelled backward). There were no more sacrifices made and the tribe survived on this precious fruit.