About why raffia would be a material of choice....it’s used in the African trade because its free, growing along the river beds in Ghana, or so I was told. So while it’s practical for market, it breaks. Literally. Last month I was moving a box of beads to storage... saw a strand on top that I changed my mind about, picked it up to toss over my head, intending to just wear it till I got home. At that moment the raffia broke and there I was picking up beads strewn about the parking lot around me...