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Rey’s Aki-Aki Necklace
Location: Pasaana
Date: 35 ABY
The unforgiving nature of desert worlds often makes them synonymous with struggle. Few lifeforms thrive in these desolate locations, but fortunately water collects in the shadows of the planet Pasaana’s towering sandstone cliffs, allowing for the peaceful but austere existence of the native Aki-Aki.
To give thanks for these natural resources, for centuries the Aki-Aki have taken part in the Festival of the Ancestors, a colorful and joyous celebration of their culture—an explosion of music, theater, dance, and feasting that attracts some 500,000 revelers. Taking place once every 42 years, a confluence in the harvest cycle when both food and water are plentiful, the festival pays homage to the dual nature of the Aki-Aki’s planet and life itself.
Visitors to the event are welcome, often greeted by handmade gifts like this husk necklace. Consisting of carefully strung beads, the pattern is interrupted by five husk dolls woven to resemble individual members of the Aki-Aki tribe in their festival garb.
The artifact speaks to the Aki-Aki’s commitment not to waste any of their planet’s natural resources. The yellow husks from which the necklace is made are first soaked in water to make them pliable. They are then dyed, and patiently shaped into small figures, right down to the bifurcated tusks at the bottom of what are otherwise featureless faces.
Rey’s search for a Sith wayfinder took her to Pasaana while the festival was in full swing, and Aki-Aki teenager Nambi Ghima gave her the necklace. Kylo Ren’s Force-bond with Rey later enabled him to steal it and track Rey down on Pasaana.
