Wampum is a traditional shell bead of theIndigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of North America. The term first referred to white and purple beads made from thequahog or Western North Atlantic hard-shelled clam but has expanded to include white shell beads hand-fashioned from the North Atlanticchanneled whelk shell.
In New York, wampum beads have been discovered dating from before 1510.[1] Before European contact, strings of wampum were used for storytelling, ceremonial gifts, and recording important treaties and historical events, such as theTwo Row Wampum Treaty[2][3] and theHiawatha Belt.
Northeastern Indigenous tribes also used wampum as a means of exchange,[4] strung together in lengths for convenience. The process to make wampum was labor-intensive with stone tools. The coastal tribes had sufficient access to the basic shells to make wampum. These factors increased its scarcity and consequent value among the early European traders, who understood it as a currency and adopted it as such in trading with them.
Wampum artists continue to weave belts of a historical nature, as well as designing new belts or jewelry based on their own concepts.[5]
The termwampum is a shortening ofwampumpeag, which is derived from theMassachusett orNarragansett word meaning "white strings of shell beads".[5][6] TheProto-Algonquian reconstructed form is thought to be(wa·p-a·py-aki), "white strings".[7]
The termwampum (orwampumpeag) initially referred only to the white beads which are made of the inner spiral orcolumella of thechanneled whelk shellBusycotypus canaliculatus orBusycotypus carica.[1]Sewant orsuckauhock beads are the black or purple shell beads made from the quahog or poquahock clamshellMercenaria mercenaria.[8]Sewant or zeewant was the term used for this currency by theNew Netherland colonists.[9] Common terms for the dark and white beads arewampi (white and yellowish) andsaki (dark).[10] TheLenape name forLong Island isSewanacky, reflecting its connection to the dark wampum.
Wampum beads are typically tubular in shape, often a quarter of an inch long and an eighth of an inch wide. One 17th-centurySeneca wampum belt featured beads almost 2.5 inches (65 mm) long.[1] Women artisans traditionally made wampum beads by rounding small pieces of whelk shells, then piercing them with a hole before stringing them. Woodenpump drills with quartz drill bits andsteatite weights were used to drill the shells. The unfinished beads would be strung together and rolled on a grinding stone with water and sand until they were smooth. The beads would be strung or woven on deer hide thongs, sinew, milkweed bast, or basswood fibers.[5]
The introduction of European metal tools revolutionized the production of wampum, and by the mid-seventeenth century, production numbered in the tens of millions of beads.[11] Dutch colonists discovered the importance of wampum as a means of exchange between tribes, and they began mass-producing it in workshops.[when?] John Campbell established such a factory inPassaic, New Jersey, which manufactured wampum into the early 20th century.[1] Eventually the primary source of wampum was that manufactured by colonists, a market glutted by the Dutch.[citation needed]
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AsWilliam James Sidis wrote in his 1935 history:
The weaving of wampum belts is a sort of writing by means of belts of colored beads, in which the various designs of beads denoted different ideas according to a definitely accepted system, which could be read by anyone acquainted with wampum language, irrespective of what the spoken language is. Records and treaties are kept in this manner, and individuals could write letters to one another in this way.[12]
Wampum belts were used as a memory aid in oral tradition, and were sometimes used as badges of office or as ceremonial devices in Indigenous cultures, such as theIroquois. For example, the 1820New Monthly Magazine reports on a speech given by the late chiefTecumseh in which he vehemently gesticulated to a belt as he pointed out treaties made 20 years earlier and battles fought since then.[13]
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Wampum strings may be presented as a formal affirmation of cooperation or friendship between groups,[14] or as an invitation to a meeting.[15] In hisstudy on the origins of money, anthropologistDavid Graeber placed wampum as it was used byindigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands before European colonization in a category of things with symbolic cultural value that were "mainly used to rearrange relations between people" rather than being used in exchanges of everyday items.[16]: 53
TheIroquois used wampum as a person's credentials or a certificate of authority. It was also used for official purposes and religious ceremonies, and as a way to bind peace between tribes. Among the Iroquois, every chief and every clan mother has a certain string of wampum that serves as their certificate of office. When they pass on or are removed from their station, the string will then pass on to the new leader. Runners carrying messages during colonial times would present the wampum showing that they had the authority to carry the message.[17]
As a method of recording and an aid in narrating, Iroquois warriors with exceptional skills were provided training in interpreting the wampum belts. As the Keepers of the Central Fire, the Onondaga Nation was also trusted with the task of keeping all wampum records. Wampum is still used in the ceremony of raising up a new chief and in the Iroquois Thanksgiving ceremonies.[17]
Wampum was central to the giving of names, in which the names and titles of deceased persons were passed on to others. Deceased individuals of high office are quickly replaced, and a wampum inscribed with the name of the deceased is laid on the shoulders of the successor, who may shake it off and reject the transfer of name. The reception of a name may also transfer personal history and previous obligations of the deceased (e.g., the successor of a person killed in war may be obligated to avenge the death of the name's previous holder, or care for the deceased person's family as their own).[18]: 120–122
... the Iroquoians (Five Nations and Huron alike) shared a very particular constitution: they saw their societies not as a collection of living individuals but as a collection of eternal names, which over the course of times passed from one individual holder to another.[18]: 120
Just as the wampum enabled the continuation of names and the histories of persons, the wampum was central to establishing and renewing peace between clans and families. When a man representing his respective social unit met another, he would offer one wampum inscribed with mnemonic symbols representing the purpose of the meeting or message. The wampum, thus, facilitated the most essential practices in holding the Iroquois society together.[18]: 124–127
When Europeans came to the Americas, they adopted wampum as money to trade with the native peoples of New England and New York. Wampum was legal tender in New England from 1637 to 1661. It continued as currency in New York until 1673 at the rate of eight white or four black wampum equalling onestuiver, meaning that the white had the same value as the copperduit coin. The colonial government in New Jersey issued a proclamation setting the rate at six white or three black to onepenny; this proclamation also applied in Delaware.[19] The black shells were rarer than the white shells and so were worth more, which led people to dye the white and dilute the value of black shells.[20]
In the writings ofRobert Beverley Jr. ofVirginia Colony about tribes in Virginia in 1705, he describedpeak as referring to the white shell bead, valued at 9 pence a yard, andwampom peak as denoting the more expensive dark purple shell bead, at the rate of 1 shilling and 6 pence (18 pence) per yard. He added that these polished shells with drilled holes were made from thecunk (conch), while another currency of lesser value calledroenoke was fashioned from thecockleshell.[21]
Wampum briefly became legal tender in North Carolina in 1710, but its use as common currency died out in New York by the early 18th century.[citation needed]
The use of wampum as currency spans back to 1622, when the Dutch implemented it into their trade. After the introduction of wampum into European currency, the European colonists quickly began trying to amass large quantities of this currency, and shifting control of this currency determined which power would have control of the European-Indigenous trade. The wampum's significance to the tribes that collected it meant that no one individual wanted to amass too much of it, however, European colonists did not care about its cultural significance, but it would always hold value to the indigenous populations. In this way, colonists could trade wampum for goods and sell those goods to Europeans for European currencies, therefore amassing wealth. This is one of the few examples of settler adaptation of indigenous practices for trade with indigenous people and also amongst themselves. However, the conversion of wampum to European currencies and the introduction of a monetary system was not something that the indigenous people had a desire to take part in, thus increasing tensions as trades held different economic value to each contributing party. However, when wampum was legal tender, it was one of the most important forms of currency in the region amongst settlers as well as between settlers and indigenous groups.[22]
As early as the late 16th century, some shell beads from modern day New York showed signs of metal tool work. By the end of the 17th century, virtually all new wampum was produced using metal tools, and by the 18th century, glass beads had become predominant. The increased availability of wampum was linked to mass production efforts byLong Island Algonquians, who utilized metal tools obtained from Europeans to produce large quantities of beads for trade.[23]
In the 18th century, Dutch colonists in theHudson Valley established small-scale wampum manufacturing operations to supplement scarce coinage and facilitate trade.[23] In 1746, the Campbell family established a wampum factory at Pascack (nowPark Ridge) in New Jersey. Their operation supplied beads to the fur trade and government agencies. As demand increased in the early 19th century, the Campbells adopted mechanization to improve efficiency. During the peak years from 1835 to 1866, the Campbell family alone produced around one million black beads annually.[24][25][26]
The mass production and European involvement in wampum manufacturing contributed to widespread circulation but eventual devaluation. By the 19th century,glass paste beads produced in European workshops added to the confusion and effectively led to the disappearance of older, traditional wampum as a medium of exchange.[27]
In 1989, theNational Museum of the American Indian repatriated eleven wampum belts to Haudenosaunee chiefs at theOnondaga Longhouse Six Nations Reserve in New York. These belts dated to the late 18th century and are sacred to theLonghouse religion. They had been away from their tribes for over a century.[1][28]
In 2017, a wampum belt purchased byFrank Speck in 1913 was returned toKanesatake, where it is used in cultural and political events.[29]
TheSeneca Nation commissioned replicas of five historic wampum belts completed in 2008. The belts were made by Lydia Chavez (Unkechaug/Blood) and made with beads manufactured on the Unkechaug Indian Nation Territory on Long Island, New York.
TheShinnecock Indian Nation has sought to preserve a traditional wampum manufacturing site calledAyeuonganit Wampum Ayimꝏup (Here, Wampum Was Made).[30] A portion of the original site, Lot 24 in today's Parrish Pond subdivision inSouthampton, Long Island, has been reserved for parkland.[31]
The Unkechaug Nation on Long Island, New York, has built a wampum factory which manufactures traditional as well as contemporary beads for use by Native artists such as Ken Maracle,Elizabeth Perry, and Lydia Chavez in their designs of traditional belts and contemporary jewelry. The factory has been in existence since 1998 and has been instrumental in the resurrection of the use of wampum in contemporary Native life.
Contemporary wampum makers who used traditional methods include Julius Cook, Sakaronkiokeweh (Mohawk) (1927–1999) was a wampum maker who used traditional methods.[32] and Ken Maracle, Haohyoh (Cayuga), a faith keeper of the Lower Cayuga Longhouse.[33]
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