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WAMPUM

WAMPUM. The beads known as wampum were of great value to the American Indians of the eastern GREAT LAKES and NEW ENGLAND regions. The word itself is from the Algonquian language, and the concept of wampum first appeared among the Algonquian-speakers of the eastern woodlands. The strings of wampum, smoothly polished tubular and disc beads of white, purple, and blue shells, placed on carefully woven threads, were manufactured by coastal New England Indians who traded them with Iroquois and other peoples of the interior. Wampum was valued by them as a sacred marker of prestige. Arrangements of beads served as mnemonic devices for the recounting of events, messages, treaties, or for the correct rendition of a ritual. Although Native Americans did not consider wampum a form of money, New England colonists introduced a material value by using it to pay for furs or to replace coinage that was scarce through the middle of the seventeenth century.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Martien, Jerry. Shell Game: A True Account of Beads and Money in North America. San Francisco: Mercury House, 1995.

Robert F. Spencer/J. H.

See also Currency and Coinage; Indian Economic Life; Iroquois; Money.