Table of Contents
Documents woven of shell beads, called wampum (otgowa), record Onondaga and Haudenosaunee history and brings to life the voice of the ancestors. The belts seen here are replicas made of ceramic beads that appear much like the actual wampum. Documents woven of shell beads, called wampum (otgowa), record Onondaga and
Hiawatha – Wikipedia
history and brings to life the voice of the ancestors. The belts seen here are replicas made of ceramic beads that appear much like the actual wampum.
What are wampum beads made of?
Most simply, wampum are beads made from various white and purple mollusk shells which were and are still used by various Native nations throughout northeastern North America for ornamental or ceremonial use.
Are wampum beads made of glass?
Although wampum is traditionally made from shell beads, we have found belts in museum collections that include glass beads mixed with shell, as well as many belts that are entirely made of glass beads. For example, there are two basic terms for wampum beads: shell and glass.
What two types of shells are the wampum beads made from?
Wampum beads are made from the shells of two kinds of sea animals (invertebrates). The dark purple color beads are made from the quahog clam shell. The white beads are made from whelk shells. Both of these shell animals lived along the Atlantic coast and not in Haudenosaunee territory.
How were wampum beads made?
Women artisans traditionally made wampum beads by rounding small pieces of whelk shells, then piercing them with a hole before stringing them. The unfinished beads would be strung together and rolled on a grinding stone with water and sand until they were smooth.
How are wampum made?
Wampum was white or purple beads and discs fashioned from two shells: the white beads from the whelk, a sea snail with a spiral shape, and the quahog, a clam with purple and white coloring. The clams were harvested in the summer, their meat consumed, and the shells were then worked into beads.
What is wampum worth?
Though many times the artifacts are given back to the tribe or donated to museums, there are some dealers who have been known to sell a band of 10 or more linked strings for up to $2,200.
Why are quahog shells purple?
The Wampanoag people of Martha’s Vineyard (originally called Noepe by the Wampanoag) have been crafting wampum out of the quahog shell (hard-shelled clam) for thousands of years. The purple and white striations and patterns on the inside of the shell are created by minerals in the mud where the quahogs are dug.
What did the Iroquois use to make the wampum?
Wampum consists of small cylindrical beads, often about 5-7 mm long and 1.5 mm wide. Historically these were made from purple and white shells, the purple coming from the edge of the quahog clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), and the white from the columns of univalve whelks (Busycon).
Where do wampum shells come from?
Wampum — which comes from a Narragansett (Algonquian language family) word meaning a string of white shell beads — are tubular beads manufactured from Atlantic coast seashells. While a variety of shells may be used, most often the white shells are formed from the whelk shell and the purple from the quahog clam shell.
What is the Two Row Wampum Belt?
The Two Row Wampum belt is the symbolic record of the first agreement between Europeans and American Indian Nations on Turtle Island/North America.
What are two rows?
The Two Row is a foundational philosophical principle, a universal relationship of non-domination, balance, and harmony between different forces. The Two Row principles of peace, respect, and friendship can exist within any relationship between autonomous beings working in concert.
When was the wampum created?
The Two Row Wampum is commonly believed to have been created in 1613 to enshrine the agreement between the Dutch and the Haudenosaunee to live in mutual peace, friendship, and respect on Turtle Island. The two nations were never to interfere with the business of the other.
Where did Native American beads come from?
Native Americans traditionally created beads from available materials, including coral, shell, wood, turquoise, jet, jasper, and other stones. Creating beads from these was difficult, and most prehistoric and ancient beads were large and strung on pieced of thong or sinew to be worn as necklaces or similar.
What did the two Colours of the wampum symbolize?
Wampum beads are made of two different shells: the quahog and white welk shell. Quahog clam shells are purple or black in colour and represent war and suffering while welk shells are symbols of power, peace, goodness and friendship.
How long does it take to make a wampum belt?
Five- to ten-foot lengths of wampum could be made in one day. Even European settlers became wampum makers, and the first money of the American colonists was wampum.
What are native American wampum for?
Before contact with white settlers, the Indians used wampum primarily for ceremonial purposes, as a record of an important agreement or treaty, as an object of tribute given by subject tribes, or for gift exchange (q.v.). Its value derived from its ceremonial importance and the skill involved in making it.
Where is Wampum found?
Quahogs are found in the waters from Cape Cod south to New York, with a great abundance in Long Island Sound. Wampum were used by the northeastern Native Americans as a form of gift exchange.
What does Wampum mean?
1 : beads of polished shells strung in strands, belts, or sashes and used by North American Indians as money, ceremonial pledges, and ornaments. 2 dated, informal : money. Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More About wampum.
What is the difference between a clam and a quahog?
The Native American name for the hard shell clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) is Quahog (also spelled quahaug, quohog, and others) and the name is unique to the Cape and Islands as well as Rhode Island. Just to confuse matters further, the younger, smallest (barely legal size) quahog is designated Littleneck.
Why do seashells have different colors?
“The material for the color comes from the mollusk’s environment—so it’s either taken out of the water or from what they eat,” Tanner said. For example, seashells from warm waters tend to be more colorful than those from cold areas. This might have to do with their diet.
Why are clam shells blue?
Brilliant shades of blue and aqua coat the iridescent lips of giant clams, but these shiny cells aren’t just for show, new research finds. The iridescent sheen directs beams of sunlight into the interior of the clam, providing light for algae housed inside.
