Wampum is a string of white shell beads fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk (Busycotypus canaliculatus) shell, and is traditionally used by Indigenous Americans, First Nations peoples, Native Americans, hobbyists, business people, and traders, who regarded it as a sacred or trade representative of the value of the artist's work. Wampum is also used for engagement, marriage, and betrothal agreements, as well as for ceremony and condolence ceremonies. The white shell beads of the whelk symbolized internal energies of peace, harmony, and contentment. Wampum is often confused with Sewant, which symbolized the outside energies of a system. Wampum beads (white) are made from the channeled whelk shell. Sewant beads (black or dark purple) are made from the Poquahock, commonly known as the quahog, quahaug, or Western North Atlantic hard-shelled clam. Binomial name Busycotypus canaliculatus L., 1758 Channeled Whelk (Busycotypus canaliculatus) is a type of whelk (a type of marine snail) native to the eastern coast of the United States, from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to northern Florida. ... A Hupa man, 1923 The indigenous peoples of the Americas were the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those historical peoples. ... First Nations is a Canadian term of ethnicity which refers to the aboriginal peoples located in what is now Canada, and their descendants who are neither Inuit nor Métis. ... This article is about the people indigenous to the United States. ... This article is about pastimes. ... A businessperson (sometimes businessman, male; or businesswoman, female) is a generic term for someone who is employed at a profit-oriented enterprise, or more specifically, someone who is involved in the management (at any level) of a company. ... Traders was a Canadian television drama series, which aired on Global Television Network from 1995 to 2000. ... Fiance and Fiancee redirect here. ... Marriage is an interpersonal relationship with governmental, social, or religious recognition, usually intimate and sexual, and often created as a contract, or through civil process. ... Sewant is the black and/or dark purple black shell bead system of the 1600s in Nieuw Nederlandt of what is currently the State of New York, State of New Jersey, State of Pennsylvania, State of Connecticut, State of Delaware, State of Maryland. ... Binomial name Busycotypus canaliculatus L., 1758 Channeled Whelk (Busycotypus canaliculatus) is a type of whelk (a type of marine snail) native to the eastern coast of the United States, from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to northern Florida. ... Quahogs (pronounced KO-hog, IPA , kwag, or kwa-HOG, IPA ), mercenaria mercenaria or venus mercenaria, are also called hard-shell clams, and by terms referring to different sizes from smallest to largest, littlenecks, cherrystones, quahogs, and chowders. The Quahog takes its name from the Narragansett Indian word poquauhock (the word...

Wampum belt given to William Penn at the "Great Treaty" in 1682

[[[[ Image File history File links Wampum_william_penn_greaty_treaty. ... Image File history File links Wampum_william_penn_greaty_treaty. ...

==Description

The term "wampum" is derived from a word—"wampumpeag"—in one of the Eastern Algonquian languages meaning "white strings [of beads]" (c.f. Maliseet: wapapiyik "white-strings [of beads]"; Ojibwe: waabaabiinyag "white-strings [of beads]"; Proto-Algonquian *wa·p-a·py-aki, "white-strings [of beads]"^[1]). Traditionally the white beads come from the inner spiral of the whelk, the north atlantic knobbie shell. Sewant or suckauhock is often confused for wampum. Sewant is the black or dark purple shell bead from the quahaug or poquahock clam shell of the western North Atlantic Ocean. Wampum beads are traditionally made by rounding small pieces of the shells of whelks, then piercing them with a hole before stringing them. Suckauhock means the black-purple beads from the quahaug/quahog shell. The terms for the black and white beads, often confused, [[are wampi (white) and saki (black). Wampum belts were used as a memory aid in Oral tradition, where the wampum was a token representing a memory. Belts were also sometimes used as badges of office or as ceremonial devices of an indigenous culture such as the Iroquois. When Europeans came to the Americas, they realizedthe importance]] of wampum to Native people, but mistook it for money. Soon, they were trading with the native peoples of New England and New York using wampum. Dutch colonists actually began to manufacture their own wampum. The Eastern Algonquian languages are a subgroup of the larger Algonquian family, itself a member of the Algic family; prior to European contact, the family consisted of around 17 languages, which streched from Newfoundland south into North Carolina. ... The Maliseet (also known as Wolastoqiyik and Malecite and in French also as Malécites or Étchemins (the latter collectively referring to the Maliseet and Passamaquoddy)) are a Native American/First Nations people who inhabit the Saint John River valley and its tributaries, roughly overlapping the International Boundary between New... Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa or Anishinaabemowin in Eastern Ojibwe syllabics) is the third most commonly spoken Native language in Canada (after Cree and Inuktitut), and the fourth most spoken in North America (behind Navajo, Cree, and Inuktitut). ... Proto-Algonquian (commonly abbreviated PA) is the name given to the posited proto-language of the languages of the Algonquian family. ... Various seashells Danielle A shell is the hard, rigid outer covering, or integument, allanimals. ... A whelk is a large marine gastropod (snail) found in temperate waters. ... Binomial name Mercenaria mercenaria Linnaeus, 1758 The hard clam or quahog, Mercenaria mercenaria is a bivalve mollusc native to the eastern shores of North America, from Prince Edward Island to the Yucatán Peninsula. ... Quahogs (pronounced KO-hog, IPA , kwag, or kwa-HOG, IPA ), mercenaria mercenaria or venus mercenaria, are also called hard-shell clams, and by terms referring to different sizes from smallest to largest, littlenecks, cherrystones, quahogs, and chowders. The Quahog takes its name from the Narragansett Indian word poquauhock (the word... Re or bre (also in form more/mori and numerous variations thereof) is an interjection common to languages of Balkan linguistic union (Albanian, Bulgarian, Greek, Macedonian, Romanian, Serbian and Turkish). ... Oral tradition or oral culture is a way of transmitting history, literature or law from one generation to the next in a civilization without a writing system. ... For other uses, see Iroquois (disambiguation). ...

Wampum is also considered the end product of whelk and quahog, i.e. the belts.

Perhaps because of its origin as a memory aid, loose beads were not considered to be high in value. Rather it is the belts themselves that are wampum. A typical large belt of six feet in length might contain 6000 beads or more. More importantly, such a belt would be a great sanctity, because it contained so many memories.

With stone tools the process is labor intensive, and the shells were available only to coastal nations. These factors increased its scarcity and consequent value among the European traders, until the Dutch glutted the market they created with it. Wampum is part of the Coat of Arms of New Brunswick. The coat of arms of New Brunswick Officially known as The Arms of Her Majesty in Right of the Province of New Brunswick, New Brunswicks coat of arms was begun when the shield and motto in the achievement were granted on May 26, 1868 by Queen Victoria. ...

In the area of present New York Bay, the clams and whelks used for making wampum are found only along Long Island Sound and Narragansett Bay. The Lenape name for Long Island is "Sewanacky", reflecting its connection to the "black" wampum. By the time of the arrival of the Europeans, the Pequots reputedly used their dominance of tribes around this area to gain control of the sources of the beads. ==]]]] ! New York Bay is the collective term for the marine areas surrounding the entrance of the Hudson River into the Atlantic Ocean. ... New York City waterways: 1. ... Narragansett Bay, shown in pink. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the island in New York State. ... The Pequot are a tribal nation of Native Americans who, in the 17th century, inhabited much of what is now Connecticut. ...

Wampum as transcription

"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."^[2]

Wampum is also used for storytelling. The symbols used told a story in the oral tradition or spoken word. Since there was no written language wampum is a very important means of keeping records and passing down stories to the next generation. Wampum is also durable and so could be carried over a long distance.

Modern references

Musician Tori Amos composed a short piece entitled Wampum Prayer on her Scarlet's Walk album, which is thematically very Native-oriented. The song briefly addresses the Trail of Tears, as well as the importance of prayer to the Aboriginal American peoples. Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos on August 22, 1963) is an American pianist and singer-songwriter. ... Scarlets Walk is the eighth album released by singer and songwriter Tori Amos. ... This monument at the New Echota Historic Site honors Cherokees who died on the Trail of Tears. ...

Also, Comedian Mitch Hedberg referred to wampum during his "Three Easy Payments" joke, shouting "That last payment must be made in wampum!" Mitchell Lee Hedberg (February 24, 1968 – March 29, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humour and unconventional comedic delivery. ...

See also

• Commodity money
• Fiat money
• Wampum is also the name of a popular shareware database management system based on dBASE III used on IBM-compatible PCs in the 1980's and 1990's.

Commodity money is money whose value comes from a commodity out of which it is made. ... Fiat money or fiat currency, is money that is current or legal tender as satisfaction for money debts by government fiat, that is by law. ...

References

1. ^ http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=wampumpeag
2. ^ William James Sidis, 'The Tribes And The States: 100,000-Year History of North America' (via sidis.net)

William James Sidis (April 1, 1898 – July 17, 1944) was an American child prodigy with exceptional mathematical and linguistic abilities. ...

External links

• Wampum History and Background
• 'The Tribes And The States: 100,000-Year History of North America'