Many craft items sold today are being called "wampum", when, in fact, they are only shell jewelry.
Most pieces I've seen are attractive and well made, but they are NOT "wampum".
Wampum is specifically small, tubular beads made from Whelk or Quahog shells.
Everything else is simply shell ornaments, even if it is made from Whelk or Quahog.
Eastern coastal Algonquin Natives have used shell to make beads and ornaments for centuries.
The Narragansetts of New England made the first small, tubular beads we call wampum.
"Wampum" is an English mispronunciation of the Narragansett word "wompam", meaning "white shell beads".
These were made from the inner columns of Whelk shells.
The dark violet or navy blue beads were called "sukauhock" by the Narragansett.
"Suk" was derived from their word "suki" meaning a dark violet color, and "auhock" from "poquauhock", the Narragansett name for the shell from which the purple beads were made.
The English name for these clam shells - Quahog - is an abbreviation of poquauhock.
Europeans simply used the word "wampum" to refer to both the white and purple beads.
In the mid-1500's the Dutch began trading approximately 4mm x 10mm porcelain "wampum" beads to the Native people.
Later in the 1500's they also had a smaller 2.
75mm x 7.
5mm bead produced.
As they were trying to replicate Quahog colors, the original porcelain beads (referred to as "porcelene" in some historical documents) were limited to white and navy blue.
There is no black on the Quahog.
Some areas of blue are so dark they appear black, though, so the Dutch began producing black beads, as well.
In the mid-1700's there were so many Europeans between the inland natives and their sources of wampum that the inland natives began using the porcelain beads almost exclusively.
Both the shell and porcelain beads held value.
In the mid-1700's the British posted on the door of Fort Pitt what they would pay Indians for various services.
Certain hides and meat provided to the fort could be traded for a spcified number of porcelain beads.
Until the mid-1800's students could even pay for their tuition to Harvard with shell wampum beads.
Contrary to statements by some today, the Indians never used wampum as a currency.
To the Indians wampum beads were a trade item, which has no specific value.
The value of a trade item is determined by what and how much a recipient is willing to trade for what you're offering.
Currency, however, has a definite value.
European colonists were forbidden by the British crown to produce their own currency, so they established a definite value for each color of wampum bead.
The colonists, not the Indians, then began using wampum beads as the original currency of the New World.
Many crafts people today use lapis lazuli colored beads made in India, because they are more readily available and much cheaper.
Manufacturers may call them "cobalt blue" or "blue wampum", but they are seldom even close to the deep blue in the Quahog shell.
Beads of the original colors and composition are still made in Czechoslovakia and France.
In fact, they still use some of the original equipment.
Crafts people concerned with historical authenticity use these precise reproductions of the originals.
Original wampum was woven on a warp of twisted plant fibers, like Dog Bane, Milkweed, or the cambium fibers of tree bark.
The warp is the long, base strands on which beads are woven.
Uncoated, any natural fibers would be deteriorated by the body's salt and oils, so plant cordage was generally coated with bee's wax to protect it.
Intended to last a long time (and many have) NO treaty belt was ever woven on buckskin.
Buckskin fibers become weak by lack of moisture over time.
This is often called "dry rot".
Cut as thin as would be needed, buckskin is far too weak to last very long.
Many crafts people today, according to their product descriptions, use simulated sinew made of long synthetic fibers for the warp.
Simulated sinew, though, will stretch over time and use, eventually resulting in a piece of wampum weaving unattractively stretched out of shape.
Threading used to weave the beads onto the warp is called the weft.
It receives very little stretching force compared to the warp.
Therefore, using simulated sinew for the weft, as nearly every crafts person today does, is acceptable.
A few may try to cut costs by using some form of cotton thread, but these will all soon break due to deterioration of the thread by body salts and oils.
Beginning weavers were started with a single-needle method.
The thread was run through the bead and under the warp threads, then brought back through the beads and over the warp, securing the beads in place.
When proficient with the basic idea of design and weaving, they were taught the double-needle method.
With this method two needles are run through the beads with one under the warp and the other over.
They were crossed at the outer warp thread to secure that row, and the process repeated through the next row of beads.
An estimated 90%+ of all wampum in museum collections was made using the double-needle method.
I assume this was most likely because it produced a stronger product.
Single-needle weaving only provides one weft strand over the outer warp threads.
This can be more easily abraded through than the two threads afforded by the double-needle method.
Most pieces I've seen are attractive and well made, but they are NOT "wampum".
Wampum is specifically small, tubular beads made from Whelk or Quahog shells.
Everything else is simply shell ornaments, even if it is made from Whelk or Quahog.
Eastern coastal Algonquin Natives have used shell to make beads and ornaments for centuries.
The Narragansetts of New England made the first small, tubular beads we call wampum.
"Wampum" is an English mispronunciation of the Narragansett word "wompam", meaning "white shell beads".
These were made from the inner columns of Whelk shells.
The dark violet or navy blue beads were called "sukauhock" by the Narragansett.
"Suk" was derived from their word "suki" meaning a dark violet color, and "auhock" from "poquauhock", the Narragansett name for the shell from which the purple beads were made.
The English name for these clam shells - Quahog - is an abbreviation of poquauhock.
Europeans simply used the word "wampum" to refer to both the white and purple beads.
In the mid-1500's the Dutch began trading approximately 4mm x 10mm porcelain "wampum" beads to the Native people.
Later in the 1500's they also had a smaller 2.
75mm x 7.
5mm bead produced.
As they were trying to replicate Quahog colors, the original porcelain beads (referred to as "porcelene" in some historical documents) were limited to white and navy blue.
There is no black on the Quahog.
Some areas of blue are so dark they appear black, though, so the Dutch began producing black beads, as well.
In the mid-1700's there were so many Europeans between the inland natives and their sources of wampum that the inland natives began using the porcelain beads almost exclusively.
Both the shell and porcelain beads held value.
In the mid-1700's the British posted on the door of Fort Pitt what they would pay Indians for various services.
Certain hides and meat provided to the fort could be traded for a spcified number of porcelain beads.
Until the mid-1800's students could even pay for their tuition to Harvard with shell wampum beads.
Contrary to statements by some today, the Indians never used wampum as a currency.
To the Indians wampum beads were a trade item, which has no specific value.
The value of a trade item is determined by what and how much a recipient is willing to trade for what you're offering.
Currency, however, has a definite value.
European colonists were forbidden by the British crown to produce their own currency, so they established a definite value for each color of wampum bead.
The colonists, not the Indians, then began using wampum beads as the original currency of the New World.
Many crafts people today use lapis lazuli colored beads made in India, because they are more readily available and much cheaper.
Manufacturers may call them "cobalt blue" or "blue wampum", but they are seldom even close to the deep blue in the Quahog shell.
Beads of the original colors and composition are still made in Czechoslovakia and France.
In fact, they still use some of the original equipment.
Crafts people concerned with historical authenticity use these precise reproductions of the originals.
Original wampum was woven on a warp of twisted plant fibers, like Dog Bane, Milkweed, or the cambium fibers of tree bark.
The warp is the long, base strands on which beads are woven.
Uncoated, any natural fibers would be deteriorated by the body's salt and oils, so plant cordage was generally coated with bee's wax to protect it.
Intended to last a long time (and many have) NO treaty belt was ever woven on buckskin.
Buckskin fibers become weak by lack of moisture over time.
This is often called "dry rot".
Cut as thin as would be needed, buckskin is far too weak to last very long.
Many crafts people today, according to their product descriptions, use simulated sinew made of long synthetic fibers for the warp.
Simulated sinew, though, will stretch over time and use, eventually resulting in a piece of wampum weaving unattractively stretched out of shape.
Threading used to weave the beads onto the warp is called the weft.
It receives very little stretching force compared to the warp.
Therefore, using simulated sinew for the weft, as nearly every crafts person today does, is acceptable.
A few may try to cut costs by using some form of cotton thread, but these will all soon break due to deterioration of the thread by body salts and oils.
Beginning weavers were started with a single-needle method.
The thread was run through the bead and under the warp threads, then brought back through the beads and over the warp, securing the beads in place.
When proficient with the basic idea of design and weaving, they were taught the double-needle method.
With this method two needles are run through the beads with one under the warp and the other over.
They were crossed at the outer warp thread to secure that row, and the process repeated through the next row of beads.
An estimated 90%+ of all wampum in museum collections was made using the double-needle method.
I assume this was most likely because it produced a stronger product.
Single-needle weaving only provides one weft strand over the outer warp threads.
This can be more easily abraded through than the two threads afforded by the double-needle method.