On instruction from the chiefs, a speaker performs a speech act which roughly translates as 'reading the message into the wampum'. . . The messengers are drilled until the chiefs are satisfied they have the message down cold, but this repetition is believed to increase the 'power' of the wampum rather than to improve the messengers' memories. These words were read into it in the presence of an ambassador or messenger who memorized them and repeated them at his destination, but it was the wampum that carried them. Color and figures in the wampum gave some indication of its general purport, as 'black . . Every belt's message had to be memorized.
Generalized references say that, after European contact, native women wove the belts.
As Kiotseaeton's performance suggests, decoding allowed for the messenger's improvisation. Before I can state the relevance directly, I need to sketch a transition in the material history of communication that I am tracing. I refer to native adoption of written instruments to accomplish the purposes of wampum.