In the 'wampum' class, sub-classes other than 'belt' would be 'loose beads' and 'single string of beads'. All wampum belts function similarly. From native perspective, the beads carry the information, or the speakers' words.
Encapsulation is thus a given.
Below, later, I will describe how the beads are encoded. Decoding, or activation of the belt's meaning, in ancient wampum use required live public performance to deliver the message. Both delivery and reception take place in a virtual machine, which in wampum's case is culture. Normative understandings, or culture whether Iroquoian or Dutch or French, are the operating environment for wampum belts. Belts cannot not operate as intended outside that environment.