The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1853-05-07

The earliest Dutch Domino Of this ancient
place, was laughed at by the Indians, when he
tried his best to explain to them the value
OF dollar; or as the natives called it a piece
Of iron.
>eawant was also manufactured from oyster
shells. Three beads of black and SIX ofwhitc.
among the English traders, were equal TO a
penny, and with the Dutch to s.uvver.
In 1921 De Rozicr, the Secretary of New
Nrtherland, on an embassy to New England:
first introduced the wanrpum there. He went
to settle treaty of commerce between tllc
two colonies In this instance the Dutchman
rot ahea! of the Yankees in trade.
An early writer SAYS: Whatever were the
honey IN the mouth of that beast of trade.
there was deadly sting in the tail. Foritis
they who first brought people to the knowl-
edge OF wampum-peag; and the acquaintance
Herewith occa>ioned the Indians of these
parts to learn the skill to make IT. by which
As by exchange Of money, they purchased 4
store OF artillery both from the English. Dutch
and French, which proved fatal business 70
those that were concerned in it. SO much
was wa:npum circulating medium. that the
colonial government had to regulate the sub
iect.
Albany is rich mine for Indian an,;,,ui
ties. In l64l, Governor Keith fixed the val
o1 the article. Much bad want.somethinr
like our country paper, nasty. rough things.
imported from other places was IN circulation.
The Minhattan'> scawant was scarce or rx-
ported. which must cause ruin of the countrv
Accordingly. all coarse Scawan,. w.l-s;rinr-
ed. should pass SIN FOR one stuvyer. If we'll
polished. at four. ANY one Offering or r.,
c"Iving the shell COIN at any other rates. for
icitcd The samr, ana was fined also ten nuild
rr> 10 SUPPORT the poor
In ldj" Connectirut ordained That no
go'rg' Tee rait OF received bat W ha, i Srrun.e
suitably. and not small and great. unromrlv
and di>ordcrly mkt, a> formerly hath bc.n..
Massachusetts, declared that i~an.j,~...-,..oq
should pay debts 10 the amount OF forty shil-
lins>-,hc white at : for PENNY, and the
t.ark i. ii entire without tr,achr> or S;o,-
eNrcp: in payment O: county rats to the trea-
>urv.'
In "" fn@iand. he wan,pmm currenc,
*aS sometimes measured by the tathom. The
i'rIn"'> III Id-C, pad ii. New Haven a, their
tribute to that colony 2l5 faihoms. and it was
divided according to the number OF male in
habitant> thus: To Massachusetts "a tatb-
omS: Hlymouth Is; Connecticut 20: New
IiavenlS
This i the first distribution of p,.lliy mon
'4< read of in our land. where at our ,lav.
there has been such Scrambling for the ,.,.i
L" "amrm-peaqe.
The Governor q, New York and his coun
ell. from the scarcity of wampnm. ordered
that the rat" at which il has been ..alr,I:.
>ho"ld he changed from white and =. black
pairs for penny, to white and s black
lhlS was in 1913, when there was little Ger
tam CON IN the governments and wampum
really passed As change. Wampum IS very
scarce even row
I 1t is singular fact that tli> seaw.r. w.e
the only Indian money ever known in North
Amcrira. aud our friend Jones. tie Nohawk.
informs me that it is still somewhat used in
Canada bv the abort ginal tribes 1t was trib-
ute monev-in the form of a belt 1t always
accompanied public messages between the
tribes and was the public record of their
transactions. II messenger was sent with
out this belt, he was diSrr.dited, and If II was
accepted the mission was favorable. and when
refused, it was successful. Seawant entered
into all the important civil and religious r,s-
toms of our Indians. White and black strinus
OF this article were tied by the priest. around
the neck of a white dog suspended to pole.
when offered in sacrifice TO the god of the
Five Observation-Disclosures.
There must have been many manufactures
of this shell coin, and, of course. near the sea
shores One traveller, in l7Go, passing from
Philadelphia to New York, relates that he
crossed Staten Island and witnessed the man
ncr Of making wampum. He thus describes
the operation: 1T is first chipped to proper
size, which is that of a small, oblong parallel
opiped, then drilled, and afterwards ground
to a round, smooth surface, and polished
The purple wampum is much more valuable
than the white very small part OF the shell
being of that color" Geologists have been
puzzled at the immense remains OF broken
clam and oyster shells found about Staten
and Long Islands. These, doubtless, were
the Indian mnts to coin wampum-some such
a thing as the Philalephians now refuse to
the New Workers to coin their California
gold. We certainly have been In the busi-
ness longer than they have. At a late day
the article was manufactured at Bergen, y.
j., for the Indian traders far west, and even
IN 1881 several bushels were brought from
Babylon, Long Island, for the same purpose
They are sold at l2t cents for a string.
It's no wonder that the Staten Island and
Bergen wampum money stood high, for the
shells from New York Bay are proverbially
large and hard, making superior article for
the purpose The inside is tough. too Get .