New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-02-22
V4LUE OF W4MPUM.
Hoe and Why the Indian Money
Uas Used by Whites.

acteTstic of the Indians of Atlantic seaboard
at the time of the English settlement in New-Eng-
land he could not perhaps make better selection
than their general eagerness TO possess and dis
play large quantities of wampum says Frederic
Austin ogg, in The New-England Magazine" 1t
meant all to the Indian that money does to us.
and infinitely Not merely did it serve him
as medium of exchange and a standard of values
but worn ornament it his badge of
wealth and position. in the hands of the chiefs his
record book and ledger and through the favor OF
the Great Spirit its possession became In no small
degree the passport the happy hunting grounds
of the future world The use of wampum consti-
tuted bond of union among the Indians such as
was scarcely supplied by language religion ra-
cial customs.
Wampum made from shells. usually clam or
oyster. and it is therefore surprising that the
coast jewellers were the most prolific producers OF
it The black beads were made from the dark
eye of the SHE'LL the indicating the point
Of muscular attachment while the white were
taken from the outer parts. Black beads were
known sacki, white wompi, and the
black were usually considered twice valuable as
the white.
The beads themselves simply little shell CYL
inders about one-eighth Of inch in diameter and
one-fourth of an inch in length. They were pol
ished smooth by being rubbed against stones and
were bored by of flint awl. many of which
are still to be found in the shell heaps along the
New-England coast In boring the beads the work
man used reed. tipped with this stone
awl, which he rolled continually his thigh with
his right hand. holding the bit of shell in his left
After the coming OF the English iron avis were
substituted. but even then the process of manu-
facture must have been extremely tedious is said
that by days hard labor it barely possible
a man to produce fifteen cents worth of wan
pun. Whether the work done by the
or by the cannot be known. but 1t may
well have been shared by both It required not only
a vast amount of patience-such as only the Indian
possesses-but also a considerable degree of skill.
for the shells must be perfect in shape, free from
cracks, irregularities flaw The Indian trader de-
manded that his wampum be sound and perfect
as the present day merchant expects Uncle Sans
ninted coins to be. 1t the labor involved in
their making that the beads purchasing
power much in excess of that Of the unwrought
fresh water shells which psychologists believe were
used currency in the remoter inland regions.
Although any one entirely free TO manu-
facture for himself much wampum as he pleased,
the difficulties of the process to have pre-
vented men from thus becoming rich by their
handiwork. The rich those who &C
cumulated wampum through trade and so that
generally the possession of unusual quantity Of
ii betokened some real ability or bravery.
In 1921 De Rasieres, in command of a Dutch trad
ing vessel brought $50 worth of wampum from
New-Amsterdam to Plymouth. This the first
Indian money acquired by the English settlers. 1t
used in trade among the Indians of the Ken
nebec region, and was found so profitable a means
Of exchange that thereafter the thrifty Plymouth
yeomen lost opportunity to increase their stock
H.
beads possessed intrinsic value. They al
together lacking in that symbolism which rendered
them precious to the Indian wholly aside from
their monetary value.
But long as the Englishman could exchange
them in the inland regions for furs which met a
ready market in Europe, he just willing to
employ this medium other. During the
earlier part of the seventeenth century the supply
of beaver equaed the demand; and one
writer has put 1t. wampum was the magnet which
beaver o interior fOreStS-tne
talisman which kept up the equilibrium of trade
between two peoples who otherwise had really very
little in common.
The colonists never came tc regard wampum as
anything more than a convenience for the prose-
cuton of trade with the Indians Nevertheless they
forced sometimes to use il in their dealings
with each other and even in the payment of their
taxes But when so employed It not regarded
as any form of money. but the Rhode Island
Colonial records for 1862 say:
1T is but a commodity, and It is unreasonable
that 1t should be forced upon any man.
The large in which the colonsts found
themselves under the necessity of using it as
money, though still protesting that it was not
money gives conclusive evidence of the utter i'm
possibility of people of any advancement to live
by mere barter Even the Indians had passed that
stage Barter being inadequate, and coin being
almost unknown. the colonists inevitably drew into
among themselves the medium OF exchange
which t To win beaver and food from the natives
The use of wamplm IN, en- the nogthen CLONES
the suspicious and the reluctance of acceptance of
many. 1t was by far the nearest approach to a |
universal currency that the colonsts had II could
be exchanged for merchandise. used in the pay |
ment of labor and court judgments, and given TO |
the State in the discharge of taxes. Requests were
made in of ii. An old English shilling found |
a roadway Flushing Long Island. in 16it was !
regarded locally great curiosity. Many OF |
the younger generation had never such coin |
There many circumstances which conspired |
o depreciate wampum and eventually strip it of its
character currency. First may be mentioned the |
very familiar process known to students Of finance
initiation. The quantity in circulation had in |
creased much by reason of the trade in beaver |
that when. about the middle of the century. the |
demand the latter in Europe diminished. there
no other to take its place in keeping the wan
pun ahoat Moreover. the thrifty Dutch Hack |
ensack and Albany introduced lathes in the manu- |
facture of the beads. that much greater guam |
titles of ii could be produced. The effects of this
were. of course TO bring great profits temporarily
the Dutchmen. but ultimately render
pun common to maintain its value.
Another for the decline of Wampum |
the decrease of trade with the Indians.
Still another for the degradation of wan |
pun was the widespread practice of counterfeiting
The employment Of wampum died slowly !
POM in 1866. Rhode Island recognized it officially
as late 1910 In New-York it used until after
end of the century-as for instance in the pay
ment of ferriage between New-YOrk City and I
Brooklyn. 1t used in Southern Connecticut s
late as 1904 and in the backwoods regions of the |
northern and middle colonies well down into the |
eighteenth century.