Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-21
VALUE OF WAMPUM
MEANT MORE TO REDS THAN
MONEY TO WHITES.
How and Why This 1ndian Medium
of Exchanges aseUsed by
the European Settlers.

If one wished to indicate the most Oh
yious characteristic of the Indians of the
Atlantic seaboard at the time of the Eng
fish settlement in New England he could
not. perhaps, make better selection than
their general eagerness, to possess and dis
play large quantities of wampum 1t meant
all to the Indian that money does to US.
and infinitely more. Not merely did Il
serve him as a medium of exchange and a
standard of values, but worn orna-
ment it was badge of wealth and position,
in the hands of the chiefs his record book
and ledger and through the favor of the
great spirit it's possession became in no
small degree the passport to the happy
hunting grounds of the future world. The
use of wampum constituted bond of union
among the Indians such as was scarcely
supplied by language, religion or racial GUS
toms.
clam or oyster, and it is, therefore not
surprising that the coast jewellers were the
most prolific producers or 1t. The black
beads were made from the dark eye OF
the shell, the scar indicating the point of
muscular attachment, while the white ones
were taken from the outer parts. Black
beads were known as 'sacki, white ones as
wompi. and the black were usually consid-
cred twice as valuable the white
Coming" Wampum.
The beads themselves were simply little
shell cylinders about one-eighth of an inch
in diameter and one-fourth of an inch in
length They were polished smooth by
being rubbed against stones, and were
bored by means 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 workman used cane
or reed, tipped with this stone awl, which
he rolled continually on 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 manufacture must have been
extremely tedious. 1t is said that by a
days hard labor it was barely possible for
a man to produce 10 cents worth Of wam-
pum Whether the work was done by the
men or by the women cannot be known,
but it may well have been shared by both.
1t required not only a vast amount of pa
tience-such as only the Indian possesses
but also considerable degree of Skill for
the shells must be perfect in shape, free
from cracks. irregularities or flaw. The In
dian trader demanded that his wampum be
as sound and perfect as the present day
merchant expects Uncle Sans new minted
coins to be. 1t was the labor involved in
their making that gave the beads a pur-
chasing power so much in excess of that of
the unwrought fresh water shells which
archaeologists believe were used curren-
cy in the remoter inland regions.
Although any one was entirely free to
manufacture for himself much wampum
as he pleased the difficulties of the process
seem to have prevented men from thus be-
coming rich by their, own handiwork. The
rich men were those who accumulated
wampum through trade and war, SO that
generally the possession, ,rof an unusual
quantity Of it betokened some real ability
or bravery.
The First Wampum
In 1927 De Rasef&s, In command of
Dutch trading vessel brought $50 worth Of
wampum from New Amsterdam to Plym-
outh This was the first Indian money ac-
CURED by the English settlers. 1t was used
in trade among the Indians of the Ken
nebec region, and was found so profitable
means Of exchange that thereafter the
thrifty Plymout yeouen lost no opportunity
to increase their stock, of if, To the Eng
fish settlers strings. and belts of beads pos
sessed no intrinsic value. They were alto
gether lacking IN that symbolism which
rendered them precious to the Indian Who'll
ly aside from their monetary value.
But as long as the Englishman could ex-
change them in the inland regions for furs,
which met a ready market in Eurape, he
was just as willing to employ this medium
as any other. During the earlier part of
the seventeenth century the supply of
beaver never equaled the demand, and, as
one writer has put it, wampum was the
magnet which drew the beaver out of the
interior forests-the talsman which kept
up the equilibrium of trade between the
two people who otherwise had really very
little in common.
The colonists never came to regard wan
pun as anything more than convenience
for the prosecution of trade with the In
dams. Nevertheless they were forced some
times to use 1t in their dealings with each
other and even in the payment of their
taxes. But when SO employed 1t was not
regarded as any form of money, but, the
Rhode Island colonial records for 1862 say:
1t Is but commodity, and it is unrea-
sonable that it should be forced upon any
man..
The large measure in which the colonists
found themselves under the necessity of
using it as money, though still protesting
that 1t was not money, gives conclusive
evidence of the utter impossibility 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 in
evitably drew into use among themselves
the medium of exchange which they had
originally regarded fit only with which
to WIN beaver and food from the natives.
It's Use in the North
The use of wampum in the northern col
onies was at its height about 1910. At that
time. despite the suspicious and the re-
luctance of acceptance of many, 1t was by
far the nearest approach to a universal
be exchanged for merchandise, used in the
payment of labor and court judgments, and
given to the state in the discharge of
taxes. Requests were made in terms of it.
An old English shilling, found in a road
way at Flushing. L. l., in 1647 was regard
ed locally as a great curiosity. Many OF
the younger generation had never seen such
a coin.
There were many circumstances which
conspfred to deprive wampum and eventu-
ally strip 1T of its character as currency.
First may be mentioned the very familiar
process known to students of finance as in
fiation. The quantity in circulation had in
creased SO much by reason of the trade in
beaver that when about the middle of the
century, the demand for the latter in Eu-
rope diminished, there was no other to take
Its place in keeping the wampum aftoat
Moreover the thrifty Dutch at Hacken-
sack and Albany introduced lathes in the
manufacture of the beads so that much
greater quantities of 1t could be produced
The effects of this were. of course. to bring
great profits temporarily to the Dutchman,
but ultimately to render wampum too COM
mon to maintain its value
Another cause for the decline of wampum
was the decrease of Trade with the Indians
Still another reason for the degradation
OF wampum the widespread practice Of
The empleyment~ef wampum died out
slowly. Connecticut made a grant of 80
fathOmS of "a 1tsfR Rhode Is