January treasure quest - Beads

~Meaning in Native American Life~

Read together:

 Besides the beauty of Native American beading , there are many other meanings for beaded work. Jewelry was used to show connection with a particular group.

Beads were used to make a treaty legal. They were used to remember oral tradition (stories and family history), as well as payment for all sorts of supplies.

Wampum beads are used to make strings and belts. The belts were reminders of past events, laws, and other important events.

Both photo's are used with permission of Barbara Gray

Replica of a Two-Row Wampum Belt. The two rows of purple wampum symbolize two nations of people trying not to interfere with the other, existing with their own traditions, culture, language, laws, government, and spirituality.

Wampum Background Information Sheet

Jump to the questions at the bottom of the page.  Search the information above to find the answer to each question.  Write the answer on your paper.  When you are finished, turn in your paper.

 (1)  Wampum is short for the Algonquian word wampumpeage (wom pom pe ak) meaning “white string of beads.” 

(3) There were two types of beads. The white bead, the only bead properly called wampum, was made from a large sea snail called whelk. The dark purple bead was made from a saltwater clam of the North Atlantic coast called quahog.

The beads were cylindrical in shape and drilled lengthwise to form a tube. Beads were about 5mm or 1/4 inch in length.

Six white beads were worth 1 penny. The purple beads were worth twice the white beads since only a small portion of the shell could be used to make the beads.

Wampum was distributed from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River and from the Great Lakes region to the lower Ohio Valley.

(4) Woven wampum belts, which averaged 6 inches wide and 30 inches long, were used as a form of communication between Indian tribes.

The designs of the belts were reminders of past events, laws, and other important matters. A belt was used to ratify a treaty while the arrangement of colors became the treaty document Wampum belts were used at councils, to elect or get rid of a chief, at an adoption ceremony, during mourning, as records and deeds, and as gifts.

(2)  Single strands of wampum were worn for ornament. Wampum was not used as money between tribes. There was no gold or silver available from the home governments for the colonists to make coins. Wampum was used as a medium of trade exchange between European colonists and Indian tribes. The Massachusetts Bay Colony made wampum legal currency in 1641.

(4) Wampum could buy enough land to start a plantation! There are records of wampum being used to pay taxes to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and to pay tuition at Harvard College. Due to the intensive labor involved, wampum was a prized item of adornment (ornament) and valued in trade.

(6) The Dutch Campbell family started a wampum factory in New Jersey. They introduced the mass produced beads, becoming one of the earliest industries in America.

Indians reportedly rejected the mass produced beads as inferior. With colonists counterfeiting the Indian money on a large scale, its value dropped sharply in the colonies. 

(5) Wampum remained a medium of exchange until 1792 when the United States government established coinage laws.  However, inland tribes continued to accept it in exchange for furs until the early 1800s

**Get a piece of paper and pen.**

 Number your paper from 1 - 8. answer the questions below to earn your points. Be sure and write your name and class at the top of your paper. when you have completed your sheet and turned it in - you can move to making a bead design. (don't worry if you don't finish,today you will be making a final design next week)

1. Wampumpeage (wampum) means_________________ 

2. What is not a use of wampum for the Indians (write the correct letter on your paper)

a. As money between tribes

b. To ratify a treaty between tribes

c. As gifts

d. To elect a chief of a tribe 

3. The shells for the purple beads are found where?   ______________________

4. What is a use of wampum for European colonists (write the letter for the correct answer on your paper.

a. As trade exchange with the Indians

b. To pay taxes

c. As ornaments

d. To pay tuition

e.  All of the above.

5. Wampum was considered legal currency until 1792 when the United States established ___________________ laws.

6. The Campbell family started one of the earliest industries in America. This industry was _____________________ and was located in ___________________.

7. Beads were strug into lengths called ______________.

 Math Bonus Question

Givens: ( you may not use all the givens in todays challenge)

1 wampum bead equals 1/4 inch 

6 White beads = 1 cent

3 Purple beads = 1 cent

Calculate the number of beads needed to make a string of beads with each of the following lengths: (show your work)

a) 7 inches Number of beads ____________

b) 1 foot Number of beads ____________

c) 1 yard. Number of beads ____________

Finished?????  Turn in your paper - return to main page and click on Interactive bead link.