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WAMPUMPEAG (1620'S) IS A SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND ALGONQUAIN WORD MEANING "STRINGS OF WHITE BEADS" (1)
ALGONQUAIN INDIANS AND IROQUOIS TRIBES ALONG THE COAST MADE WAMPUM BEADS AND THEY WERE EITHER STRUNG ON STRINGS OR WOVEN INTO BELTS. THE DELAWARE, LENAPE AND IROQUOIS AND OTHER NATIVE PEOPLES USED THE SHELL BEADS FOR SACRED RITUALS, DIPLOMATIC MANEUVERS, MEETING INVITATIONS AND WHEN FORMAL STATEMENTS WERE MADE. WAMPUM WAS NOT USED AS CURRENCY BY THE NATIVE PEOPLES.
THE PURPLE CYLINDRICAL WAMPUM BEADS CAME FROM THE PURPLE AREA OF THE QUAHOG (ROUND CLAM). THE SMALL PURPLE AREA OF THE SHELL ALONG THE INSIDE EDGE HAD MORE VALUE THAN THE WHITE. QUAHOGS ARE FOUND ALONG THE NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY AND CONNECTICUT SHORES. MAKING WAMPUM WAS LABOR INTENSIVE. FIRST, A ROUGH STRIP OF SHELL WAS CUT WITH STONE OR FLINT. THE OUTSIDE OF THIS STRIP WAS SHAPED AND SMOOTHED USING A ROUGH FLAT STONE AND SAND. NEXT, THE CRAFTSMAN HELD A BOW DRILL WITH A PIECE OF FLINT OR ANTLER BONE TO ACT AS DRILL AND ROTATED THE DRILL TO BORE A LENGTHWISE HOLE THROUGH THE SHELL. THESE BEADS WERE 1/8 INCH IN DIAMETER AND FROM 1/4 INCH TO 1/2 INCHES LONG. A SKILLED CRAFTSMAN COULD MAKE 40 BEADS A DAY IN THIS WAY.
THE COLONISTS USED WAMPUM AS A FORM OF CURRENCY WHEN THEY RAN SHORT OF SILVER OR GOLD COINS. WAMPUM SOON BECAME A HIGHLY VALUABLE TRADE COMMODITY. THE COLONISTS TRADED THIS WAMPUM FOR BEAVER AND OTHER FUR BEARING PELTS. IN THE RECORDS OF WINDSOR CONNECTICUT, IS PRESERVED A DEED, WHICH CONVEYS TERRITORY LYING BETWEEN THE PODUNK AND SCANTIC RIVERS, AND EXTENDING A DAY'S MARCH INTO THE COUNTRY, THE PRICE PAID FOR WHICH WAS 15 FATHOMS OF WAMPUM AND TWENTY CLOTH COATS. MOST OF THE PRESENT TOWNS OF WARWICK AND COVENTRY IN RHODE ISLAND, WERE PURCHASED OF MIANTINOMI, SACHEM OF THE NARRAGANSETT FOR ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE FATHOMS OF WAMPUM.(2) TO PUT THIS AMOUNT OF WAMPUM BEADS INTO CONTEXT, ONE FATHOM IS 6 FEET. THIS IS APPROXIMATELY 42,000 WAMPUM BEADS.
COLONISTS ESTABLISHED WAMPUM BEAD MAKING "FACTORIES" ON LONG ISLAND AND IN NEW JERSEY BEGINNING IN THE 17TH CENTURY. ONE SUCH FACTORY WAS THE CAMPBELL WAMPUM FACTORY, PARK RIDGE, NEW JERSEY. MANY BEADS FROM THIS FACTORY FOUND THEIR WAY WEST IN THE FORM OF PIPE BEADS. (3)
(1) MERRIAM WEBSTER DICTIONARY
(2) WAMPUM A PAPER PRESENTED TO THE NUMISMATIC AND ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA; ASHBEL WOODWARD 1880, PAGES 39-40
(3) TRADE WAMPUM: NEW JERSEY TO THE PLAINS, WILLIAMS; NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM PUBLICATION
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