Wampum in Early America

Wampum came from the Iroquois Indian tribe where Hayehwatha introduced it. According to the Hayehwatha Returns website, “the wampum was sacred and used as an invitation and/or treaty, and in recording significant events.” The Iroquois made wampum from quahog shells and sanded the white and purple parts into small tubular shaped beads then strung onto animal skins and fibers about six feet long and also made them into belts. Wampum was produced by the Indian women by intense eight hours of work where they drilled holes into the shell and made them into a one quarter of an inch cylinder bead. The Iroquois made the wampum beads into a belt where it symbolizes a pattern, an event(s), weddings, declaration of war, to compensate a death of a victim from war, and historical records. A wampum keeper played an important role to the tribes because they were able to interpret the belt’s events it signified. Native Indians called the purple beads Suckauhock and were worth twice as much as the wompameage. These were the most popular wampum used among the Native Indians prior to European colonial settlers coming to America.

The two main producers and wampum minters were the Narragansett and the Pequot Indian tribes. They both became dominant among other tribes and wealthy.[5] Tribes that used wampum were the Iroquois, Pequot, Narragansett, Massachusetts, Niantic, Wampanoag, (Mohican) Nipmuc, Algonquian, and Hudson. It is important to note that woodland Native Indians did not know how wampum was produced which made it more valuable to them.
The colonists’ discovery of wampum was an important event. The English and Dutch colonists were not able to manufacture coins in the New World. In response, they turned to the use of wampum as a common currency throughout the times of 1620’s to the 1800’s. The Massachusetts Bay Colony decided to break rules of the Royal authority of Britain when it came to producing their own coins. They allowed John Hull and Robert Sanderson to mint coins where they produced four series of silver coins from 1652 to 1684. Not until 1722 King George issued a royal patent for William Wood to produce 100 tons of copper coins and released to the American Colonies.

While many colonists did not have money, they found that using wampum as a medium of exchange meant that they were able to obtain furs from Native Indians and then sell them to the European market. Through this process they were able to pay off their debts to their sponsors. Their inaccurate and selfish thought process of what wampum signified to them meant money in their own pocket and not what the Native Indians actually used it for. Other items that were traded with Native Indians that enabled the colonists to gain profit were tobacco, furs, wool blankets, corn, coats, rum, and other staples.

The significance of wampum for Dutch trade was discovered by Isaack De Rasieres. In a letter that he sent to Samuel Blommaert in 1628 he discusses the Native Indian’s economic means and governmental set up. He reflects that during the winter the natives make sewant (another name for wampum). He describes the sewant as a cockle shell they find at the sea shore and is considered it valuable to the Dutch as their own currency. He continues in his letter describing the democratic political government of the chief Sackima and how he is generally the richest in sewant. He also mentions how sewant can be used for travelers that don’t know the Indians and can be used for entertainment and hospitality for the traveler.

The English began using wampum after hearing about it from the Dutch. Soon after the Pilgrims of Plymouth made an agreement with the Adventurers in 1627, and agreed to pay off the eighteen hundred pounds to the Royal Exchange every Michaelmas in nine equal annual payments. Michaelmas Day was an annually celebrated harvest holiday. The Pilgrims had a 2,400 pound debt to be paid off. The men obligated to the Adventurers’ went on an intense competition of fur trade and convinced Indians and colonists to use wampum as a legal tender.