How is wampum jewelry made?
Wampum is created from the shell of the northern quahaug (occasionally the whelk shell is also used), but only select shells make the grade. Also, a shell alone is not wampum. To be authentic, it must be fashioned into a bead and drilled – a process that is both delicate and time consuming.
How do I make my wampum shiny?
To achieve a shiny look, use baby oil and polish the stones before setting them onto their chains. Using a string or leather chain makes the wampum seem more authentic to native arts, however, a silver or gold chain gives the jewelry some elegance for a more formal occasion.
How much is a fathom of wampum?
A fathom (six feet of strung beads) of white wampum was worth ten shillings and double that for purple beads. A coat and Buskins “set thick with these Beads in pleasant wild works and a broad Belt of the same (Josselyn 1988: 101)” belonging to King Philip (Wampanoag) was valued at Twenty pounds.
How are wampum beads made?
Women artisans traditionally made wampum beads by rounding small pieces of whelk shells, then piercing them with a hole before stringing them. The unfinished beads would be strung together and rolled on a grinding stone with water and sand until they were smooth.
What do wampum beads look like?
Wampum was white or purple beads and discs fashioned from two shells: the white beads from the whelk, a sea snail with a spiral shape, and the quahog, a clam with purple and white coloring. The shells were ground and polished into small tubes with a stone drill called a puckwhegonnautick.
How do you drill a hole in a wampum?
Hold wampum with one hand and drill with the other, apply medium pressure. Drilling wampum: First, soak all of your wampum in a cup of water overnight. Use an automatic hand drill with a 1/16 steel drill bit. Hold wampum with one hand and drill with the other, apply medium pressure.
Are wampum belts worn?
Wampum belts are woven, beaded belts produced by various American Indian nations in the northeastern and central United States, before European contact in the late 15th century and after. The term “belt” simply refers to its shape, as these were never worn.
What did Europeans use wampum for?
In the early 17th century wampum came to be used as money in trade between whites and Indians because of a shortage of European currency. When machines were invented in the mid-18th century for mass production of wampum, the resulting inflation stopped its use as money in the eastern United States.
How do you make wampum beads?
A stone or reed drill was used to create a hole in the block. The block would be drilled half way through and then turned over to drill through the other side. The blocks were then ground into tubular shapes by rolling or rubbing them against a stone. Finished beads were then strung on plant fibers or sinew.
