Wampum Belt

Object types: wampum, belt, bead

Materials: skin, shell, fibre 

Techniques: drilled, beadwork 

Place (findspot): Found/Acquired USA (Americas,North America,United States of America)

Date: 1600-1820

Ethnic group: Made by Northeast Peoples, Made by Iroquois (?), Made by Delaware (?) 

Description: Wampum belt, with a white ground, and two parallel zig-zag lines of purple wampum, three beads in width. Most of the length of the belt is 16 beads wide; however at one end, 12 beads in from the end, the number of skin warps is reduced from 17 to 15. At this point one of the purple lines is reduced in width from three to two beads. The skin warps form fringes at both ends; the end with the reduced number of warps also has attached an oval skin zoomorphic feature, with a tail and four limbs indicated by skin tabs holding thin white discoidal shell beads. The other end seems to finish with the full 17 skin warps; but abrasions to these warps suggest the shadows of wefts, now missing with the beads from that end section. There may also be weft shadows on the warp-fringe at the end with the zoomorphic feature. The purple zig-zag lines touch the top edge of the belt 7 times, and the bottom 8 times. The belt is c 170 beads long. One or two beads are missing.
Dimensions: Length: 62 centimetres (without fringe), Width: 11 centimetres

Condition: Good

Curator's comments: At the time of accession T A Joyce published (in BM Quarterly) a note about this belt indicating that its acquisition may have been a nationalistic impulse inspired in part by the sale of the Penn belts to George Heye: "69. A wampum belt of the Iroquois type. This belt, which is presented by the Trustees of the Christy Fund, comes from the Plains Indians of North America. The shell bead-work of the North American Indians, known as 'wampum', has hitherto been represented in the British Museum Collection by a few inferior specimens. By the generosity of the Christy Trustees a belt of this material, which may be regarded as a paramount example, has been added to the National Collection. It measures 24.5 in long, and 4 in broad, and is composed of shell beads, cylindrical in form, prepared from the 'Venus mercenaria' clam. The beads are strung on leather, and are so arranged that a series of purple zigzags appear on a white ground. The use of these beads, prepared by implements of stone, dates from pre-European times, and belts of this class were used ceremonially, by exchange, in negotations between tribes, especially in 'peace-making'. After the Discovery, they were frequently handed to Europeans when land was purchased from the paramount tribes. For instance, William Penn received from the natives a number of belts when he obtained the cession of the land which is now Pennsylvania. These belts, for many years in England, were repurchased by America and are now in the Museum of the American Indian in New York. In the early days of colonization, wampum became a currency, produced in large quantities by means of metal tools, the purple beads being reckoned as five to the penny and twice the value of the white, and was legal tender in the new country up to forty or fifty shillings. The belt presented by the Christy Trustees appears to be composed of beads prepared by primitive methods and therefore antedates the arrival of Europeans. This suggestion is also supported by the method of stringing, which is typically native." (British Museum Quarterly', Vol 6, 1932, pp 86-7, plate 36b). This item was also published in King 1982 p 66-7: 'a belt of wampum constructed with seventeen thongs used as warps. Attached is a turtle made of skin which is also decorated with shell beads (length 65 cm).' [Additional description etc.by JCK 26/10/1995]. See Rayna Green (ed) `The British Museum Encyclopaedia of Native North America' British Museum Pres, 1999

Acquisition: Eastern States

Acquisition date: 1931
Acquisition name: Purchased from A K Hemming 

Exhibition History:
1982-1987 Jun-Jan, Museum of Mankind, Thunderbird and Lightning: Indian Life in North America, 1600-1900
1999 25 Jun-2009 Mar, BM Room 26; Gallery of North America, Case: "The Northeastern Woodlands"
2009 1 May-20 Sep, Victoria, Royal BC Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2009 11 Dec-2010 10 May, Madrid, Canal de Isabel II, Treasures of the World's Cultures

Copy and Image from The British Museum.