H0LMK8.1 WAMPUM AND OTHER MNEMONIC SYMBOLS. 247 



off without touching it with his hands, afterwards, with a stick, threw 

 it after them, as if he threw a snake or toad out of his way."' 



It is remarkable that other objects were not more frequently used for 

 uinemouic records. We can only explain the partiality shown to wam- 

 pum on the supposition that the idea of value was not entirely lost 

 sight of and that imi)ortance was attached to a record which in itself 

 merited preservation. Yet instances of the use of other objects are 

 often met with. Parkniau states (hat " the figures on wampum belts of 

 the Iroquois were for the most part simjily mnemonic. So also were 

 those carved in wooden tables, or painted on bark or skin, to preserve 

 in memory the songs of war, hunting, or magic."' 



At one of the councils at Onondaga in 1G90, a treaty was pledged aud 

 recorded in wampum by all the contracting ])arties but the New Eng- 

 land colonies, which sent a wooden model of a fish as a token of their 

 adherence to the terms of the treaty. ° 



Hunter, speaking of the manners and customs of the Osages, states 

 that "they use significant emblems, such as the wing of the swan and 

 wild goose, wampum, and pipes, in overtures for i)eace, while arrows, 

 war clubs, and black and red painting, are used as indications or decla- 

 rations of war. Any article, such as a skin painted black, or the wing 

 of a raven, represents the death of friends, and wheu colored or striped 

 with red, that of enemies. Amongst the Canada Indians when peace 

 was conceded, a reddened hatchet was buried as a symbol of the oblivion 

 of all past hostility between the contracting parties. A mutual ex- 

 change of neck ornaments sealed the treaty after its terms were debated 

 and determined. But all was not yet over, for the chiefs on each side 

 proffered and accepted presents of rare articles, such as calumets of 

 peace, embroidered deer skins, &c. This kind of ceremonial barter be- 

 ing terminated to their mutual satisfaction, or otherwise, the conference 

 broke up."* 



Gumilla says that the Oronoco Indians ratify their treaties with sticks 

 which they give reciprocally,' and the Araucanians, according to Molina, 

 carry in their hands, when they couclude a peace, the branches of a 

 tree, regarded as sacred by them, which they present to each other.' 



I have already enumerated the various kinds of beads and shown the 

 sources from which they were derived and the uses to which they were 

 applied. I have yet to describe the manner in which they are strung 

 or combined in strings and belts. 



The beads chosen as most convenient for stringing or weaving into 

 fabrics were small cylinders from one-eighth to one quarter of. an inch 

 in diameter, and from one-quarter to one-half an inch in length. White 

 strings or belts were sufficient for the expression of simple ideas or the 



' Heckewekler : Indian Nations, 1876, p. 110. 

 'Parkman: Jesuits iu North America, p. xxxiii. 

 'Events in Indian History, Lancaster, Pa., 1841, p. 143. 

 < Hunter: Indian Manners and Customs, p. 19'Z. 

 Gumilla: Histoire deOrinoque, Vol. Ill, p. 91. 

 »Molina: History of Chili, Vol. I, p. 119. 



