BULL. 30] 



WAMPUM 



909 



secured, being placed transversely to the 

 line of the pole, and first studded with 

 bone or wooden teeth. From the bow of 

 a canoe or boat, propelled usually by a 

 woman, the tussk-shell fisher stood and 

 carefully prodded tlie sands at the bottom 

 of the water a number of times with his 

 comblike instrument, and then drew it 

 up to see whether any of the shells had 

 become impaled on the teeth of the in- 

 strument. Sometimes four or five ut the 

 shells were brought up, and sometimes 

 none at all. This was a practical method 

 of obtaining these shells, as they are not 

 found between tide marks. The form of 

 this shell, which gave it its name of tusk- 

 shell, is tooth- or fang-shaped, having an 

 orifice at both ends. A fine specimen is 

 about 3 in. in length, but usually they are 

 much shorter. VVith the small end in- 

 variably downward, it is found V)urrowed 

 in the sand in from 4 to 8 fathoms of 

 water in sheltered harbors or inlets. The 

 women string these shells neatly on bits 

 of dried sinew; they are afterward orna- 

 mented with fragments of haliotis shell 

 and with tufts of mountain-goat's wool. 

 A string of 25 of these shells, which, 

 placed end to end, reached one fathom 

 or 6 ft, was called a hiaqua (q. v.) and 

 was the standard of value. The short or 

 broken shells were strung in like manner, 

 and these inferior strings were called 

 kopkops, of which 40 were ecjual in value 

 to one liiaqua. Bands or belts were also 

 made of dentalium shells, and these also 

 served as currency and for ornament. 

 But according to Gibbs "forty to the 

 fathom " was the standard, or one hiaqua, 

 which would purchase as a rule one male 

 and two female slaves: this was approxi- 

 mately £50 sterling. According to Pow- 

 ers and otliers dlli-co-chick was the name 

 of this tusk-money in California. In the 

 central and southern part of the state 

 there was a staple currency known as 

 hawock, or hairnk, made from the shells 

 of "a bivalve, a ponderous clam when 

 adult." The shell was cut into small 

 disks, of which the larger were worth 

 about 25 cents and the snialler about 4 

 cents. Some of the disks, 2 in. in diame- 

 ter and I in. in thickness, were worth a 

 dollar apiece. Powers mentions a neck- 

 lace of hairok, worn by a young woman, 

 which was 10 yds long, consisting of 1,160 

 pieces, and was worth about $225. The 

 olivella shell money was known as kol- 

 kol, or col-col. The shell was prepared 

 by simply grinding off the apex and 

 stringing it mouth-to-mouth with others. 

 This money, it is said, was "slightly 

 esteemed," perhaps owing to the great 

 abundance of the species. The abalone 

 or haliotis shell money was known as 

 uhl-lo or i'i!-lu; this was made from a very 

 beautiful shell, rather too large and cum- 



bersome to be used as money. The shell 

 was prepared for use by cutting it into 

 oblong strips from 1 in. to 2 in. long and 

 about 2 in. in width. Holes were drilled 

 near one end of the strip, and the strips 

 were then strung edge to edge. Ten 

 pieces constituted a string. The larger 

 pieces were worth $1 apiece, thus mak- 

 ing the value of a string about $10. 



The literature pertaining to shell money 

 and to shell ol)jects is extensive. The 

 more important writings on the subject 

 are: Barber and Howe, Hist. Coll. N. J., 

 1844; Beach, Indian Miscel., 295, 1877; 

 Beauchamp (1) in Am. Antiq., Mar. 1889; 

 (2) in Bull. N. Y. State Mus., via, nu. 

 41, 1901, with bibliog. ; Beverley, Hist. 

 Va., bk. Ill, 58, 1705; Boas, (1) in Rep. 

 Brit. A. A. S., 36, 1889; (2) in Rep. on 

 N. W. Tribes Can., 85, 1890; Bradford 

 in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th s., 3, 234-35, 

 335-36, 1856; Brinton, Myths of the New 

 World, 1903; Burnaby, Travels in N.Am., 

 60, 1775; Bushnell in Jour. Anthr. 

 Inst. Gt. Brit., xxxvi, 172, 1906; Cartier 

 in Hakluyt, Voy., iii, 272, 1600, repr. 

 1810; Carver, Travels, 235, 1796; Cox, 

 Adventures, 332-33, 1831; Eells in Smith- 

 son. Rep. 1887, 647, 1889; Forsyth, Acct. 

 Man. and Cust. of the Sauk, 3, 1826; God- 

 dard in Univ. Cal. Pub., i. 49, 1903; Goo- 

 kin (1674) in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1st 

 s., I, 152, 1792; Hale in Am. Nat., xviii, 

 1884; Holm (1646) in Mem. Hist. Soc. 

 Pa., Ill, 1834; Holmes in 2d Rep. B. A. 

 E., 179, 1883; IngersoU in Am. Nat, 

 XVII, no. 5, 1883; Jewitt, Narr., 76, 1815; 

 Jones, Antiq. So. Ind., 1873; Josselyn, 

 Acct. Two Voy. to New Eng., 1865; Kane, 

 Wanderings in N. Am., 238,1859; Lawson 

 (1714), Hist. Car., 1860; Lord, Naturalist 

 in Brit. Col., ii, 22, 1866; Morgan, (1) 

 League of the Iroq., 1904; (2) in Rep. N. 

 Y. State Mus., 5, 71, 73, 1852; Norton in 

 Am. Mag., Mar. 1888; Penn in Har- 

 vev, Hist. Shawnee Inds., 20, 1855; Pow- 

 ers" in Cont. N. A. P^thnol., in, 1877; Pratt 

 in Proc. Davenport Acad. Sci , ii, 1876; 

 Proud, Hist. Pa., i, 133-34, 1797-98; Ross, 

 Adventures in Oregon, 95, 1849; Rutten- 

 ber, Ind. Tribes Hudson R., 26, 1872; 

 Smith, Hist. N. Y., ii, 42, 1829; Stearns, 

 (1) in Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1887, 297-334, 

 1889, with bibliographv; (2) in Proc. 

 Cal. Acad. Sci., July, 1873; (3) in Am. 

 Nat., XI, 1877; Stites, Economics of the 

 Iroq. , 1905; Thompson, Hist. Long Island, 

 I, 84-88, 1843; Timber lake. Memoir, 50, 

 62, 1765; Townshend, Quinnipiack Inds., 

 33, 1900; Trumbull, Hist. Conn., 52, 1818, 

 repr. 1898; Van der Donck, Descrij). New 

 Netherlands, 206, 1841; Weeden, Indian 

 Money, 1884; Whipple, Pac. R. R. Rep., 

 Ill, 115, 1856; Williams (1643), Kev into 

 Lang, of Amer., 1827 and 1866; Wood- 

 ward, Wampum, 1378. (.i. n. b. h. ) 



Wampum, The. See Waumegesako. 



