New York State Museum 



WAMPUM AND SHELL ARTICLES 



Makings wampum 



The use of shells for ornaments and money is so well known that 

 no discussion of the subject is required here. The aborigines of 

 North America had the common primitive taste, but could not fully 

 gratify it till the white man came. Some shells they were able to 

 work in a simple way, but few of these have been preserved. Under 

 some circumstances they kept well, but they could not withstand 

 much exposure. Pearly shells resisted best, while those in which 

 lime was the principal element soon lost their poHsh, and often their 

 form. 



The aborigines of the Pacific states had the D e n t a 1 i u m for 

 money and ornament, but used the iridescent H a li o t i s to a 

 great extent. The Indians of the plains depended mainly on the 

 eastern coast for what they used. A few northern shells were avail- 

 able, but the material for a large proportion of New York articles 

 came from the south Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico. These 

 were most in use in the historic period. Few from the southern 

 coast which are over 300 years old have been found here. Except 

 as beads, shells were little used as ornaments in New York before 

 that time. Yet this state was celebrated for the abundance of its 

 wampum 250 years ago, partly from the stimulus given to its manu- 

 facture by the whites, and partly from the numbers and large size 

 of one moUusk,, by which it was supplied. 



Venus merccjuaria is abundant from Cape Cod to Florida, 

 but is rare northward from the former point till the southern shore of 

 the Gulf of St Lawrence is reached. It is the round clam or quahog. 

 It has been objected that the purple part of this shell is not thick 

 enough to make the dark beads. This is true of the clams sent into the 

 interior for food, because the younger mollusks are chosen instead 

 of those old and tough. To correct this impression, W. W. Tooker 

 sent the writer older shells, 4 inches long. Fig. i shows one of 



