WAMPUM AND SHELL ARTICLES 343 



ornament kept it from the honorable position assigned it by the 

 inland nations. The two volumes of Holland documents relating" 

 to New York have no details of Indian treaties, and their first record 

 of this official use relates to an instance when some Mohawks came 

 to New Amsterdam in 1674, and presented six belts. In the 13th 

 volume of the Docwnents relative to the colonial history of the state of 

 New York, 13:35 we find an earlier use at Fort Orange, as might 

 have been expected. It was largely used there, but in 1654 the 

 Mohawks could already get more wampum for their beaver from 

 the English than the Dutch. In 1657 the Mohawks gave the Dutch 

 three wampum strings, worth respectively in florins 16.12, 16.9, and 

 13.10. — O'Callaghan. Colonial hist., 13:72. Wampum belts were used 

 there in January 1661. — O'Callaghan. Colonial hist., 13:91. In early 

 official use Canada, New York and Pennsylvania stand almost alone. 

 The Huron-Iroquois family set the fashion, affecting those around. 

 Less formally some Canadian Algonquins iised wampum ceremoni- 

 ally, as in the raising of chiefs. The custom gained ground every- 

 where in historic times. Schoolcraft says the last belt of wampum 

 was made to be used at a great peace treaty at Prairie du Chien in 

 1825, by the United States commissioners, Gen. William Clark and 

 Gen. Lewis Cass. There are, however, several reputed Black Hawk 

 belts. 



As the supply of wampum was from the New England and New 

 York coast, it was never so abundant in Canada, but among the 

 Hurons it usually was arranged in collars or belts. Many of these 

 were private property and of great value, though small. In 1636 

 a young Huron lost a belt of 400 beads and a beaver robe at the 

 game of straws. In despair and fearing his relatives he hung him- 

 self. The following year the Ancients brought the Jesuits 2400 

 wampum beads which they had collected in the town. Some years 

 before they had robbed £tienne Brule of this amount, and they laid 

 their misfortunes to this. There are other references to this strung 

 wampum among the Hurons, but not such as indicate their cere- 

 monial use of it in their own land. 



In private life wampum became abundant while the beaver trade 

 flourished. In 1656 some Onondaga warriors returned from the 



