WAMPUM AND SHELL ARTICLES 34/ 



office by marrying and settling in another nation, six short strings 

 of purple wampum were employed. This was no disqualification 

 except when an inconvenience. Mr Hill had married an Onondaga 

 woman and yet was an Oneida chief. Such intermarriages are 

 common, but necessarily affect only the ^children, who follow the 

 mother's line. Through this it happened that the, celebrated Logan 

 was a Cayuga, his equally noted Oneida father having a wife o! 

 that nation. Three strings, united as usual, had a few purple beads 

 and contained (the new chief's name. He was to be "all good,'* 

 signified by white beads^ while the few purple implied some human 

 imperfections. No allowance was m:ade in the moral law^ embodied 

 in 10 very long strings, composed entirely of white beads. These 

 were " all good, same as Bible." Whether the number of the 

 strings had a meaning is conjectural. These strings were 2 feet 

 long and each contained no beads. Fig. 31a represents a bunch 

 of this kind belonging to the writer. Many others were about as 

 long. Strings serve as credentials, and, armed with what was given 

 him'^ the writer was informed that he would be listened to by any 

 chief or in any council. It was a letter of introduction, a certificate 

 of authority. Fig. 37 is this wampum. 



It may be well to note here that the wampum in question varies 

 much in size, the white being usually thicker than the purple, thougli 

 this is not always the case. The beads are often more angular than 

 cylindric, and, while the white is sometimes of a creamy tint^ the 

 purple passes through various shades, in which the layers of the 

 shell appear. Three strands of purple wampum included a few 

 white beads and were tied as usual. Each string contained 18 

 beads, and at the end of a condolence this bunch was presented to 

 the three elder brothers. They were told to take it and divide it 

 among themselves, but only did this figuratively. A doubled 

 string of 48 alternate white and purple beads showed the death o! 

 a good chief. Two strands of 18 beads each were used in raising 

 a chief. All but four of the beads were purple. Eight strings were 

 used in the confession of sins at feasts. This handsome bunch was 

 2 feet long, and about every fourth bead was purple. To a large 

 number of others meanings were attached as occasion required. 



