WAMPUM AND SHELL ARTICLES 349 



Fig. 57 belongs to the writer, and contains a chief's name. Fig. 

 i8i and 182 are bunches of strings in Mr Roddy's collection, ar- 

 ranged for council use. Fig. 195 is in the Bigelow collection, and 

 is a miscellaneous lot of small beads from Pompey sites, some of 

 which are much weathered. On Cayuga and Seneca sites they are 

 found in thousands. 



As the Iroquois were very punctiHous on state occasions, the 

 mere presentation of wampum was sometimes an honorable distinc- 

 tion. It was customary to receive the Five Nations at Albany with 

 a salute from five cannon^ but the French usually did more. When 

 the Iroquois deputies went to Montreal in November 1756, they 

 were surprised that no one came to meet them and that they were 

 not received with the usual ceremonies. A note explains the mean- 

 ing. In Canada "the Five Nations are the only ones for whose 

 reception there is an established etiquet. An interpreter is sent 

 to meet them, who presents them with some strings of wampum;, 

 and when they enter the town they are saluted by five discharges of 

 cannon." — O'Callaghan. Colonial hist, 10:556 



The Moravian bishops held a conference with some Seneca chiefs 

 in Philadelphia July 17, 1749, and mention was made of Count 

 Zinzendorf s wampum string. Von Watteville promised to visit 

 Onondaga the following spring, and gave a fathom of wampum to 

 confirm his words. "There was then handed to the interpreter a 

 beautiful fourfold fathom of wampum of white and blue beads, with 

 a large blue ribbon, who handed it to the Indians. It was received 

 with great consequence, they studied over its meaning, and then, 

 wrapped it up carefully for preservation." John W. Jordan pub- 

 lished the full account of this interesting conference from the diary 

 of the congregation in the Moravian in 1898. ' 



Abundance of wampum 



Few antiquarians have any idea of the scale of supply for the 

 wampum trade after the colonization of New York. Sir John Lub- 

 bock expressed surprise at the large number of beads sometimes 

 found in early remains, when work was slower and methods ruder. 



