WAMPUM AND SHELL ARTICLES 399' 



produced a White Belt wherein a Chain of Friendship was wrought^ 

 the Belt was about a Fathom in length, and a Man worked upon it 

 at each end, signifying- the Governor of Canada and the Five Na- 

 tions, holding each other by the hand in token of Friendship, which 

 Belt the commander of the Party, which destroyed Mr Bull's Fort 

 and party at the great carrying place, gave to an Oneida Indian 

 who was hunting, some distance from said Fort just before it was 

 destroyed." — O'Callaghan. Colonial hist. 7:137. The next year the 

 French sent a very long black war belt of 6000 beads to the Six 

 Nations, with an axe worked in the middle. Such belts were fre- 

 quent, and a similar one with twO' hatchets was sent by the French 

 at a later day. Among the belts given at a council at Montreal in 

 1754, one represented " the two villages of the Oneidas, Cayugas 

 and Kaskarorens.'' Two paths on it terminated at a friendly place. 



Among later belts may be mentioned one shown by the Shawnees 

 to the Iroquois in 1771, representing them and the Illinois, with 10 

 confederated tribes between. Besides the great one, other chain 

 belts appear. In 1773 the Six Nations presented a covenant chain 

 belt to Johnson of 11 rows and 12 squares. He returned a black 

 one of 13 rows with white squares. After his death the Oneidas 

 showed a large white belt with black diamonds, which he had given 

 them. Belts of this description have been preserved. 



A few post-colonial belts may be mentioned. At a council at 

 the Onondaga village near Buffalo in 1793, a western belt pre- 

 sented was of white wampum " made in a circular form, repre- 

 senting their place of meeting as in the center, and crossed by four 

 stripes of black wampum, representing all their confederates, east, 

 west, north and south." At the same time " the Wyandots spoke 

 with a very large belt with three pictures on it — the Americans at 

 one end, the Six Nations in the middle, and themselves at the other 

 end." While waiting near Detroit for a share in the council at 

 Miami rapids the same year, the United States commissioners gave 

 the Wyandots a white belt with 13 stripes of black wampum. 



The rupture between England and the colonies brought out some 

 belts at conferences with the Iroquois. The Oneidas came to Col. 

 Johnson for advice on political troubles and showed a black belt of 



