WAMPUM AND SHELL ARTICLES 407 



Ransom belt of wampum. This belt has been divided according 

 to the old law. If a sachem or chief was captured and condemned 

 to die, or a murder committed, a certain amount of wampum would 

 ransom him. In this instance the captive must have been of 

 prominence or of national importance, as the entire belt has been 

 divided. How much of it is missing I can not determine positively, 

 but, as the usual length of a wampum belt is about 3 feet, I con- 

 clude that about one half has been taken. The diagonals of white 

 wampum signify the tribal fires or the eight clans of the Senecas — 

 Wolf, Bear^ Beaver, Turtle, Deer, Heron, Hawk and Snipe. This 

 belt is exceptionally rare and has no duplicate. I obtained it 

 from a direct descendant of Mary Jamieson — the celebrated white 

 woman captive — in whose care it had been placed by the Senecas. 

 She guarded it till her death, when it reverted to her heirs, by 

 whom it has been held till now — the fourth generation. It is one 

 of the national belts of the Senecas. — " Harriet Maxwell Converse, 

 Cattaraugus reservation, 23 June 1899 " 



As above noted, the writer saw the rest of the belt a few weeks 

 later. It presents no unusual features, and the five diamonds 

 represent the Five Nations, the Tuscaroras being commonly 

 omitted. Atonement was often made with strung wampum or other 

 presents, which were given to the person or family injured, not to 

 the nation as a rule. Atonement or ransom might be refused. 

 When belts were given to the nation, they seem to have been for 

 the family, were reckoned at their money value, and were soon used 

 as money. In this case Indian tradition seems to have widely de- 

 parted from the original meaning. 



Fig. 245 is another fragment of a purple belt without figures, 

 which is a little over 7 inches long by 2.75 wide. The depth is 10 

 beads, and it is yy beads long. Mrs Converse calls it the Corn- 

 planter wampum belt, and says : 



This is a portion of the treaty, and should be kept with 

 it always. The belt has been mutilated by dividing it 

 among Cornplanter's heirs at the time of his death. It is 

 impossible to obtain any of the divided portions, the beads hav- 

 ing been separated and arranged in strings for burials or councils. 

 This remnant has never been separated from the treaty, and is a 

 record of the history of the Five Nations. Cornplanter's name and 

 mark head the list of the chiefs who signed, and the treaty and belt 

 were given to him to preserve for his people. — " H. M. Converse. 

 At the Cornplanter reservation, June 1899 " 



