WAMPUM
The Dutch West India Company first discovered wampum. It was used as a trading piece with the Indians. It comes from the word “Jewells.” At first they saw no value in it, but after, “they found the vivid colors evocative of a certain heightened spiritual states,” (62). It was made along the Long Island Sound and is composed of sacred shell beads from quahog and clamshells. “Wampum was soon transformed into a form of currency,” (53). It became a symbol for compensation, diplomacy, sachems and other special people. The Indians interpretation and belief in wampum as a supernatural being was interesting and makes one wonder why the author didn’t dive deeper into this topic. The Indians believed in it “miraculous origin and continues potency,” (51).
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