wampum, tubular shell beads that have been assembled into strings or woven into belts or embroidered ornaments, formerly used as a medium of exchange by some North American Indians. The terms wampum and wampumpeag were initially adopted by English settlers, who derived them from one of the eastern Algonquian languages; literally translated, wampumpeag means “strings of white (shell beads).” Before contact with white settlers, the Indians used wampum primarily for ceremonial purposes, as a record of an important agreement or treaty, as an object of tribute given by subject tribes, or for gift exchange (q.v.). Its value derived from its
Wampum—a traditional clamshell bead of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of Native Americans—is a central part of the Wampanoag culture and existed long before European explorers appeared on the shores of
Dawn Martin-Hill is a storyteller, because it is in stories where the truth lies. She tells one story of leading a water ceremony out on the West Coast.