Photographs (left to right): Chipmunk, Rush, New York; William Smith College, Adirondacks, New York; Wall Sunflower, Rush, New York

Wampum Belt Archive

 

Abenaki MAI 11_123

17th-18th century

Museum of the American Indians (Heye Foundation)

Reproduction by Fred Wiseman

Reproduction by Richard D Hamell

 

Original Size:	8 rows 69cm 27 incehs.
Reproduction:	Length: 34 inches. Width: 4 inchies. Length w/fringe: 58 inches.
Beads:	Columns: 204. Rows: 8. Total Beads: 1,632 beads.
Materials:	Warp: Deer leather. Weft: Artificial sinew. Red and blue ribbons

Description:

This is the belt that Sotheby's tried to sell a few years ago, labeled "Abenaki" (2009) with estimated selling price as high as $20,000. This belt and one other were pulled from the auction after complaints were filed by the Onondaga Nation as they were part of their cultural heritage and should be returned." The Haudenosaunee Standing Committee on Burial Rules and Regulations (HSC) is a consortium of Six Nations chiefs, tribal historians, and communitiy leaders. The committee petitioned Sotheby to have the materials returned since there is evidence the two belts with tribal property and the claim would be sent from Kanien:keha’ka (Mohawk) and Wôbanakiak (Abenaki) people, via the Mohawk Nation of Kanesatake and the Abenaki Nation of Odanak in Quebec, Canada (Bruchac, 2018). The belts were withdrawn from Sotheby's auction. n

The symbology seems more Six Nations or even like William Commanda's prophesy belt (Wiseman, 2013).

Reference:

American Museum of American Indians. Cat. No. MAI 11_123

Bruchac, M. M. 2018. Broken Chains of Custody: Possessing, Dispossessing, and Repossessing Lost Wampum Belts. Proceedings of the AMerican Philosophical Society, Vol. 162, No. 1. March.

The New York Times. 2009. 2 Disputed Indian Wampum Belts Pulled From Auction. James Barton, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/nyregion/19sothebys.html?_r=0.

Wiseman, F. 2013. Personal Communications.