Photographs (left to right): Arches National Park, UT; Lichens, Ridgecrest, CA: Spanish Moss, Kingsley Plantation, FL

Wampum Belt Archive

 

Anishinabek - Haudenosaunee Peace Belt

Courtesy Anishinabek Confederacy

Courtesy Fadden

Original Size:	Estimated length: 202 rows by 9: 35 inches by 4.0 inches
Reproduction:	Beaded Length: 35 inches. Width: 4.0 inches. Length w/fringe: 59 inches
Beads:	Rows: 202 by 11. Total Beads: 2,222
Materials:	Weave and Weft: Artificial Sinew. End wrap: Muslin over leather.

 

Description:

The Friendship Belt Ojibwe and Mississauga Anishinaabeg and the Haudenosaunree in January 1840. This is the Friendship Belt and the symbols on the belt represent two nations joined together by the Path of Peace. One square represents the Anishinabek and the other square represents the Haudenosaunee. There will always be an open path between them. If one Nation is in need of assistance in times of war the other Nation will help and uphold this alliance Corbiere

This belt represents an alliance between the Nations. Also known as the Council Fire of the Six Nations, the white row between the two squares signifies the  path of peace from on Nation's territory and its own governing body to the other (Bardeau and Cardinal, 2010).

Very similar to the Brant belt but smaller.

Reference:

Anishinabek Confederacy: http://oshkimaadziig.org/governing-laws/

Bardeau, Eileen Wms., Edited by Jaré Cardinal, 2010. Definitive Seneca: It's In The Word by Published by Seneca-Iroquois National Museum.

Corbiere, A. 2014. Their own forms of which they take notice: Diplomatic metaphors and symbolism on wampum belts. Conference Paper January. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332901083