Photographs (left to right): Hamlin Beach State Park, New York; Little Dismal Swamp; North Carolina; Sweet Williams, Rush, New York

Wampum Belt Archive

 

Governor Bernard 1758 Belt

Hypothetical based on description

(R. D .Hamell July 7 2013)

 

Original Size:	not known
Reproduction:	Beaded length: 28 inches. Width: 7.2 inches. Total length with fringe: 51.0 inches.
Beads:	Rows: 167 by 15 beads wide. Total 2,505 beads.
Materials:	Warp: leather. Weave: artificial sinew.

Description:

"Then a man of the Cayugas spoke, standing, for he was a Mingoian, one of the tribes which had conquered the Munseys. His address was longer than the first one; but, at the outset, he took care to inform the Governor that the Munseys were women and could not make treaties for themselves. He proposed a general Council to be held at the forks of the Delaware; and, like the Munsey, committed himself and his people to no particular line of conduct. At the end of his speech he delivered the belt he held in his hand to the Governor."

"This was of peculiar workmanship; on one side were the figures of three men in black wampum; on the other side there were four figures. The three represented the three tribes, the Shawanese, Delawares and the Mingoians, and the four, the invited Councils of the Six Nations, which the speaker explained as meaning that the three tribes and the Six Nations were now united. On the next day they reassembled, when the Governor agreed to the proposition to meet at the forks of the Delaware, and again, at the close of his address, presented the representatives of the tribes with two belts" (Whitehead, 1897).

A grand Council was held at Easton, October 8, 1758.

Reference:

Whtiehead, John. 1897. The Judicial and Civil History of New Jersey, Vol. 1, Boston History Co., p. 259.