Photographs (left to right): Morels, Locust Poles, Morels; all St Thomas, Pennsylvania

Wampum Belt Archive

 

Mohawk Wampum Belt

Beauchamp (1901: Plate 13, Figure 172)

velt

 

Original Size:

Rows: 9.

Reproduction:

 

Beads:

 

Materials:

 

 

Description:

Wampum belt is 26 inches long, with an extreme width of 3 inches or 11 rows. The design is curious and suggests one of the belts in Paris. From the center it diminishes in width toward one end, where it is five beads wide. The open with hexagons show that this was probably the original design. A doubt is suggested by the loose buckskin thongs. It may once have been symmetric, having the other end correspond beyond the open central place.

Collected by Erminnie A. Smith among the St. Lawrence Mohawk in 1880's (Stolle, 2016).

 

Reference:

Beauchamp, William M. 1901. Wampum and Shell Articles Used By The New York Indians. New York State Museum Bulletin No. 41, Vol. 8.

Stolle, Nickolaus (2016) PMAE HU 83-34-10/30393. Collected by Erminnie A. Smith among the St. Lawrence Mohawk in 1880's