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Wampum is a traditional shell bead of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of Native Americans. It includes white shell beads hand-fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell and white and purple beads made from the quahog or Western North Atlantic hard-shelled clam. In New York, wampum beads have been discovered dating before 1510. [1]
The Covenant Chain is embodied in the Two Row Wampum of the Iroquois, known as the people of the longhouse - Haudenosaunee. It was based in agreements negotiated between Dutch settlers in New Netherland (present-day New York) and the Five Nations of the Iroquois (or Haudenosaunee) early in the 17th century.
The Hiawatha Belt, depicting the five original tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy their interconnections. The Hiawatha Belt is a wampum belt that symbolizes peace between the original five nations of the Iroquois. [9] [10] The belt depicts the nations in a specific order from left to right. The Seneca are furthest to the left, representing ...
The narratives of the Great Law exist in the languages of the member nations, so spelling and usages vary. William N. Fenton observed that it came to serve a purpose as a social organization inside and among the nations, a constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy or League, ceremonies to be observed, and a binding history of peoples. [2]
The Two Row Wampum Treaty, also known as Guswenta or Kaswentha and as the Tawagonshi Agreement of 1613 or the Tawagonshi Treaty, is a mutual treaty agreement, made in 1613 between representatives of the Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) and representatives of the Dutch government in what is now upstate New York. [1]
The wampum belt was a symbol of unity between the five (and later six) tribes for hundreds of years prior to its adaptation for use as a flag. [ 3 ] Purple is considered "the color of the Iroquois", as it is the color derived from the mollusk shells used in making the wampum. [ 2 ]
Hale documented the oral history and rituals of the Iroquois Confederacy. He was assisted in interpreting the group's wampum belts, which recounted their history. [3] As a result of this work, he published The Iroquois Book of Rites (1883). He also studied the Iroquois languages, determining that Mohawk was the oldest.
The wampum tells of old, old agreements and passes on the thoughts of our grandfathers. We would like to see them. Our people would like to touch them." [23] An anthropologist described the conflict as "the great wampum war", and the issue affected the relationship between the Iroquois people, the New York State Museum, and academia. [23]