Wampum

Otgó’ä•’ Wampum

Wampum is a vital part of Onondaga and Haudenosaunee culture. Wampum is created from the shell of a clam. The beads are cut from the white and purple parts of the shell. The pieces are rounded, sanded and drilled to make a bead. Because of the effort that is needed to make a bead, wampum is highly valued.

The shell is thought of as a living record of the Haudenosaunee. The speaker puts the words of the agreement into the wampum as the strings or belts are woven together. Each speaker thereafter uses the wampum to remember the initial agreement and the history that has happened to date. To us, the belts are our living history.

Wampum has many uses. One of the uses is to invite the other nations to council meetings. These wampum strings are given the topic that all of the nations are to meet and discuss about. At the end of the wampum string is a wooden stick. The wooden stick tells the people of the nation when the meeting is to take place. As each day passes, a notch is cut off the stick and when the notches are all gone, the meeting will take place.

Wampum also symbolizes titles within the Haudenosaunee. Each position of a Clan Mother of a Chief has their own wampum string. When a person holds this title for the Nation, they carry the wampum to show their place in the community. When a leader falls, the wampum is passed on to the new leader.

When a string of wampum that is held in a person’s hand, they are said to be speaking truthfully. During ceremonies, the wampum strings are used to convey that the speaker’s words are true. People listening to a speaker holding the wampum also know this and are very attentive and respectful of the speaker’s message.

Onondaga was given the responsibility of Wampum Keeper of the Haudenosaunee at the founding of the Great Peace. Four countless centuries the Onondaga were the caretakers of the belts. When our white brothers first began interacting with us, they noticed how important the belts were to us. Then after many attempts, New York anthropologists were able to obtain the belts through an illegal sale. The Nation immediately tried to have the belts returned. But the State of New York deemed that these belts were too valuable and needed to placed in the State’s museum for safe keeping. But the Onondaga Nation worked diligently to have the wampum return home. Finally in the fall of 1989, some belts returned after the determined efforts of the chiefs to bring these belts back to the people.

Read Chief Irving Powless Jr.’s account of The Day that 12 Wampum Belts Returned to Onondaga