It will probably be impossible to prove that the prehistoric peoples of
North America employed a medium of exchange in a manner corresponding to
our use of money. It is a well-known fact, however, that a currency of
shell beads was in general use throughout the Atlantic coast region very
early in the historic period.
Of all objects within the reach of savage peoples, shells, either in
their natural forms or in fragments artificially fashioned for
convenience of use, are the best adapted for such a purpose.
In examining the contents of ancient cemeteries and mounds where all
objects of value were to some extent deposited, we find no other relics
that could have been conveniently used for such a purpose.
It is not probable that objects subject to rapid decay, such as wood,
fruits, and seeds, could ever have come into general use for money,
although such objects are employed to some extent by savages in
different parts of the world. The unlimited supply or easy manufacture
of these objects would be against their use for this purpose, whereas
the difficulty of shaping and perforating the flinty substance of shells
would prevent such a plentiful production as to destroy the standard of
value.
Objects and substances having a fairly uniform value, resulting from
their utilitarian attributes, have been employed by primitive peoples as
standards of value; as, for instance, cattle, in ancient Rome; salt, in
Assyria; tin, in Britain, and cocoa, in Mexico. But such mediums of
exchange are local in use. With these articles this function is only
accidental. The utilization of shells for money would naturally
originate from the trade arising from their use as utensils and
ornaments in districts remote from the source of supply. Yielding in the
worked state a limited supply, and at the same time filling a constant
demand, they formed a natural currency, their universal employment for
purposes of ornament giving them a fixed and uniform value. They have
undoubtedly been greatly prized by the ancient peoples, but on the part
of the open-handed savage they were probably valued more as personal
ornaments than as a means of gratifying avaricious propensities.
Lewis H. Morgan, who had access to all the sources of information on the
subject, says that "wampum has frequently been called the money of the
Indian; but there is no sufficient reason for supposing that they ever
made it an exclusive currency, or a currency in any sense, more than
silver or other ornaments. All personal ornaments, and most other
articles of personal property, passed from hand to hand at a fixed
value; but they appear to have had no common standard of value until
they found it in our currency. If wampum had been their currency it
would have had a settled value, to which all other articles would have
been referred. There is no doubt that it came nearer to a currency than
any other species of property among them, because its uses were so
general, and its transit from hand to hand so easy, that everyone could
be said to need it." Yet he admits that "the use of wampum reaches back
to a remote period upon this continent"; and further, that it was an
original Indian notion which prevailed among the Iriquois as early at
least as the formation of the League. He goes on to state that "the
primitive wampum of the Iriquois consisted of strings of a small
fresh-water spiral shell called in the Seneca dialect _Ote ko-á_, the
name of which has been bestowed upon the modern wampum."[80]
Loskiel says that "before the Europeans came to North America, the
Indians used to make strings of wampom chiefly of small pieces of wood
of equal size, stained either black or white. Few were made of muscle,
which were esteemed very valuable and difficult to make; for, not having
proper tools, they spent much time in finishing them, and yet their work
had a clumsy appearance."[81]
Hutchinson is of the opinion that "the Indians resident northeastward of
the province of New York had originally no knowledge of this sort of
money or medium of trade."[82]
The great body of our historical evidence goes to show, however, that a
currency of shell was in use among the Atlantic coast tribes when first
encountered by the Europeans. Thomas Morton, in speaking of the Indians
of New England as far back as 1630, says that "they have a kinde of
beads in steede of money to buy withal such things as they want, which
they call wampampeak; and it is of two sorts, the one is white and the
other is a violet coloure. These are made of the shells of fishe; the
white with them is as silver with us, the other as our gould, and for
these beads they buy and sell, not only amongst themselves, but even
with us. We have used to sell them any of our commodities for this
wampampeak, because we know we can have beaver again from them for it:
and these beads are current in all parts of New England, from one end of
the coast to the other, and although some have endeavoured by example to
have the like made, of the same kinde of shels, yet none has ever, as
yet, obtained to any perfection in the composure of them, but the
Savages have found a great difference to be in the one and the other;
and have knowne the counterfett beads from those of their owne making
and doe slight them."[83]
According to Roger Williams also, the Indians of New England, as far
back as his observations extend, were engaged in the manufacture of
shell money as a well-established industry. It seems altogether
impossible that such a custom should have been successfully introduced
by the English, as the Indian is well known to be averse to anything
like labor excepting in his traditional occupations of war and the
chase, and if the whites had introduced it, would certainly have looked
to them for a supply by means of trade in skins and game rather than
apply himself to a new and strange art. Roger Williams says that "they
that live upon the Sea side generally make of it, and as many as they
will. The Indians bring downe all their sorts of Furs, which they take
in the countrey, both to the Indians and to the English for this Indian
Money: this Money the English, French and Dutch, trade to the Indians,
six hundred miles in severall ports (north and south from New England)
for their Furres, and whatsoever they stand in need of from them." Their
methods were also aboriginal, another indication that the art was not of
European introduction; and Williams states that "before ever they had
awle blades from Europe, they made shift to bore their shell money with
stones."[84]
That wampum was also manufactured farther south we learn from Lindström,
who is writing of the Indians of New Sweden: "Their money is made of
shells, white, black, and red, worked into beads, and neatly turned and
smoothed; one person, however, cannot make more in a day than the value
of six or eight stivers. When these beads are worn out, so that they
cannot be strung neatly, and even on one thread, they no longer consider
them good. Their way of stringing them is to rub the whole thread full
of them on their noses; if they find it slides smooth and even, like
glass beads, then they are considered good, otherwise they break and
throw them away."[85]
Although Beverly did not write until the beginning of the eighteenth
century, his statements are probably based upon accurate information.
Speaking of the Virginia Indians, he says that they "had nothing which
they reckoned riches before the English went among them, except _Peak_,
_Roenoke_, and such-like trifles made out of the _Cunk Shell_. These
past with them instead of Gold and Silver, and serv'd them both for
Money and Ornament. It was the _English_ alone that taught them first to
put a value on their Skins and Furs, and to make a Trade of them."[86]
From Lawson, who wrote in 1714, but whose statements deserve
consideration, we also learn that the money of the Carolina Indians is
"all made of shells which are found on the coast of Carolina, which are
very large and hard so that they are very difficult to cut. Some English
smiths have tried to drill this sort of shell-money, and thereby thought
to get an advantage; but it proved so hard that nothing could be
gained."[87]
Speaking of its use and value in New York, he remarks that "an
Englishman could not afford to make so much of this wampum for five or
ten times the value; for it is made out of a vast great shell, of which
that country affords plenty; where it is ground smaller than the small
end of a tobacco pipe, or a large wheat straw." * * * "This the Indians
grind on stones and other things until they make it current, but the
drilling is the most difficult to the Englishman, which the Indians
manage with a nail stuck in a cane or reed. Thus they roll it
continually on their thighs with their right hand, holding the bit of
shell with their left; so, in time, they drill a hole quite through it
which is a very tedious work; but especially in making their ronoak,
four of which will scarce make one length of wampum. The Indians are a
people that never value their time, so that they can afford to make
them, and never need to fear the English will take the trade out of
their hands. This is the money with which you may buy skins, furs,
slaves, or anything the Indians have; it being their mammon (as our
money is to us) that entices and persuades them to do anything, and part
with everything they possess, except their children for slaves. As for
their wives, they are often sold and their daughters violated for it.
With this they buy off murders; and whatsoever a man can do that is ill,
this wampum will quit him of and make him, in their opinion, good and
virtuous, though never so black before."[88]
Adair confirms the statements made by these writers, and adds emphasis
to the fact that the shell beads had, among the Cherokees and other
southern Indians, a fixed value as currency. "With these they bought and
sold at a stated current rate, without the least variation for
circumstances either of time or place; and now they will hear nothing
patiently of loss or gain, or allow us to heighten the price of our
goods, be our reasons ever so strong, or though the exigencies and
changes of time may require it."[89]
We find plentiful evidence in the stories of the early Spanish
adventurers that beads made from sea shells were held in high esteem by
the Indians of the south, but, so far as I am aware, there is no
statement indicating that they formed a well-regulated medium of
exchange.
In regard to the manufacture of wampum by the whites, the following
quotations will be instructive:
"Many people at _Albany_ make the _wampum_ of the _Indians_, which is
their ornament and their money, by grinding some kinds of shells and
muscles; this is a considerable profit to the inhabitants."[90]
"Besides the _Europeans_, many of the native _Indians_ come annually
down to the sea shore, in order to catch clams, proceeding with them
afterwards in the manner I have just described. The shells of these
clams are used by the _Indians_ as money, and make what they call their
wampum: they likewise serve their women as an ornament, when they intend
to appear in full dress. These wampums are properly made of the purple
parts of the shells, which the _Indians_ value more than the white
parts. A traveller, who goes to trade with the _Indians_, and is well
stocked with them, may become a considerable gainer; but if he take gold
coin, or bullion, he will undoubtedly be a loser; for the _Indians_, who
live farther up the country, put little or no value upon these metals
which we reckon so precious, as I have frequently observed in the course
of my travels. The _Indians_ formerly made their own wampums, though not
without a deal of trouble: but at present the _Europeans_ employ
themselves that way; especially the inhabitants of _Albany_, who get a
considerable profit by it. In the sequel I intend to relate the manner
of making wampum."[91]
"The article was highly prized as an ornament, and as such constituted
an article of trafic between the sea-coast and the interior tribes. * * *
"The old wampum was made by hand, and was an exceedingly rude article.
After the discovery, the Dutch introduced the lathe in its manufacture,
polished and perforated it with exactness, and soon had the monopoly of
the trade. The principal place of its manufacture was at Hackensak, in
New Jersey. The principal deposit of sea shells was Long Island, where
the extensive shell banks left by the Indians, on which it is difficult
to find a whole shell, show the immense quantities that were
manufactured."[92]
The name _wampum_ is often applied to shell beads indiscriminately, but
frequently has a more restricted significance, referring to the small
cylindrical varieties used in strings and belts. It was known first in
New England as _wampumpeag_, _wampompeage_, _peag_, _wompam_ and
_wampum_; the Dutch of New Sweden knew it as _seawan_, _sewant_, and
_seawant_, while on the Virginia coast, it was called _peak_, a roughly
made discoidal variety being known as _ronoak_ or _roenoke_, and heavy
flattish beads pierced edgeways were called _runtees_. It is probable
that all of these names are American in origin, although there is some
difference of opinion as to their derivation. Loskiel says that _wampom_
is an Iroquois word meaning muscle, but according to Morgan, who is
probably the best modern authority on this subject, the word _wampum_ is
not Iroquois in origin but Algonkin, as it was first known in New
England as _wampumpeage_.
Roger Williams, speaking of the money of the New England Indians,
probably the Narragansetts (Algonkin), says that "their white they call
_Wompam_ (which signifies white); their black _Suckanhock_ (_Sácki_,
signifying black)." In another place he gives the word _wompi_ for
white. Wood mentions two varieties of beads known in New England
_wampompeage_ and _mowhackees_. The latter is probably derived from
_mowêsu_, which, according to Williams, also signifies black.
It would seem that we have but little evidence of the ancient use of
shell money amongst the tribes of the Mississippi Valley or the Pacific
coast; yet we are not without proofs that it came into use at a very
early date throughout the entire West, and even today the custom is by
no means obsolete. The ancient burial places of the Pacific coast are
found to contain large quantities of beads precisely similar to those
now used as money by the coast tribes.
Lewis and Clark, speaking of traffic among the Indians of the Columbia
River, state that shell beads are held in very high esteem by these
people, and that to procure them they will "sacrifice their last article
of clothing or their last mouthful of food. Independently of their
fondness for them as an ornament these beads are the medium of trade by
which they obtain from the Indians still higher up the river, robes,
skins, chappeled bread, bear grass."[93]
The _Dentalium_ shell has always been the favorite currency of the
peoples of the Northwest and is highly valued, especially by the inland
tribes. It is frequently found in ancient graves at great distances from
the sea-shore. A few specimens have been found in burial places in the
Ohio Valley, but we have no means of determining the source from which
they were derived. As the modern use of this currency has but little
archæologic interest, I will not enlarge upon the subject here. For
further information the reader is referred to the following authors:
J. K. Lord, The Naturalist in British Columbia, Vol. II, pp. 20 to 26;
R. E. C. Stearns in the American Naturalist, Vol. III, No. 1, and in
proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Vol. V, Part II,
p. 113; W. H. Pratt in proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural
Sciences, Vol. II, Part I, p. 38; and Stephen Powers in Vol. 3,
Contributions to North American Ethnology, pp. 21, 24, 30.