Knowledge Sharing Platform
wampum belt
wampum belt
wampum belt
This relative, a wampum belt, is long and narrow. Composed of purple and white shell beads measuring 7 beads by 344 beads. The warps are made of semi-tanned leather and the wefts are made of plant fibres. The selvedges of the belt have been wrapped in leather to secure to weave. Red and brown colourant are present on the warps, suggesting that the belt was painted at some point. The beads are tubular in shape and opaque. They are slightly irregular in length and diameter but have an overall consistent look typical of wampum beads made using metal tools. The design consists of 8 open diamond motifs comprised of white shells, dividing the belt into 7 purple fields. Several beads have become detached from the belt, 3 of which have been recovered and kept with the belt. The belt has been repaired or rewoven in several areas using white and red thread. The origins of the belt are not certain; however, it has possible connections to the Haudenosaunee and to the Lake Superior region.
This relative currently resides at the Bank of Canada Museum.
Bank of Canada Museum collection records were provided to GRASAC.
Read More About This Relative
shell, clam, fibre, skin, leather, shell, whelk / coquille, palourde, fibre, peau, cuir, coqu
Eight open diamond motifs comprised of white shells.
Note from Bruchac, 2018, p. 61 citing Beauchamp, 1901: "Open white diamond symbols were often used by the Haudenosaunee to signify related and allied tribal villages, nations, or council fires located within a larger territory."
Residue of different materials on the wampum belt, analysed by the Canadian Conservation Institute in 2023 reveal some information about how the belt was used.
Possible waterproofing/conditioning materials: included ruminant fat and marine oil, beeswax, paraffin wax and heated pinaceae resin. These materials could have been used to waterproof the belt, or as means of keeping the leather warps well-conditioned and supple. These materials were applied all over the belt; the residue was found on both the original parts of the belt and the repaired areas. The fats might also have been used as binders for the coloured pigments.
Colourants: includes both organic and synthetic pigments. Vermillion, for example, was identified on some original areas of the belt and on repaired areas. Some red iron oxide is also present. More prevalent than the vermillion or red iron oxide are paints identified as synthetic organics of the B-naphthol azo class (present on every sample from the original areas and 6/8 of the repaired areas). Most colourants of this class were invented after the 1870s. Another colourant called Uranine was also found in the red paint on one of the original sections of the belt and some replacement sections. The presence of red pigments suggests that the belt was used in the context of a war.
Tobacco traces are also present on the belt, which are evidence of past ceremonies.
Residue of different materials on the wampum belt, analysed by the Canadian Conservation Institute in 2023 reveal some information about how the belt was used. Specifically, CCI identified two groups of materials present on the belt: possible waterproofing or conditioning materials, and colourants.
The belt also has traces of tobacco on it, suggesting that it was used in ceremony. The overall worn condition of the belt and the many areas of repair suggest that it was actively used.
The date is very approximate, based on material analysis conducted by the Canadian Conservation Institute in 2023. Among the different colourants identified on the belt were synthetic organics from the B-naphthol azo class, which was mostly invented after 1870. The residue of these paints was found on the entire belt, both the original areas and the repaired areas.
Provenance
This wampum belt is included on a list of items transferred from the Public Archives to the Bank: "Publoc Archives Collection: Canadian Historic Coins and Tokens," no. 1788, Canada, Wampum Belt, 39" long (exclusive of fringe.)"
Prior to being acquired by the Bank of Canada for the National Currency Collection, this wampum belt was part of the Public Archives of Canada Numismatic Collection. LAC’s accession records are sporadic and incomplete. Records related to the acquisition of this wampum belt by the Public Archives of Canada have not been found.
In 1965, as the Public Archives of Canada (PAC, now Library and Archives Canada) shut down the Archives Museum and prepared to move into its present building on Wellington Street at Bay Street in downtown Ottawa, it transferred its numismatic collection to the Bank of Canada’s Currency Museum (now the Bank of Canada Museums). The transfer was facilitated by Bank of Canada Governor Louis Rasminsky and Curator Sheldon S. Carroll in collaboration with Dominion Archivist William Lamb.
In January 2022, Bank of Canada Museum Assistant Curator Krista Broeckx corresponded with LAC Reference Archivist Sarah Bellefleur Bondu to learn more about the transfer. Regarding the belt’s possible provenance, she states that “the wampum belts may have been acquired by the Government of Canada writ large at any time between 1865 (which pre-dates the Archives) and 1965” (email correspondence Jan 20 2022)
Research by Krista Broeckx in the Sir Arthur Doughty fonds at LAC concluded that it was unlikely LAC (then PAC) had acquired wampum belts prior to 1925. References to wampum in Doughty's correspondence indicate that he consistently referred offers to sell wampum and research questions about wampum to the Victoria Museum (now Canadian Museum of Nature), which was the only national museum at the time. Doughty was the second Dominion Archivist, serving in that role from 1904-1935. There is a central registry for accessions between 1937 and 1951 (RG37-D-484) but judging from the small number of acquisitions that are documented, the file likely does not represent all acquisitions completed during that period. The registry does not include wampum belts.
In the ‘’Report of the Public Archives for the years 1955-1958’’ there is mention of a donation by Commander F.J.D. Pemberton of Ottawa: "Beaded belts, a leather purse, a pouch and a pair of leather gloves were given to the Public Archives Museum by Commander F.J.D. Pemberton of Ottawa; all are believed to have originated in the country north of Lake Superior.’’ Though the reference to "beaded belts" is vague, it could refer to wampum belts.
In a conversation during a meeting of the Bank of Canada’s Indigenous Advisory Circle on November 8, 2023, Jonathan Lainey suggested that the wampum belts that ended up in the Library and Archives of Canada’s collection may have been transferred there from the Victoria Memorial Museum when its collection was broken up to create the other national museums.
Further research into the archives of the Victoria Memorial Museum (now Canadian Museum of Nature) have not yielded any results so far.
Acquisitions for the Victoria Memorial Museum were overseen by the Department of Public Works. Relevant records in LAC RG11-B-3-a do not contain any information about the acquisition of wampum belts.
Bank of Canada Museum collection records provided to GRASAC.
Wampum: Beads of Diplomacy, McCord-Stewart Museum, Montreal, Oct 20th 2023-March 10th 2024.
This wampum belt was part of a gathering hosted by the Bank of Canada Museum with elders from Kitigan Zibi Anishinaabe First Nation on May 3, 2024. Participants of Kitigan Zibi Anishinaabeg First Nation included Elder Peter Decontie, Elder Claudette Commanda, Elder Verna McGregor, and Elder Fred McGregor; participants of the Bank of Canada Museum included Director Stacy Wakeford, Janik Aubin-Robert (Collections Manager), Krista Broeckx (Assistant Curator), Patricia Measures (Conservator), and Stephanie Shank-Munro (Collections Specialist). The purpose of the gathering was to welcome the wampum belts in the National Currency Collection back to Algonquin territory after their loan to the McCord-Museum in Montreal for the exhibition Wampum: Beads of Diplomacy. For more information on this gathering, contact the Bank of Canada Museum.
Currency Museum (now Bank of Canada Museum), Gallery I "Introduction to Money" [permanent exhibit], 1980-2013.
Nikolaus Stolle, Talking Beads: The History of Wampum as a value and Knowledge Bearer, From Its Very Beginnings Until Today. Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Kovac, 2016, p. 325, ca. 197.
To access a report on research conducted in the correspondence records of Sir Arthur Doughty (RG37-B, R1185-15-3-E), contact the Bank of Canada Museum.
For further details about the Bank of Canada Museum's wampum gathering on May 3, 2024, contact the Bank of Canada Museum.
About This GRASAC Record
Maker, Name unrecorded. Wampum belt. GRASAC ID 59179. Bank of Canada Museum 1965.137.1.
This record was created by Dana Murray on July 30, 2024. It draws on images and information provided by the Bank of Canada Museum.
North of Lake Superior is identified on the map, but this reflects one potential place in the wampum belt's life. It is not a known place of origin. This information is informed by provenance research conducted by the Bank of Canada and Library and Archives Canada.