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wampum belt
wampum belt
wampum belt
This relative, a wampum belt, is made of purple and white shell beads woven on natural fibre with leather-wrapped selvedges braided into tassels at each end of the belt. The wampum belt measures 4 beads in width by 319 beads in length. 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 symmetrical design consists of 7 diagonal white lines that are 2 beads thick on a purple ground. The lines are evenly dispersed across the length of the belt. There are two alternating white lines on each end of the belt. Although the origins of this wampum are not certain, it has probable connections to the Eastern Woodlands and possibly to the region north of Lake Superior.
This relative currently resides at the Bank of Canada Museum.
Unknown at present.
Bank of Canada catalogue records were provided to GRASAC.
Read More About This Relative
Shell, clam, shell, whelk, skin, leather, fibre /. coquille, palourde, coquille, buccin, peau
The symmetrical design consists of 7 diagonal white lines that are 2 beads thick on a purple ground.
McCord Museum holds a belt with a similar diagonal line motif: M1911
Diagonal lines on a wampum belt have been interpreted in a few different ways. The Deyohaha:ge: Indigenous Knowledge Centre (Six Nations Polytechnic) describes the motif as "rafter design, representing a nation of the Confederacy." Nikolaus Stolle describes such belts as often being accompanied by good wishes, or sometimes advice or caution. In a few instances, he describes the diagonal lines as "counters" signifying the number of participating parties (Stolle, 2016, p. 149).
Provenance
The wampum is included on a list of items transferred from the Public Archives to the Bank: "Public Archives Collection: Canadian Historic Coins and Tokens," no. 1789, Canada, Wampum Belt, 36" 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. October 20th 2023 to 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.
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. 313, cat. 89.
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 59181. Bank of Canada Museum 1965.136.5538.
This record was created by Dana Murray on August 6, 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.