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wampum string
wampum string
wampum string
This relative, a wampum string, is composed of 21 purple and white wampum beads made from quahog and whelk shells strung on natural fibre. The string is knotted to create a circular shape. A second knot separates the purple beads from the white beads to form a figure-eight shape. The purple beads are tubular in shape and opaque, slightly irregular in length and diameter but with an overall consistent look typical of wampum beads made using metal tools. The white beads are tubular and opaque and are of a larger size and more inconsistent shape than the purple beads. They have the appearance of earlier wampum beads made without metal tools. The colour and quality of the string, which looks quite new, suggests that the beads may have been strung together after they were accessioned into the National Currency Collection. The origins of the wampum are not certain.
This relative currently resides at the Bank of Canada Museum.
Bank of Canada Museum acquisition records provided to GRASAC.
Read More About This Relative
shell, clam, shell, whelk, fibre / coquille, palourde, coquille, buccin, fibre
Provenance
These beads were purchased along with 12 other stone and/or shell beads (National Currency Collection no. 1968.15.84). The wampum beads appear to have been separated from the other beads after accession and strung together separately.
This wampum string 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.
Bank of Canada Museum collections records provided to GRASAC.
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 string. GRASAC ID 59182. Bank of Canada Museum 1968.15.2.
This record was created by Dana Murray on August 6, 2024. It draws on images and information provided by the Bank of Canada Museum.