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wampum string
wampum string
wampum string
This relative, a wampum string, is made of 87 purple shell beads strung on natural fibre. 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 string is tied together to form a necklace. This relative is likely of Haudenosaunee (Kanien:keha'ka, Kahnawá:ke) origin.
This relative currently resides at the Bank of Canada Museum.
Kanien:keha'ka, Kahnawá:ke.
J. Douglas Ferguson acquired the string from the Kanien:keha'ka community of Kahnawá:ke, near Montreal.
Bank of Canada Museum acquisition records provided to GRASAC.
Provenance
J. Douglas Ferguson acquired the string from the Kanien:keha'ka community of Kahnawá:ke, near Montreal. The string appears to have been gifted to Ferguson from a man named Father Houser at the Saint Francis Xavier Mission in Kahnawá:ke in 1930. In the letter dated July 18th, 1930, Ferguson thanks Houser for the beads. The string's origin is also noted on the registration card for the object when it was acquired by the NCC in 1966 and the list of items provided by Ferguson in his purchase offer.
National Currency Collection accession records: “Canadian Coins, Tokens, Paper Money, Books and Foreign Coins including Odd and Curious Money of the World. Purchased from J.D. Ferguson, Rock Island, Que., July 1966," no. 173, Wampum-Caughnawaga, 1 string –50.00
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 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.
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 59183. Bank of Canada Museum 1966.160.1341.
This record was created by Dana Murray on August 6, 2024. This record draws on images and information provided by the Bank of Canada Museum.
The Kanien:keha'ka community of Kahnawá:keis is provided as a possible origin for this wampum string. "St. Francis Xavier Mission" is identified on the map, but this reflects one place in the string's life.