. Bulletin. Ethnology. BULL. 30] WAMPUM 905 biplicata); and a number of other sea- shells. In the manufacture of these shell beads much patient labor and a marked degree of skill and careful manipulation were re- quired. Their manufacture was appar- ently not confined to any class of persons among the natives, for Roger Williams (Key, 128, 1827) remarks that in general those who live along the seashore manu- facture the beads, and that "as many make as ; In New England and along the Atlantic seaboard wampum was chiefly of two colors: the white, and the violet or purple, which la
. Bulletin. Ethnology. BULL. 30] WAMPUM 905 biplicata); and a number of other sea- shells. In the manufacture of these shell beads much patient labor and a marked degree of skill and careful manipulation were re- quired. Their manufacture was appar- ently not confined to any class of persons among the natives, for Roger Williams (Key, 128, 1827) remarks that in general those who live along the seashore manu- facture the beads, and that "as many make as ; In New England and along the Atlantic seaboard wampum was chiefly of two colors: the white, and the violet or purple, which latter varied in shade from pale or pink violet to dark rich purple. The value of these shell beads was determined by their color and degree of finish. In form they were cy- lindrical, being from about J^ to ^ in. in diameter, and from I to yw 'ri. in length. Notwithstanding the abundant literature concerning the multifarious uses of these shell beads in trade, in the embroidering of ar- ticles of dress, the mak- ing of objects for per- sonal adornment and badges of rank and offi- cial dignity, and in the fiducial transactions of private and public life, no technical statement of the exact methods employed by the na- tives in their manufac- ture is available. According to Barber and Howe (Hist. Coll. N. J., 1844) the method of manufacture after contact with the whites was as follows: The wampum was wrought, largely by the women, from the thick blue portions of the shell, and the process, though simple, required a skill acquired only by long practice. The intense hardness and brit- tleness of the materials made it impos- sible to wear, grind, and bore the shell by machinery alone. First the thin por- tions were removed with a light sharp hammer, and the remainder was clamped in a scissure sawed in a slender stick, and was then ground into an octagonal figure, an inch in length and half an inch in di- ameter. This piece being ready for bor- ing was inserted into another piece of wo
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