Iroquois (Haudenosaunee), Seneca (Onödowá'ga:') Search this
Object Type:
Wampum
Place:
Not Given, Oklahoma, United States, North America
Accession Date:
7 May 1952
Notes:
From card: "Made of tubular shell beads about 3/16" diameter strung on deerskin strands with deer sinew. The beaver symbol (one-half of which remains) is worked in purple beads from the hard shell clam, contrasting with the white shell background. One long edge finished with black cloth trim. One end ravelled. This doubtless a portion of a longer and wider belt. Whether the Seneca Indians who presented it to the Wyandot (according to Indian tradition) retained part of the belt, or whether it was divided among Wyandot leaders is not known."
From a 1984 publication caption done for this object by Dr. William Sturtevant: "Wyandot tribal tradition attributes this belt to the Senecas, who presented it to the Wyandots as a token of peace and friendship following Huron-Seneca wars. Mary A. Druke, Newberry Library, and Paul L. Stevens, fellow at the Newberry Library 1979-1980, made an association between the belt and a document of proceedings of a council at Detroit in 1777. [See 17 June - 13 July 1777.] N. B. Records at the Smithsonian indicate that the belt is only half as wide as it once was (15 rows, at present.)" Reference: Jennings, Francis, William N. Fenton, and Mary Druke Becker. 1984. Iroquois Indians a documentary history of the diplomacy of the Six Nations and their league. Woodbridge, Conn: Research Publications.
