Tips for Implementation

Correcting Misconceptions

➔   Not Currency: Explicitly teach that wampum was not "Indian money."Wampum primarily served diplomatic, ceremonial, historical, and communicative purposes. Europeans later adapted it into colonial trade systems in the 1600’s with exchange rates between beads and European coins. This was after noting the immense value that Indigenous people placed on wampum and this misconception is often tied to settler-colonial beliefs about wampum. Treaties should be taught as ongoing relationships between Indigenous nations and settler-colonial governments, not closed historical events. Within Algonquian communities, wampum had deep cultural and spiritual significance as a way of connecting to the land and waters of the eastern seaboard. Wampum carried meaning for these communities through ceremony, storytelling, teachings, and reflected values of responsibility, identity, and connection rather than trade or monetary exchange.

➔   Living Tradition: Present wampum as a contemporary cultural practice, not just a historical relic. Wampum remains an active cultural and ceremonial practice today. It is important for teachers to present Indigenous nations as contemporary peoples, not historical groups of the past.

➔     Interpretation: Belts require cultural knowledge, oral teachings, and historical context to be fully understood. Assuming one can understand wampum belts just by looking at them is an oversimplification of the vast cultural and historical understanding needed to properly interpret these belts. Emphasize that belts carry teachings and responsibilities.

➔     Varied Use: Uses of wampum, meanings of symbols, belts, shells between Nations and regions. Indigenous nations do not exist in a monolith but are incredibly complex and diverse. Use Nation-specific terminology whenever possible.

Teacher Note: Though creativity is welcome, it is important that educators avoid treating wampum solely as an arts-and-crafts activity as it diminishes the cultural and historical significance of wampum.

Elementary School (Grades 4-5)

➔     Exploring Symbols in Wampum:Use Kaheriio's Wampum Project to introduce students to the materials, techniques, and meanings behind wampum. Students can design a paper “classroom belt” using colors and symbols to represent shared values such as kindness, respect, responsibility, or cooperation while discussing how symbols communicate important ideas.

➔     The Making of Wampum: Show students a short video or images demonstrating how quahog and whelk shells are carved into wampum beads. Students can sequence the steps of the process and discuss how coastal and inland Indigenous nations worked together through trade and relationships.

➔     Remembrance: Students compare wampum belts to journals, photographs, or digital media used today to preserve memories and important agreements. Discuss how different cultures record and share knowledge across generations and incorporate the ideas of wampum as a mnemonic device used by Indigenous groups to remember.

Middle School (Grades 6-8)

➔     Indigenous Trade Networks: Using a map of New York State, students trace how shells from coastal nations such as the Shinnecock traveled inland to Haudenosaunee Nations. Students discuss how geography, trade, and relationships connected Indigenous communities long before European contact.

➔     Two Row Wampum: Examine the imagery and meaning of the Two Row Wampum as a diplomatic agreement between the Haudenosaunee and Dutch settlers. Students compare the Indigenous idea of coexistence and “parallel paths” with European colonial goals of land acquisition and control.

➔     Wampum Is More Than Currency: Use PBS LearningMedia video (https://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/wampum-video/indigi-genius/) and Indigenous-authored sources to explore why wampum should not simply be described as “money.” Students analyze how Europeans altered the use of wampum while Indigenous nations continued using it for diplomacy, ceremony, and communication.

Wampum and Governance: Explore how the Haudenosaunee used wampum in decision-making and diplomacy. Students can examine how belts supported the communication of laws, responsibilities, and alliances within the Confederacy.

High School (Grades 9-12)

➔     Wampum in Legal Agreements: Analyze belts such as the George Washington Belt alongside treaty documents and oral histories. Students evaluate how wampum functions as evidence of agreements, sovereignty, and nation-to-nation relationships.

➔     The Great Law of Peace: Explore how wampum belts support the recitation and preservation of the Great Law of Peace. Students examine connections between Haudenosaunee governance systems and democratic principles such as consensus-building and collective responsibility.

➔     Perspectives on Treaties: Students analyze Indigenous and colonial perspectives on treaty-making using wampum belts and European written records. Discuss why Indigenous nations often view treaties as living agreements that remain active today.

➔     Repatriation: Students investigate where important wampum belts are housed today and discuss questions surrounding ownership, preservation, and Indigenous cultural sovereignty. Students can evaluate the role museums should play in caring for sacred cultural items.

➔     Modern Uses of Wampum: Examine modern uses of wampum at treaty commemorations, cultural events, and presentations at international gatherings such as the United Nations. Students discuss how wampum continues to represent identity, diplomacy, and sovereignty in the present day.

Closing Remarks

Wampum teaches students that Indigenous Nations maintained sophisticated systems of diplomacy, law, memory, trade, communication, and sovereignty long before and after European arrival. Wampum continues to carry relationships and responsibilities today, reminding us that treaties, agreements, and Indigenous nationhood are living civic realities.