On Sat, 13 Apr 2002, Ed Weick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>I don't think that what Pete is describing in the following is wampum,
>which, I'm pretty sure is associated with the Iroquoian people of the
>upper St. Lawrence and eastern Great Lakes (e.g. Ontario, Quebec, New
>York State, etc.).
I can't remember if the word "wampum" was specifically ascribed to
these shells, but my impression was that it was. At any rate, these
are the white shells which are seen in images of plains indians in
traditional dress, woven into plates worn on the chest, with four
columns of horizontally oriented tubes, representing wealth in some
way. I believe these were used at least all across the prairies.
> If he is referring to the people of the Canadian and
>American west coast (British Columbia, Washington, Oregon), what we are
>dealing with is highly sophisticated cultures - the totem pole carvers
>who lived in permanent communities. From what I recall of these people
>(Haida, Nootka, Kwatkiutl, Makah, etc.) I don't think they were
>especially egalatarian. They took slaves, and potlaches, while a method
>of redistributing wealth, were also a way of shaming rivals by
>demonstrating that you were so rich and powerful that you could give huge
>quantities of property away.
The result of this system was that there was a heirarchy of power
and influence, but the common folk were amply supplied with all
the material necessities. Very much a win-win situation.
They may have had relatively portable money
>in the form of shells, though I'm not aware of this.
I wouldn't think that would work terribly well, in that the particular
shells were there for the taking for the one nation in whose territory
they grew, even if the harvest represented some difficulty. I would
expect their value as a wealth token would arise only when far enough
from the source to be more or less universally rare.
-Pete Vincent
> However, they had a
>less portable form of "money" known as "coppers", which were ornately
>decorated, shield like copper plates. As "money", coppers were likely
>used as a store of value and a signifier of wealth, rather than a medium
>of exchange.
