was wampum. This was at once their currency, their ornament, their pen,
ink, and parchment; and its use was by no means confined to tribes of the
Iroquois stock. It consisted of elongated beads, white and purple,
made from the inner part of certain shells. It is not easy to conceive
how, with their rude implements, the Indians contrived to shape and
perforate this intractable material. The art soon fell into disuse,
however; for wampum better than their own was brought them by the traders,
besides abundant imitations in glass and porcelain. Strung into
necklaces, or wrought into collars, belts, and bracelets, it was the
favorite decoration of the Indian girls at festivals and dances. It
served also a graver purpose. No compact, no speech, or clause of a
speech, to the representative of another nation, had any force, unless
confirmed by the delivery of a string or belt of wampum. [ Beaver-skins
and other valuable furs were sometimes, on such occasions, used as a
substitute. ] The belts, on occasions of importance, were wrought into
significant devices, suggestive of the substance of the compact or speech,
and designed as aids to memory. To one or more old men of the nation was
assigned the honorable, but very onerous, charge of keepers of the
wampum,--in other words, of the national records; and it was for them to
remember and interpret the meaning of the belts. The figures on
wampum-belts were, for the most part, simply mnemonic. So also were
those carved on wooden tablets, or painted on bark and skin, to preserve
in memory the songs of war, hunting, or magic. [ Engravings of many
specimens of these figured songs are given in the voluminous reports on
the condition of the Indians, published by Government, under the
editorship of Mr. Schoolcraft. The specimens are chiefly Algonquin. ]
The Hurons had, however, in common with other tribes, a system of rude
pictures and arbitrary signs, by which they could convey to each other,
with tolerable precision, information touching the ordinary subjects of
Indian interest.