Collect Wampum
At H2O Captain Eco-Tour Private Boat Excursions they already offer a trip entitled, “Money on the Horses.” This voyage takes passengers to Sand Dollar Island to collect…sand dollars, then brings them to Shackleford Island to see the wild horses. A magnificent trip!
However, did you know that in their most popular excursion, called, “BWB Repeat - Boat, Walk, Beach...Repeat OR Wild Horses & Shelling,” you can collect “money” there as well?
The money I speak of was the 1st legal currency in Massachusetts. In this area of coastal North Carolina at the Southern Outer Banks at The Crystal Coast around Beaufort, and Atlantic Beach, located on Shackleford Banks, the Native American Indians from the Iroquois, Sioux, Algonquin, and Pamlico Indians called it wampum and it is still available today!
Captain Mark will personally walk with you on the beach and identify this gem, made by the ocean from the quahog clam, for you to take home in the official shell bag that he gives to you!
What is wampum?
Most simply, wampum are beads made from various white and purple mollusk shells which were and are still used by various Native nations throughout eastern North America for ornamental or ceremonial use.
What did Native Indians use wampum for?
Before contact with white settlers, the Indians used wampum primarily for ceremonial purposes, as a record of an important agreement or treaty, as an object of tribute given by subject tribes, or for gift exchange (q.v.). Its value is derived from its ceremonial importance and the skill involved in making it.
Is wampum money?
Seashell-derived wampum was Massachusetts' first legal currency and continued to be used and respected as currency throughout the northeastern and southeastern United States, even into the nineteenth century.
What is wampum worth?
Today, wampum is once more considered to have a high value but only as an artifact to the right buyer. Though many times the artifacts are given back to the tribe or donated to museums, there are some dealers who have been known to sell a band of 10 or more linked strings for up to $2,200.
Why is wampum so important?
It still symbolizes an agreement of mutual respect and peace between the Native American Indians and European newcomers to North America. The principles were embodied in the belt by virtue of its design: two rows of purple wampum beads on a background of white beads represent a canoe and a European ship.
Where can you find wampum today?
The channeled whelk and the hard clam, also known as the quahog, are rightfully adored by beachcombers for their beautiful white and purple shells, respectively. Found only on the east coast of North America, and more specifically for H2O Captain, we collect them on Shackleford Banks in the Southern Outer Banks of North Carolina, which is a part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. Their relative rarity also makes them an attractive find.
Is wampum still used today?
To this day wampum is still used in the ceremony of raising up a new chief and in the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving ceremonies. Many belts are in museums to this day.
The Pamlico and Algonquian Indians who lived along the Pamlico River in what is now Beaufort county, N.C., U.S., when first encountered by Europeans. These sedentary agriculturists were almost destroyed by smallpox in 1696, and in 1710 the 75 survivors lived in a single village.
During the period of first white contact, the Indian tribes inhabiting the area of the present state of North Carolina were of three linguistic stocks — the Iroquoian, Siouan, and Algonkian.
Resources:
Wampum and the Origins of American Money https://a.co/d/a6Uk75n
H2O Captain Eco-Tour Private Boat Excursions
Photo: a collection of Wampum found within 15 minutes on Shackleford Banks, NC on an H2O Captain excursion
