MCC Daily Tribune

Wampum: Death and Diplomacy, War and Peace

The PRISM Multicultural Center presents

WAMPUM: DEATH AND DIPLOMACY, WAR AND PEACE with guest speaker

Richard David Hamell, MCC Associate Professor Emeritus

Wampum was first used by the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people, a confederacy of several tribal nations; Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and later the Tuscarora. Before Europeans arrived, the Haudenosaunee traded pelts, squash, corn, and beans with fellow/other American Indian peoples along the Atlantic coast for wampum beads. The use of wampum spread to other groups of Native peoples and it became an object of historical and cultural importance for them.

American Indian nations documented their cultural, political, and military history, as well as religious stories, on wampum belts through geometric and sometimes figural designs. The images imbued on each belt served as a visual account of an event in that nation's history, such as battles or treaties between two American Indian nations or between American Indians and Europeans or Anglo-American settlers. A chief often had his own wampum belt, serving as a certificate of his leadership position within the community, and it was often buried with him or passed down to his successor. So although not "written language" as we think of it today, the history was indeed captured in design and symbols which could be read by Native people.

Please join us in a great historical presentation. Faculty bring or encourage your students to attend.

When: Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Where: PRISM Multicultural Center, Building 1- Room 108

Time: 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Please R.S.V.P. to Char Guess-Bardques at Cbardques@monroecc.edu or 292-3640

Attached Files:
WAMPUM_prismF19.pdf

Shirley Batistta-Provost
Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
11/05/2019