Sewan
/ˈsuːən/noun
A form of wampum, especially shell beads used by some Indigenous peoples of northeastern North America as money or ceremonial objects.
Did you know?In colonial accounts, sewan and related wampum beads were recorded not merely as ornaments but as mediums of exchange, diplomacy, and treaty-making.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Narragansett
sewan
“Shell beads or wampum used as valuables and ceremonial objects”
17th Century
English
sewan
“A term adopted by English colonists for Indigenous shell-bead currency”
17th–18th Century
Colonial English
sewan
“Wampum or shell money, especially in descriptions of northeastern Indigenous trade”
19th Century
English
sewan
“An established dictionary term for wampum”
Modern English
English
sewan
“A rare historical or ethnographic term for wampum”