Wampum
/ˈwɒm.pəm/noun
Beads made from shell, especially those historically used by some Indigenous peoples of northeastern North America as ornament, currency, and ceremonial recordkeeping.
Did you know?Wampum entered English from an Algonquian word for shell beads, and in colonial America it was treated not just as money but as a diplomatic and ceremonial medium with real political weight.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Algonquian
PA
*wa·p-a·n-
“white; light-colored”
Massachusett / Narragansett
Algonquian
wampumpeag
“shell beads, especially white shell beads”
Early 17th Century
English
wampum
“shell beads used by Indigenous peoples and, in colonial contexts, as a medium of exchange”
18th–19th Century
English
wampum
“money or cash, especially in informal or historical usage”
Modern English
English
wampum
“shell beads of historical Indigenous use; by extension, money or payment”
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