Wampum Belt 5 Row Clay

Reproduction Clay Wampum Belt

This Wampum Belt 5 Row Clay features square and checkered designs. The crafter used reproduction clay wampum beads in white and purple to create the belt.  He wrapped the outside edges with red twine.  Then he created yarn tabs for each end.  At one end, he attached 1 inch Bone Hairpipe and at the other blue Crow Beads.  Braided yarn serves as ties.  You will see that a couple of purple Wampum Beads have broken and are missing (last photo).  The crafter wrapped one open space with red twine.

This Wampum Belt 5 Row Clay measures 33 inches long x 2.25 inches wide. The beaded section measures about 31 inches long.  The ties measure about 14 inches on one side and 9 inches on the other.   Because of the fragility of the clay beads, we recommend purchasing this belt for display only.  One of a Kind!

Native Americans who lived on the Northeast Coast created distinctive beads from the shells of the Quahog clam and Whelk snails.  They called these purple and white beads wampum. Crafters strung  early disc shaped wampum beads in simple strands.  When tube shaped wampum beads made from shell and glass were available, they strung them together with a loom and made them into belts. Crafters created patterns by using one color bead as the background and the other for contrast. They used some of these belts to convey messages of war or peace.  Wampum belts became symbols of status. Wampum Belts were used as straps for bags or worn as sashes.

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