bälte, belt, wampum

Walter C. Wyman, of Chicago, furnished pictures of his seven interesting belts. Fig. 274a, he remarks, " is called the Sir William Johnson dish belt, sent by the Indians in Canada to notify the friendly tribes of the existence of food at four points, Forts Stanwix, Niagara, and two other points unknown to me now. Of course all these points of information are fragmentary and dreamy, but are as they came to me. There seems to be no authentic reading of belts, and their mission is imaginary so far as any present day in- terpreter is concerned." This is a counterpart of the Parker belt, except in the number of hexagons and width, having nine rows. In some cases the Five Nations used but four of the national fig- ures, as in this case.
Beauchamp (1901): 428.

När Haudenosaunee i nordöstra Nordamerika ingick ett avtal med någon beseglades detta i ett bälte tillverkat av vita och lila wampum-pärlor. Från början tillverkades pärlorna av mussel- och snäckskal.

Bältena bärs aldrig utan kallas så för att de i formen påminner om bälten. Bältets förvaltare kan återge den lag eller det budskap som bältet bär. När ett bälte skilts från sitt budskap går det inte längre att tolka dess innebörd.

Det gäller tyvärr många bälten på museer, så även det här som bara kan spåras tillbaks till Chicago 1924. Det liknar ett bälte som skulle meddela de allierade var det fanns förråd, under det fransk-indianska kriget, men kanske berättar bältet om något helt annat.

When the Haudenosaunee of northeastern North America made a treaty, it was sealed with a belt made of white and purple wampum beads. Initially, the beads were made of shells. Though never worn, they were called “belts” because their shape was reminiscent of one.

The keeper of a belt can recite the law or message the belt carries. When a belt is separated from its message, its meaning can no longer be interpreted.

Unfortunately, this applies to many of the belts at museums, including this one, whose provenance can only be traced back to Chicago in 1924. It looks like a belt intended to tell allies where stores could be found during the French and Indian War (the North American theatre of the Seven Years’ War), but it may mean something entirely different.

This belt had come to the Field Museum of Natural history as part of the Walter G. Wyman collection. The belt has been published in 1901 by Beauchamp under number 472a, who describes it as being a belt that William Johnson distributed to his Iroquois Allies, perhaps during the 7-Years-War.
Beauchamp, William M. 1901. Wampum and Shell Articles Used By The New York Indians. New York State Museum Bulletin No. 41, Vol. 8.