Vintage Sterling Silver Wampum Ring

Vintage sterling silver wampum ring, beautiful feather design and gorgeous detail. Size 9 Wampum is made from the white and purple parts of the quahog clam shell, traditionally used by Indigenous peoples of the Northeast for ornamental, ceremonial, and diplomatic purposes, woven into belts to record history, laws, treaties, and agreements, functioning as a mnemonic device and symbolic record of spoken words and alliances. These belts served as legal documents and cultural memory, solidifying relationships, documenting events, and conveying complex messages between nations, even being used as currency in early colonial trade before their deep cultural significance became primary.