WAMPUM BEADWORK

I recently completed this matching pair of wampum legging ties woven in the traditional manner using a heavy hemp cording as the warp and a sinew material for the weft securely locking each bead in place. This pair of legging ties or garters is used just below the knee to help support the wool or deerskin leggings worn by the various woodland Indian tribes and by early colonial longhunters, scouts, and frontiersman. This pair is made six beads tall and measures 2 1/2 inch in width by 13 1/4 inches in length including the deerskin tabs at the ends. The lacing is left long for securing below the knee. This pair is has a color scheme of a purple design with a white background.

I use an imported glass wampum bead made from the same Czechoslovakian producer of 18th century wampum. These items are hand crafted historically authentic to that era. The business has been owned by the same family since its days as a leading manufacturer of trade beads. The Czech plant produces the glass wampum on the same machines used over 200 years ago.

Why glass instead of authentic clamshell wampum? Glass is and was cheaper than shell and as such, found a large market in the Americas allowing trade of the new wampum beads to flourish. As glass wampum became readily available as a trade item, more Indian people utilized it for jewelry. By the close of the 18th century, many wampum adornments were no longer woven from clamshell but from the easily obtainable trade Czech glass. Even today, an authentic clamshell wampum belt would cost thousand of dollars ... evidence of the value wampum still maintains centuries later.

This pair of legging ties would make a great addition for any woodland Indian or Longhunter reenactor. It would also make a beautiful addition as a decorative piece for any frontier motif in your home or office.

Please feel free to email me any questions you may have, or for information on custom work. You may also view more of my woodland items on ebay’s MY STORE at Art of America Past Gallery. There is also a wide selection of my eastern frontier artwork which has been featured many times as cover art on the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association’s magazine MUZZLE BLASTS.