Wampumpeag is a traditional shell bead of the Onondaga and the Haudenosaunee Peoples of Turtle Island. The term wampumpeag refers to beads cut from the white and purple parts of the Channeled whelk shell Busycotypus canaliculatus or Busycotypus carica. The shell is thought of as a living record. The wampumpeag beads were strung on lengths of thread or string and worked back and forth to form so-called “Wampum Belts”. These belts served as a person’s credentials or a certificate of authority. It was used for official purposes and religious ceremonies and in the case of the joining of the League of Nations was used as a way to bind peace. Every Chief of the Confederacy and every Clan Mother has a certain string or strings of Wampum that serves as their certificate of office. When they pass on or are removed from their station the string will then pass on to the new leader. Runners carrying messages would not be taken seriously without first presenting the wampum showing that they had the authority to carry the message. (https://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/wampum/)
Before European contact, strings of wampumpeag were also used for storytelling, ceremonial gifts, and recording important treaties and historical events, such as the Two Row Wampum Treaty of 1613 (http://www.onondaganation.org/culture/wampum/two-row-wampum-belt-guswenta/).
Wampumpeag “Cryptotreaty” on the other doesn’t use shells beads but uses blockchain technology – a form of digital record-keeping technology . With regards to the “conditions” for using WAMPUMs as a “Cryptotreaty” …. In the spirit of a Haudenosaunee reply to the initial Two Row Wampum Treaty of 1613: “You say that you are our Father and I am your Son. We say ‘We will not be like Father and Son, but like Brothers.’ This wampum belt confirms our words. […] Neither of us will make compulsory laws or interfere in the internal affairs of the other. Neither of us will try to steer the other’s vessel. …. As long as the Sun shines upon this Earth, that is how long our Agreement will stand; Second, as long as the Water still flows; and Third, as long as the Grass Grows Green at a certain time of the year. Now we have Symbolized this Agreement and it shall be binding forever as long as Mother Earth is still in motion. ….”
Please use them responsibly and in a sustainable manner ….. use them wisely …. and be creative!