Authentic Wampum Belts

Museums and collectors have tended to fetishize “old” and “colonial-era” Native American objects as being more “traditional” and “authentic” than objects showing any trace of modernity or showing too much cross-cultural influence. Yet, Indigenous artisans have long been in the practice of incorporating “new” or “different” ideas and techniques, and “old” objects have routinely been repaired, re-purposed, or re-made. Collectors and curators have also indulged in repairs and re-construction, but not always with Indigenous purposes in mind.

So, in classifying wampum belts, notions of “authenticity” might best be used to distinguish between Indigenous and non-Indigenous, or between factual and fictional histories and interpretations. Some old (circa 1600s) belts may contain newer (circa 1800s) Indigenous repairs and still be considered “authentic.” Belts containing newer repairs or interpretations introduced by collectors (circa late 1800-1900s), on the other hand, should be open to question unless they can be materially or culturally verified by older sources.