Wampum: Stories from the Shell of Native America is an exhibition. It’s also part of an on-going quest to find tribal regalia lost as a spoil of war over 350 years ago. This shared history connects England and indigenous America – then and now. Jo Loosemore explains how the exhibition came into being.
The belt in the exhibition. Image courtesy of and printed with permission of the The Box, Plymouth.
In 1676, following the bloodiest war on American soil, a wampum belt was sent to England. It belonged to Metacom (known to the English as King Philip), the leader of the Wampanoag Nation. Destined for King Charles II, the belt never arrived. Why? What happened? Where is it now? Its loss and location remains a mystery, but finding it is an on-going mission for Metacom’s tribal descendants. Accidentally perhaps, I joined their search for the missing belt – and, together, we found so much more.
A quest and questions
Four years ago, The Box Plymouth in the south-west of England, began preparations to mark the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower. That presented some challenges in terms of Mayflower mythology and memory, public perceptions of the passengers and the undeniable impact of the colonial past on indigenous America. Our approach was to work in partnership with the people of the Wampanoag Nation to tell our shared history of conflict and co-existence. The work of shaping a show – the Mayflower 400: Legend and Legacy exhibition – began in March 2017.
Understandably, the Wampanoag people have a difficult relationship with Mayflower history and its legacy. They are the People of the First Light, who have lived in the American eastern woodlands for 12,000 years. They were also subject to attack from European disease and capture by English adventurers. Yet they enabled the survival of the Mayflower’s colonists, before being subjected to decimation during King Philip’s War in the 1670s and generations of repression. Today the Wampanoag Nation includes the people of Mashpee and Aquinnah, as well as several tribal clans living in modern-day Massachusetts. They didn’t have to work with us, but they decided they would.
Following months of questions and concerns, our exchanges became answers and suggestions. The Wampanoag Advisory Committee to Plymouth 400 recommended we establish a partnership with SmokeSygnals (Wampanoag history and communication specialists) ‘to develop a foundation of a shared history between our people’. The mother and son team of Paula and Steven Peters recognised that we wanted to listen and to learn. My kind of curation is about being open to ideas, ready to create, and committed to getting the story right for contributors and audiences alike. SmokeSygnals transformed my aspirations, understanding and outlook on what the Legend and Legacy exhibition could be, and what The Box’s programme for Mayflower 400 would be. Their contribution also led to the creation of a second, unexpected, exhibition – Wampum: Stories from the Shells of Native America.
A surprise show
In November 2017, Paula came to England. She was looking for Metacom’s belt.
We began the search at the British Museum. There, in the stores, surrounded by historic wampum belts, she spoke in her ancestral language – a prayer. She touched the pieces of centuries-old shell bead work looking for clues. Were any of these creations Metacom’s missing belt?
No.
Then, I was unaware of the significance of the search. Now, I recognise what the visit meant and what it inspired. Walking away from the stores, through damp London streets, Paula explained her quest and her ambition. If she couldn’t find the belt in England, she wanted the people of her tribal nation to make a new belt to honour the old.
To be able to pray over those belts in the British Museum was an opportunity for me to be connected with my history and I felt like I was embracing my ancestors. The belt that we make will have an intention and will have stories. It also is going to restore this tradition to our tribal community. Inherent in the wampum bead, inherent in the making of the belt is medicine for us. It’s spiritual healing.
A new belt and a new beginning
We wanted to help - both with search and with the new creation. This was a partnership of possibilities and promise. We committed to finding funding for the making of a new wampum belt and an exhibition showcasing its creation and completion. Historically wampum was used in diplomacy and this project would connect our two peoples through time once more.
In 2019, Arts Council England agreed to support the commissioning of a new wampum belt – made exclusively by tribal members of the Wampanoag Nation, and shown as part of an exhibition touring to English museums along the ‘Mayflower trail’ – Lincoln, Southampton, London, and Plymouth. Paula, and her colleague Linda Coombs (a tribal scholar), returned to England to look again at the historic wampum here, and to teach us about its significance. We learned about the quahog shell, indigenous to the shores of the Wampanoag Nation, and the beadwork which had been created over centuries for treaties, ritual, condolence and adornment. They learned that we wanted to know more about their history and culture, the importance of Metacom’s loss and his legacy.
Back in America, they began the creation of a new wampum belt. Established artisans worked alongside over 100 community contributors to craft 5000 shell beads into 150cm of symbolic design. Ancestral stories were woven into the imagery and the imaginations of those who created the new piece. Film-makers and photographer followed the process. They documented history being made and restored in Native America.
On the other side of the Atlantic, we worked alongside our museum partners to develop a touring exhibition, which would welcome Wampanoag culture to England for the first time. Four venues – The Collection Lincoln, SeaCity Southampton, Guildhall Art Gallery London and The Box Plymouth, prepared to present the new wampum belt, its people and their history to English audiences.
The pandemic arrived instead.
The wampum belt was stuck in transit at a warehouse in Boston. The exhibition was in parts in Cornwall, Plymouth and London. But while the show was delayed, the partnership remained intact and fully committed to seeing the show open – somehow - in England 2020.
An exhibition and an understanding
In August, the new wampum belt arrived. It was unrolled for the first time in Southampton. I opened its box to find that it had travelled with a traditional leather medicine bag. Paula had felt it might be useful and meaningful. It was displayed alongside the belt, and remains with it today.
Despite Covid19, and colonial history, Wampum: Stories from the Shells of Native America began its national tour in 2020 and it continues now. Told by Wampanoag voices throughout, the exhibition explores their lives in America today, cultural history and the impact of the colonial past, as well as their creative aspirations for the future.
Wampum is sacred and symbolic. It carries the history, the culture and the name of the Wampanoag people. Wampum belts are a tapestry of art and tribal history. Made from the purple and white shells of the quahog and the whelk, wampum beads embody the Wampanoag connection to the sea and to life itself. This new wampum belt connects the past with the present. It honours Metacom’s historic belt and sustains the search. It also enables us to see and learn about wampum today.
This belt is uniquely and rightly a way to bring our story to the people of England and remind them of the sacrifices that have been made by our ancestors as a result of their colonisation of our territory. That’s not a pretty story. It’s not a story that a lot of people want to hear, but it’s a truth that has to be told in order to balance the overall history.
Listening, learning and living the past through Paula, Steven and the Wampanoag artists and artisans they’ve introduced to us, is a privilege. They have made a 17th century moment a meaningful 21st century experience. They are living alongside their ancestors, while reimagining a culture corrupted by colonisation, and living with its consequences today. That’s powerful. Together we realised we could shape a new interpretation of our shared past – and realise a more collaborative future too. We will continue the search for Metacom’s belt – in partnership – and with understanding of what finding it would mean.
The belt that belonged to Metacom belongs to the Wampanoag people. We don’t know where it is. We don’t know who has it. We don’t know if it remains on one piece or if it’s been divided up amongst many others. But we feel very strongly it is part of our story – it is a document of our history and it is something as important to us as the crown jewels would be to the Queen of England. It belongs at home among the Wampanoag. I don’t think it needs to live in a museum. It needs to live among its people.
Please share any feedback on the exhibition below.
Jo Loosemore is the curator of Wampum: Stories from the Shells of Native America and Mayflower 400: Legend and Legacy for The Box, Plymouth. More details here.
Notes
This exhibition is the result of a four year partnership between The Box, Plymouth (UK) and the Wampanoag Nation (US) and created to mark the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower.
Wampum: Stories from the Shells of Native America is on show at The Box Plymouth until 11 July, and then at Guildhall Art Gallery London from 23 July-5 September
Partners
This exhibition is presented by The Box, Plymouth in partnership with SmokeSygnals, US.
Our museum partners are Saffron Walden Museum and the British Museum.
Our venues are SeaCity (Southampton), Guildhall Art Gallery (London) and The Box (Plymouth).
Our funders are Arts Council England.
Our programme partners are Mayflower 400.
Our academic partners are the University of Plymouth and the University of Pennsylvania.
