Definition of: wampum

(wom′pəm, wôm′-) noun
1. Beads made of the interior parts of shells, formerly used as currency among North American Indians and between the Indians and white settlers: used loose, strung on strings, and also made into belts, scarfs, etc. The strings were often worn as ornaments, necklaces, bracelets, etc. The belts, woven with symbolic designs, were used in rituals, official communications, proposals, ratification of treaties, alliances, etc. The beads were either black, dark–purple, or white, the last being specifically wam′pum·peag (-pēg). The dark beads were double the value of the white. See SEAWAN.
2. Colloq. Money. [<Algonquian wampum(peage), lit., a white (string of beads)]
WAMPUM
The historic Pennwampum
— Iroquois Indian.