The use of beads for personal, spiritual, and cultural adornment has been common across numerous civilizations for centuries. The earliest beads came from natural materials such as bone, shells, teeth, stone, and seeds. Later, beads were created from metal, clay, glass, wire, and plastics. As people encountered other cultures, beads often served as a form of currency, as well as being used for ceremonial purposes.
Long before Europeans came to North America, the Munsee Lunaape (Lenape) crafted beads, or wampum, from quahog and whelk shells. According to Denice Neil-Binion of the Delaware Tribe,
“Native Americans were making, wearing, and trading beads at least eight thousand years prior to European contact. Archaeological evidence shows that Woodlands people from the Early and Middle Archaic periods (8000-3000 BCE) wore beads and pendants created from natural materials such as shell, teeth, stones, bones, and pearls.” [Lenape Beadwork, p.1]
The Lunaape decorated their clothing and accessories with wampum. They strung and wore it around the neck, wrists, and ankles. European traders and colonizers recognized the value of wampum and began manufacturing it themselves as part of their trade in furs and, later, land. Frederick Philipse I stored large quantities of locally made wampum in his New York City warehouse.
In addition to wampum, Europeans imported glass beads as a trade item. These beads were originally crafted in Venice, and later in Bohemia and the Netherlands. Thousands of European-made glass trade beads have been recovered throughout New York State, an indication of their widespread use and importance. An archaeological excavation at Fort Orange in Albany recovered more than 300 European glass trade beads dating to the New Netherland era. Avocational archaeologist Donald Rumrill noted that approximately 10,000 glass beads had been recovered from several Mohawk village sites along the Mohawk River in Montgomery County, an indication of their cross-cultural importance.
European glass trading beads were also commonly used along the coast of West and Central Africa in exchange for gold, ivory, textiles, and African captives. But long before Europeans began trading in the coastal regions, beads made from coral, shell, metal, and wood had been worn throughout the African continent. The bodies of many Africans from numerous empires and kingdoms have been adorned with beads worn around the neck, arms, legs, and waist. Intricate beading patterns on masks and costumes were also common throughout the region.
In New York and other colonies, the wearing of beads and other ornamentation was not generally prohibited by enslavers. However, the restrictive nature of enslavement made it difficult to purchase or make beads. What has survived has been well documented by archaeologists. Several graves containing beads were uncovered at the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan. Of the 147 beads recovered, only nine were found to be of African origin—specifically from a region in Ghana where a distinctive firing process has been documented. These beads are extremely rare in North America, as the vast majority of glass beads were made in Venice.
Three children found with beads or pendants were uncovered at the African Burial Ground. One burial contained eight opaque, yellow beads of likely African manufacture found at the throat of an infant, suggesting a necklace. Another 22 black beads made in Europe encircled the hips of a young child. The placement of these beads around the waist, a typical arrangement for women, suggest that the child was female. A silver pendant that may have been attached to a string and worn as a necklace was found on another child who was between 3½ and 5½ years old. The beads and pendant were almost certainly gifts from adults like their parents. These small artifacts allow us to witness the love and grief felt for a lost child.
Several adults were found with beads at the African Burial Ground. A mature woman between 39 and 64 years old was buried with two strands of beads of European-made glass in shades of blue and yellow. The smaller of the two strands was draped around her right wrist. The larger strand encircled her hips and held 70 glass beads, one amber bead, and seven cowrie shells. Beads and shells draped around the waist were common across west and central Africa and were often associated with femininity, sexuality, and female friendship. The cowrie shells in particular may give us a glimpse into her place and time. From 1700 to 1790, the Dutch shipped over 25 million pounds of cowrie shells to the West African coast, where they were used much like money. Archaeologists believe the woman was likely born in Africa, bringing her cultural practices with her. It is rare that cowrie shells would have survived the journey from West Africa and rarer still that the beads were not seized by enslavers. The fact that these shells and beads remained with her to her death and burial speaks to a profound cultural and individual resiliency.
Burials tell us of relationships, of family and kin but also of community and identity. Of the 376 burials uncovered and examined during the excavation, only eight were buried with beads. But these beads hold much meaning. Through these beads, a costly and scarce luxury for the poor and enslaved, we see how a community honored their dead and held fast to their African identity.
Sources and additional information:
Paul Huey. “Glass Trade Beads from Fort Orange Albany, New York, c 1624-1676.” Proceedings of the 1982 Glass Trade Bead Conference. Rochester Museum of History & Science, 1983.
Donald A. Rumrill. "The Mohawk GlassTrade Bead Chronology: ca. 1560-1785." Beads: Journal of the Society of Bead Researchers 3: 5-45. 1991. https://surface.syr.edu/beads/vol3/iss1/4
Linda France Stine, Melanie A. Cabak,Mark D. Groover, “Blue Beads as African-American Cultural Symbols,” 1996.
Denice Neil-Binion, “Lenape Beadwork.” Delaware Tribe of Indians https://delawaretribe.org/wp-content/uploads/Lenape-Beadwork.pdf
Warren Perry, Jean Howson, and Barbara Bianco, eds. “Beads and Other Adornment.” The Archaeology of the New York African Burial Ground, Vol 2, pt1. Chapter 13, Howard University, 2009.
Images:
Paul Huey. “Glass Trade Beads from Fort Orange Albany, New York, c 1624-1676.” Proceedings of the 1982 Glass Trade Bead Conference. Rochester Museum of History & Science, 1983. P. 109.
