Gradhiva No. 33: Wampum: Pearls of diplomacy in New France.
Quai Branly Jacques Chirac Museum.| N° d'inventaire | 25307 |
| Format | 24 x 29.5 |
| Détails | 168 p., numerous plates, paperback. |
| Publication | Paris, 2021 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782357441330 |
Exhibition at the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac Museum, from February 8 to May 15, 2022.
Towards the very beginning of the 17th century in Northeast America, as France extended its colonial influence in the region, small cylindrical shell beads, wampum —or “porcelain” to the French—began to be used as objects of exchange between Native Americans and Europeans. Among Indigenous nations, wampum had a well-established social and political use, often adorning prestige objects. Some Iroquoian nations made woven necklaces and strings of beads from it, which served to embody the given word. In an oral world where writing did not yet have its place, European nations complied with Indigenous protocols and adopted these “talking beads” to negotiate alliances and treaties. Thus began a history spanning more than four centuries, during which the meanings and values of wampum evolved in line with the political and cultural upheavals affecting the region and undermining Native American autonomy.
This exhibition explores the traces of wampums preserved in France, among the oldest in the world, and examines their meanings and uses over time. The dialogue initiated on this occasion between Abenaki, French, Huron-Wendat and Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) collaborators revisits the relationships resulting from the meeting of two worlds, indigenous traditions, European adaptation to these traditions, Iroquoian mythology and the Amerindian world in the 17th - 19th centuries, as well as the role of wampums in our contemporary societies, objects of museums but also of artistic creations, ceremonies and indigenous demands of today.
Exhibition at the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac Museum, from February 8 to May 15, 2022.
Towards the very beginning of the 17th century in Northeast America, as France extended its colonial influence in the region, small cylindrical shell beads, wampum —or “porcelain” to the French—began to be used as objects of exchange between Native Americans and Europeans. Among Indigenous nations, wampum had a well-established social and political use, often adorning prestige objects. Some Iroquoian nations made woven necklaces and strings of beads from it, which served to embody the given word. In an oral world where writing did not yet have its place, European nations complied with Indigenous protocols and adopted these “talking beads” to negotiate alliances and treaties. Thus began a history spanning more than four centuries, during which the meanings and values of wampum evolved in line with the political and cultural upheavals affecting the region and undermining Native American autonomy.
This exhibition explores the traces of wampums preserved in France, among the oldest in the world, and examines their meanings and uses over time. The dialogue initiated on this occasion between Abenaki, French, Huron-Wendat and Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) collaborators revisits the relationships resulting from the meeting of two worlds, indigenous traditions, European adaptation to these traditions, Iroquoian mythology and the Amerindian world in the 17th - 19th centuries, as well as the role of wampums in our contemporary societies, objects of museums but also of artistic creations, ceremonies and indigenous demands of today.