Meanings (ES + gloss)
chaquira • wampum
Small cylindrical beads made from polished shells (especially white ones) which have been strung together, formerly used by Native American peoples of eastern North America for various purposes including as jewellery and money, and for record-keeping; (countable, archaic) one such bead.
From his lodge went Hiawatha, / Dressed for travel, armed for hunting; / Dressed in deer-skin shirt and leggings, / Richly wrought with quills and wampum; / On his head his eagle-f…
[A]mong the Red Men of America the giving of the white belt of wampum was the deepest pledge of honor; […]
Phrases