Cedar and Wampum

Wampum jewelry and beads are made from the quahog or North Atlantic hard-shell clam.  In many indigenous cultures, strings of wampum beads were often used for storytelling, ceremonial gifts, and recording important treaties and events.  Today wampum belts are still a part of our cultural and spiritual ceremonies and gatherings.     

I like to incorporate cedar when making jewelry from the quahog shell.  Cedar is a sacred plant to the Abenaki people and other Eastern Woodland Tribes. To me, this makes each piece special to those that wear them in ceremony or in every day life.   I use dried cedar leaves as a smudge to call on ancestors for guidance and find balance in my life.

I carve all of my beads and wampum pendants that get used to create each finished piece.  Each cedar bead is first cut out using a drill press, then shaped on a bead polisher.  The last step is to hand sand them and treat with bear grease or mineral oil.  I enjoy watching as each bead takes on it’s own shape and color.  Good energy and thoughts are maintained as the beads are strung and the piece gets completed.