This circular string of wampum is said to have been made by Iroquois women under Deganawida's instruction. It was buried in a brass kettle for safekeeping during the American Revolution and brought to Canada afterward. It contains over eighteen hundred white wampum beads. The inter-twined strands of the circle represent the Great Peace and Great Law established by Deganawida; the fifty pendants represent the fifty positions on the Confederacy Council. The one pendant longer than the others represents Hononwiyendeh, the seventh Onondaga chief who served as wampum keeper for the Confederacy.
Courtesy: Canadian Museum of Civilization, National Museums of Canada (S82-325)
