PL. XXXIX—WAMPUM BELTS BELONGING TO THE ONONDAGAS.
The remnant of a very handsome belt is shown in Plate XL. Considerable wampum has been lost from both ends, but the design appears to be nearly perfect, and consists of a trowel or heart-shaped figure in the center with two rectangular figures on the right and two on the left. These are in white upon a dark ground. Mr. Beauchamp states that it is said to be very old, and is thought to represent the formation of the Iroquois league and to signify "one heart for all the nations." He doubts its great antiquity as the beads are too regular for hand-made cylinders. The belt is thirty-eight rows wide and about two hundred beads in length.
PL. XL—WAMPUM BELT BELONGING TO THE ONONDAGAS.
The large elaborately figured belt shown in Plate XLI is almost perfect. The lateral margins are white; a broad notched band of dark wampum occupies the middle of this belt; through this from end to end runs a chain of white diamonds, sixteen in number, which may represent States or nations. It is forty-five rows wide and two hundred and forty beads long.
PL. XLI—WAMPUM BELT BELONGING TO THE ONONDAGAS.
The magnificent belt shown in Plate XLII, is probably the finest example in existence. It is fifteen rows wide and six hundred and fifty in length, making the enormous total of nine thousand seven hundred and fifty beads. Mr. Beauchamp believes that this belt, or one like it, has been described as representing the formation of the League. From Webster's[120] statement, that it was "made by George Washington," he surmises that it is a belt memorizing a covenant between the Indians and the government. In the center is a house which has three gables and three compartments. Next the house on either side are two pictographic men, who appear to stand beneath protecting arms which pass over their heads, connect with the house, and grasp the hands of the first personages immediately on the right and left. In all there are fifteen figures of men, two being connected with the house; of the others, six stand on the right and seven on the left of the central group. It is suggested by Mr. Beauchamp that these figures may represent the thirteen colonies.
PL. XLII—WAMPUM BELT BELONGING TO THE ONONDAGAS.