25 Mar 2023 16 Sep 2023

Wampum

at the Seneca Art & Culture Center, Victor, États-Unis

Shell beads from North America known as wampum are more than just a raw material transformed into beads Polished, strung and woven, exchanged and gifted, coveted and imitated, they are a valuable witness to a chapter in the history of New France in the 17th and 18th centuries.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

The wampum, a shell bead from the Atlantic coast of North America, is deeply embedded in Native American societies from the north east of this region. Originally used as an ornament or symbol of prestige, shell beads came to have a range of other functions in the 17th and 18th centuries, within the context of relations between the Indigenous nations and European colonies who settled in this vast territory, spanning from the south of current Quebec to the present-day State of South Carolina. Through the ways in which it was used, wampum represents a meaningful chapter of Native American, North-American and European history It also provides a valuable point of entry to understanding the societies that evolved at the time of New France (1600-1763), through exchanges, alliances and confrontations between Native Americans, French and English.

The exhibition sheds a light on all aspects of wampum: a coveted raw material made into beads and other objects like diplomatic belts, bearer of oral histories, a trade resource, sign of power and prestige, and votive object. Even today, wampum plays a fundamental role among Native American nations, notably the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), the Huron-Wendat and the Abenaki.

  • HEAD CURATOR

    • Michael Galban, curator, Seneca Art & Culture Center, Ganondagan State Historic Site, Victor (New York)

    Commissaires associé.e.s

    • Paz Núñez-Regueiro, head of the Americas Collection at the musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, Paris
    • Nikolaus Stolle, guest researcher for the CRoyAN project, musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, Paris
    • Jonathan Lainey, curator, Indigenous Cultures, Musée McCord, Montréal (Québec)

    Comité scientifique

    • Nicole O’Bomsawin, director of the Musée des Abénakis, Odanak (Québec)
    • Leandro Varison, head of research, musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac
  • Duration:  13:12
  • Place:  Seneca Art & Culture Center, Victor, États-Unis
  • TimeSlots:
    From Saturday 25 March 2023 to Saturday 16 September 2023

    Timeslot public :   All publics
  • Public:   All publics
  • Categorie : Exhibitions

Cérémonie d'accueil des wampums

  • [Translate to Anglais:] Cérémonie d'accueil des wampums provenant des collections du musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac au Seneca Art & Culture Center.
  • [Translate to Anglais:] Cérémonie d'accueil des wampums provenant des collections du musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac au Seneca Art & Culture Center.
  • [Translate to Anglais:] Cérémonie d'accueil des wampums provenant des collections du musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac au Seneca Art & Culture Center.
  • [Translate to Anglais:] Cérémonie d'accueil des wampums provenant des collections du musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac au Seneca Art & Culture Center.

© Seneca Art & Culture Center
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