Shell Game: A True Account of Beads and Money in North America

by Jerry Martien

Shell Game, a unique and revealing investigation into the nature of money and human exchange, intertwines two stories. One starts in Manhattan in 1627 with the transactions by which North America was "bought" by Europe. Martien shows how a gift relationship based on beads was replaced by monetary relations based on credit, and how ancient ways of bookkeeping, exemplified by the Iroquois wampum exchange, were replaced by a social contract based on scarcity and deficit.
Interspersed with his historical account, Martien tells a parallel story set in the present in which he attempts to negotiate a book advance, visit the wampum keeper at Onondaga, and unravel a personal tangle of love and habit in his life. Martien's search becomes a journey of remembrance and acknowledgment and an apology and condolence for cultural and monetary misappropriation. It becomes a pilgrimage in search of restitution and recovery that many readers will want to join.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1996

Reviews

[Ann Vileisis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazing little book defies categorization. With the sensibility of a poet and philosopher, Jerry Martien dives into the history of transactions by which Europeans "bought" America from the indigenous people who'd long lived here, revealing the fundamental differences in how the different cultures regarded exchange and money. While the Iroquois economy relied on gift relationships based on shells (wampum belts), colonists' economics depended on credit and debts. The legacy of this profound misunderstanding haunts Martien, who weaves a personal narrative through his historical research—a writing structure that enables him to question the meaning of money, to consider what ancient ways might teach us, and to ponder if there is any possibility for restitution. As he writes up front: "This is a book of acknowledgement, and a pilgrimage to the repayment of unsettled accounts." Shell Game is a brilliant, timeless, and beautifully written book that deserves a wide audience.

[Mikol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book in the outdoor bargain shelf at Magus Books in Seattle.

This was an incredible read.

First what is detailed is how the Europeans and Natives conducted commerce, a rather matter of fact description of trade and business.

Second the description of wampum and what it signified just blew me away. To this day in a vault below a building in Albany, NY are the original wampum belts that describe the contract made between the representatives of the Dutch and the native tribes in NY, Mass, Connecticut, etc. By contract, as spelled out in the beads themselves, the wampun was to be preserved as proof of contract.

Lastly, what followed was how the Europeans diminished the value of the wampum by substituing glass for shells and mass producing same. However the genuine articles were not about the "commodity" of the wampum belt, rather the value was determined by the story told and the agreements sealed by the wampum.


Mike

[Clarity Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this should be required reading in both economics and English classes. Told with a poet's touch for beauty and irony this book makes for an easy read.

[Velma]

Local author.