Danielle Hill with the new wampum belt.

As we reflect on the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower – the ship that transported the first ‘Pilgrims’ from England to the New World in 1620 – a new exhibition is exploring the colonial legacy of the Puritan settlement of America

The story of Native Americans who helped the Pilgrims and unwittingly sowed the seed of European ascendancy in North America, is one that has laid submerged and sometimes been swept aside in the wider story of the Founding Fathers.

Now Wampum: Stories from the Shells of Native America has been developed by the Box Plymouth in partnership with the Wampanoag Nation in the USA, and aims to redress this imbalance by exploring their life in America today, their cultural history and the impact of the colonial past, as well as their creative aspirations for the future.

Wampum beads.

The exhibition centres on a wampum belt newly created by people of the Wampanoag Nation, alongside historic material from British museums.

As well as carrying the history, culture and the name of the Wampanoag people, wampum belts are a tapestry of art and tribal history. Made from the purple and white shells of the whelk and the purple quahog clam shells found on the eastern shores of North America, the beads and belts are said to embody the Wampanoag connection to the sea and to life itself, with each one imbued with memory and meaning.[…]

More: The Native American wampum belt telling another story of the Mayflower