Wampum Belt
Kaley Fournier, Mohegan / American, born 1998
2022
Wampum beads, sinew, and deerskin leather mounted on cedar
Overall: 5 3/16 × 32 11/16 × 5 5/8 in. (13.2 × 83 × 14.3 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of the Mohegan people to Dartmouth College. Transferred by the Office of the President, Dartmouth College
2022.24
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
21st century
Object Name
Belt
Research Area
Native American
On view
Inscriptions
Signed, on reverse, upper left corner, in black ink: KF Mohegan / 22
Label
Wampum has long been exchanged between Indigenous and other nations. Differing from written treaties, wampum signifies the beginning of a living relationship between two parties and their intention to continually discuss and revisit their mutual obligation to one another.
In April 2022, the Mohegan Tribe presented this wampum belt to Dartmouth College when Dartmouth repatriated Samson Occom’s papers. Occom was a citizen of the Mohegan Tribe and a Presbyterian cleric who traveled to England to raise the funds for Dartmouth’s founding. Without Occom’s efforts, Dartmouth would not exist. According to Mohegan Medicine Woman Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel, the purple beads signify a history of conflict, and the white beads symbolize cleansing. Thus, this belt “is a joining of two peoples who have been in conflict but are now one in friendship.”
From the 2022 exhibition Historical Imaginary, curated by Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art
Wampum has long been exchanged between Indigenous and other nations. Differing from static written treaties, wampum signifies the beginning of a living relationship between two parties and their intention to continually discuss and revisit their mutual obligation to one another.
In April 2022, the Mohegan Tribe presented this wampum belt to Dartmouth College when Dartmouth repatriated Samson Occom’s papers. Occom was a citizen of the Mohegan Tribe and a Presbyterian cleric who traveled to England to raise the funds for Dartmouth’s founding. Without Occom’s efforts, Dartmouth would not exist. According to Mohegan Medicine Woman Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel, the purple beads signify a history of conflict, and the white beads symbolize cleansing. Thus, this belt “is a joining of two peoples who have been in conflict but are now one in friendship.”
Today, this belt is used at graduation ceremonies and is passed between Dartmouth presidents along with the silver monteith on the opposite side of this gallery.
From the 2025-26 exhibition Revolution Reconsidered: History, Myth, and Propaganda, curated by Michael W. Hartman (Jonathan Little Cohen Curator of American Art), Haely Chang (Jane and Raphael Bernstein Associate Curator of East Asian Art), Elizabeth Rice Mattison (Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art), Ashley B. Offill (Curator of Collections), and Evonne Fuselier (Hood Museum Board of Advisors Mutual Learning Fellow)
Course History
Film Studies 42.23, Travelers and Tourists, Heidi Denzel, Spring 2023
History 63.02, Reading Artifacts: The Material Culture of Science, Whitney Barlow Robles, Spring 2023
Writing 5.20, Foundations at Dartmouth, Doug Moody, Fall 2024
Writing 5.18, Foundations of Dartmouth: Samson Occom, Edward Mitchell, and the History and Cultures of Native American, African American, and “Minority” Students at Dartmouth College, Doug Moody, Winter 2025
Writing 5.29, Foundations of Dartmouth: Samson Occom, Edward Mitchell, and the History and Cultures of Native American, African American, and "Minority" Students at Dartmouth College, Doug Moody, Fall 2025
Exhibition History
Historical Imaginary, Luise and Morton Kaish Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, December 17, 2022-November 12, 2023.
Revolution Reconsidered: History, Myth, and Propaganda, Harteveldt Family Gallery and Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 18, 2025 - August 8, 2026.
This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.
We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu