Species used to make wampum include the highly prized quahog clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) which produces the famous purple colored beads.

She was holding Kevin on her lap, letting him gnaw on her strand of purple beads.

The first player to spell "Go Goddess Girl" in purple beads wins - and with luck, graduates to Scrabble.

The term now refers to both those and the purple beads from quahog clamshells.

The Hiawatha Belt is made of 6574 wampum beads - 38 rows by 173 rows, and has 892 white and 5682 purple beads.

Chaplet of Saint Joseph, which is divided into 15 groups of four beads consisting of one white and three purple beads.

In its final form, wampum was white or purple beads, cut, shaped and drilled from quahog and whelk shells.

The other morning, he helped Jewel string a necklace of purple beads.

There was a tray filled with costume jewelry, purple and blue beads in twisted strands, malachite earrings, chunky bracelets encrusted with different color stones.

The belts, which are composed of purple and white beads strung on deer sinews or fiber threads, tell the confederacy's history, he said.