Native American wampum for non-monetary uses and for use as money

Frederic Mishkin’s three traits of money are examined in light of Native American wampum. This paper explores some of these issues concerning Native American wampum and can be of help to economic historians concerned with money issues. The presentation is qualitative rather than quantitative. There is some attention given to the non-monetary uses of wampum in this article. In addition, a comparison of wampum to the stone money of Yap is provided.

Keywords: Native Americans, wampum, Dutch colonials, American colonial trade, necessary traits of money, Yap stone money.
JEL Classification: E40, N11