Allen Hazard of the Narragansett tribe has been making wampum, a purple and white bead, from quahogs, or hard-shell clams, for the past 40 years.

The purple edges of the quahog shell provided the material for the darker beads in wampum. (Clay Wollney) The Native Americans who once seasonally inhabited the shorelines of Staten Island came ...

They would eat the meat and use the shells for wampum, or beads that were traditionally used as ceremonial gifts and later as currency. The Latin name for quahog, mercenaria mercenaria, meaning ...

The shells of the large, hard-shelled clam were used by the Indigenous Narragansett people to make wampum. ... “Over the course of a quahog’s life there is a lot of uncertainty,” McManus said.

The shells of the hard clam, or quahog as it was known to the Native Americans, are frequently found along the island's beaches. The name quahog is still used today, especially for the large adults.

BRATTLEBORO — It all starts by finding the right quahog shell. That's what Perley Murray, owner of Walks with Wolves Creations on Elliot Street, says about the process of creating wampum jewelry.

For centuries Native Americans treasured quahog shells, the purplish hard coverings of clams found along North Atlantic shores, which they fashioned into beads called wampum to adorn ceremonial ...

And I now have discovered a site in Friendship, once used to process shells for trade; namely mother-of-pearl from horse mussel, and wampum from quahog shell. Something not seen before.

It’s now gaining attention as the result of an exhibit, “Wampum: Stories from the Shells of Native America,” that’s on display at the Cahoon Museum of American Art in Cotuit, through April 16.

Here's some quahog history. The word quahog comes from the Narragansett Indian name “poquauhock.” Naragansetts used quahog shells to make beads that were used as money (called wampum).

Native artists bridge past and present through creations of a Wampum belt and quahog shell jewelry. Generations of Native artistry on display in Martha's Vineyard and Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

Quahogs are clams, but not all clams are quahogs. Don’t confuse the quahog with the soft-shell clam, which is a separate species found in tidal flats that’s used to make steamers.