Robin Plotkin, age 13, Gulfport, Miss., for her question:

HOW WAS INDIAN WAMPUM MADE?

Wampum is the name given to Indian beads once used in the eastern part of North America as money. The beads were made from the insides of shells and were about one quarter of an inch long and half that wide. They were often strung on a strip of animal hide.

Indian beads came in white, purple or black. The colors stood for certain things. The Indians believed that white stood for health, peace and riches. Purple and black meant sorrow or sympathy with another's sorrow. Dark beads were often more valuable than white ones.

The Indians made wampum into belts or wove it into clothing to stand for wealth or power. In addition to using wampum as money, it was also used as decoration.

Wampum served as money for trade between the Indians and the colonists in the early days of America. Most of the things bought or sold were exchanged on the basis of how much they were worth in wampum. Colonists set up a standard of value for the wampum. Six beads were worth a penny in some places. A six foot string of beads was worth five to 10 shillings.

In 1661, the use of wampum as money was stopped in many places because so much false wampum was in circulation. But strings of beads were considered valuable for exchange purposes until the 1700s.