Wampum

• It was used as a unit of exchange, but its main function was much more similar to modern-day blockchain — a complex negotiated treaty or contract in a public ledger recording agreements governed by individuals, nation states, and nations.

• Wampum was a contract, but it was inseparable from the oratory structure of negotiating contracts, which was also meant to protect and communicate the shared values of your community. It was a record of an agreement that had been reached through the process of storytelling as communication. Wampum is a process of encoding abstract agreements — stories are literally woven into the material.

• Using basket patterns, wampum, songs and stories are ways for the community to remember — they are techniques of decentralizing information, embedding the same story in multiple formats. This was a way of ensuring that the most important knowledge of our communities would be accessible to everyonde.