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Clan of the White Shell Bead
This Clan has for its totem not a wild animal, but a material that
Native Americans made from the shell of a wild animal. The white shell beads made by the Chumash, particularly those on Santa Cruz Island, served as a form of money in trade negotiations between all of the Channel native inhabitants - both Chumash and Gabrielino. The shell used was the Olivella, commonly found on the beaches even today.
The Chumash name itself comes from a version of the word that described
the makers of these shell beads. To make the beads, they first took fragments of the shells and drilled holes in them with pointed stone tools. Once strung on a fiber string, the string of rough edged shells were then rolled back and forth hundreds of times over a stone to smooth them, shaped them, and create a regulated size and shape for each strand.
These strands of shell were then used as the basis for trade between
the different islands, between the islands and the mainland, and probably also between the natives of the Channel region and their guests who came to trade from across the Southwest and Mexico. The makers of the shell beads became prosperous because they were able to produce a commodity that was highly valued by others. And the shells could be stored and traded for food supplies when there were years of food scarcity - especially years when the materials a group usually gathered to trade with were not readily available, they could then fall back on the strands of shells and so were not as adversely impacted on by changes in weather or water temperature that would otherwise have limited the products they could gather to trade.
The Camp chose the Clan of the White Shell Bead as a reminder to all of
the participants that human society has uniquely developed the ability to modify and transform natural ingredients into new forms that then have additional value as items of trade and exchange. We expect the Clan of the White Shell Bead to develop a similar resourcefulness as their namesake, and to share their knowledge with the other clans for the benefit of the overall Camp participant group.
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