Pacific Northwest woman wearing a dentalium shell bridal headdress and earrings; photo by
Edward Curtis Peoples of the Northwest Pacific Coast would trade dentalium into the Great Plains, Great Basin, Central Canada, Northern Plateau and Alaska for other items including many foods, decorative materials, dyes, hides,
macaw feathers which came from
Central America,
turquoise from the American Southwest, as well as many other items.
Nuu-chah-nulth people were the primary harvesters of dentalium shells. Among the
Northwest Coastal tribes, the shells were valued for both trade and adornment. Young Nuu-chah-nulth girls of high status wore elaborate dentalium jewelry. When the jewelry was removed, a
potlatch was held to celebrate, and the girl would be considered eligible for marriage.
Athabaskan peoples of
Alaska and subarctic Canada incorporate dentalium into jewelry with glass beads. Along with iron, these items were regarded as prestigious trade goods in the 19th century. Some very elite women from Plateau tribes wore dentalium shells through pierced
septa. Elaborate bridal headdresses from the 19th and early 20th centuries, features dentalium shells strung on hide with Chinese brass coins and glass beads.
Nlaka'pamux people have included dentalium shells in their relatives' burials. The shells are sometimes given away at memorial services.
California Dentalium shells are highly culturally significant to California tribes.
Yurok oral history says that Pithváva, or "Big Dentalium," a deity, created that smaller dentalium and dictated their significance as sacred wealth. Among northern California tribes, dentalium was traditionally the most important unit of exchange – incorporated into regalia and used for gambling and commerce. The shell's length and quality determined value. Highest quality shells would be about 2.25" long, and a dozen would typically be strung together, and a 27.5" string of dentalium was the price of a redwood
dugout canoe. Certain men, who became known as "Indian bankers," tattooed marks on their arms with which to measure the length of the shells. On the
Central Coast of California, shells of
Dentalium neohexagonum (a species that occurs from
Monterey, California to
Baja California) have been recovered from prehistoric habitation sites of the
Chumash, who apparently used these shells as tubes, possibly in
jewelry.
Great Plains Among
Plains Indians, dentalium shells have traditionally been associated with wealth and embellished women's capes, yokes of dresses, hair ornaments, necklaces, and long, dangling earrings.
Modern Dentalium shells are still used today in Native American and Inuit regalia as decorations and jewelry.
Middle East In the ancient
Levant, dentalium shells were used in the ritual burials of the deceased, although uncertainty, of its significance to the dead, remains. ==See also==