“Before Bitcoin, before Wall Street — Long Island already had an economy built on trust.”

Before there were banks, credit cards, or even paper money, Long Island had its own economy — and it was built on the beach.
For Native Nations like the Unkechaug, Shinnecock, and Montaukett, shells were more than decoration. They were currency, communication, and culture.

The purple quahog and white whelk shells that wash ashore were carved and crafted into beads known as wampum — tiny, polished pieces of shell that carried massive meaning. Each bead represented trust, trade, and connection.

Wampum wasn’t just a way to buy or sell goods. It was a symbol of honor.
When two Nations made an agreement, they didn’t sign paper — they exchanged wampum belts. Every belt told a story, woven with color patterns that recorded treaties, promises, and relationships. You could read wampum like a language of the land.

The purple beads carried more value than the white because they were harder to find and carve — each one a reflection of time, patience, and respect.

For generations, these beads moved across what we now call Long Island, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, forming one of the first trade networks in North America.
It was an economy without debt, greed, or middlemen — just trust and shared value between Nations.

Centuries later, colonial settlers adopted wampum as currency, using it to buy and trade across the colonies. For a time, wampum was so central to life here that historians call it “the dollar of the Northeast.”

When you hold a shell, you’re holding the original form of commerce.
When you walk along the beaches of Long Island, you’re walking on the ground that once funded an entire world of exchange, art, and relationship.

 How You Say It