The National Museum of Denmark has completed the return of two rare 18th-century wampum belts to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in North America. These belts, woven from purple and white quahog clam shells, were used as mnemonic devices to record treaties and significant diplomatic events before they were acquired by Danish collectors in the 1850s.
Cultural leaders from the Confederacy accepted the items in a private ceremony, noting that the return of these 'living records' is vital for the restoration of indigenous history and law. The museum stated that the repatriation follows a detailed provenance review that acknowledged the items as sacred community property that should never have been considered personal curiosities.