Dentalium – Wampum Disk Beads 1 Tear 2 Purple Hearts
$50.00
Dentalium Wampum Disk Beads 1 Tear 2 Purple Hearts Earrings are a rich and ceremonial tribute to the wealth, beauty, and sacred heritage of Native American tradition. Deep purple, white, silver, brown, and shimmering iridescent purple tones flow through dentalium shells, wampum disks, and pearl beads in this striking 1.25 × 6.5-inch design, honoring the profound cultural and ceremonial significance of both dentalium and wampum shells in Indigenous culture.
Description
Dentalium Wampum Disk Beads 1 Tear 2 Purple Hearts Earrings are a deeply meaningful and beautifully layered expression of cultural heritage and artisan mastery. Measuring 1.25 × 6.5 inches, dentalium shells are carefully assembled with wampum disks, silver beads, glass beads, silver cone beads, and lustrous pearl beads on a leather base, handwoven with Nymo thread and finished with surgical steel components in a rich, spiritual palette of purple, white, silver, brown, and iridescent purple. The single cascading tear drop silhouette flows with graceful elegance, while the two purple heart motifs introduce a tender and intimate dimension of compassion, connection, and sacred relationship at the heart of the design. The iridescent purple tones shift and glow with every movement, adding an ethereal, mystical quality that feels entirely fitting for a piece rooted in ceremony and cultural memory.
In Native American traditions, dentalium — or tusk shells — are small tubular mollusk shells historically harvested from the Pacific Northwest, particularly around Vancouver Island. Highly prized for their rarity and natural beauty, dentalium shells were used by Indigenous peoples across America as a valued form of currency, trade, and regalia. Carefully harvested and widely traded among nations, they were used to adorn dresses, necklaces, earrings, and ceremonial accessories, symbolizing wealth, status, and cultural distinction. To wear dentalium is to carry the legacy of generations of Indigenous artistry, trade, and cultural pride.
Wampum disks, crafted from sacred Whelk and Purple Quahog clamshells, hold a profound and separate place in the traditions of Eastern Woodland Indigenous nations. Painstakingly hand-crafted and shaped into disks and beads, wampum served as both currency and as sacred markers of important occasions, ceremonies, storytelling, and diplomatic agreements. To incorporate wampum alongside dentalium is to bring together two of the most historically significant and culturally revered materials in all of Indigenous adornment — a powerful union of heritage, ceremony, and meaning.
The deep purple and iridescent purple tones speak to spiritual depth, intuition, and the sacred mysteries of the natural world, while the warm brown leather and crisp silver accents ground the design in organic tradition and luminous refinement. The two purple hearts weave themes of compassion, duality, and sacred connection throughout, completing a piece of remarkable cultural depth and visual beauty.
Dentalium Wampum Disk Beads 1 Tear 2 Purple Hearts Earrings honor this rich legacy through deep, ceremonial design and heartfelt detail — a wearable tribute to heritage, sacred relationship, and the enduring cultural significance of two of nature’s most treasured shells.
Details
- Colors: Purple, white, silver, brown, iridescent purple
- Materials: Dentalium shells, wampum disks, silver beads, glass beads, silver cone beads, pearl beads, leather, Nymo thread, surgical steel
- Size: 1.25 × 6.5 inches
Care Instructions: Wipe with damp cloth and keep dry. Dentalium is a delicate shell and can break or crack if you are rough with it. Even though the Nymo thread is nylon based and is very strong, pulling hard and yanking on the earrings can tear the thread. Please be kind to these earrings when you wear them.
