The Mechanisms of White Wampum Settlement

On the commission of a murder, the affair was taken up by the tribes to which the parties belonged. The first council ascertained whether the offender was willing to confess his crime and to make atonement. If he was, the council immediately sent a belt of white wampum in his name to the other council. It then endeavoured to pacify the family of the deceased - but it wasn't payment for their son's life. In many cases, there was also some way to manipulate the system so that payments meant to assuage rage were turned into ways of creating a new life. A woman who would then be formally married to the dead man.