In order to achieve high level, wealth building trade between peoples you must have a system in place that benefits all parties. Everybody must be able to provide a product or service that is of value to the others. Everyone brings something with the expectation of receiving something. In Colonial New England and farther into the interior there was a European need for furs. They were not always readily available near the coast. The Europeans were not necessarily the hunters. The natives were. The Europeans were the buyers in this exchange. From the start it was a difficult process to trade. European items were hard to transport and often had little value after the initial purchase. They would only need so many pots and pans... There was also the issue of navigation. How could one get to the potential customers and various groups for trade? The answer was found in the intermediary tribes who often acted as trade organizers. The last hurdle was currency. If many groups were to come together to rally around the European desire for fur, there would have to be a currency that appealed to all parties. A currency that was measurable and transportable. A currency that had continued and sustained value among the natives. That currency was wampum. It's "discovery" by Dutchmen Joques Elekes would change the course of everyone's history... everyone's.

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