Fran Finley, age 13, of Shreveport, La., for her question:

WHAT IS WAMPUM?

Wampum is a name for white, purple or black beads made from shells. The Indians in the eastern part of North America once used wampum as money. The beads were also worn on holidays.

The color of the beads, made from the insides of shells and each about a quarter of an inch long, stood for certain things. White beads stood for health, peace and riches. Purple and black meant sorrow or sympathy with another's sorrow.

Wampum served as money for trade between the Indians and the colonists in the early days of America. Most of the things bought or sold were exchanged on the basis of how much they were worth in wampum.

Indians and colonists often exchanged belts of wampum as a sign of good faith.

In 1661, the use of wampum as money was stopped in many places because so much false wampum was in circulation. But strings of beads were still considered valuable for exchange purposes until the 1700s.