I followed up this bit of googling and found this:
http://www.trends.net/~yuku/tran/9cow2.htm

giving details of Jackson's book description (1917), but the group message
is written by Yuri Kuchinsky, who is a well-known 'eccentric' on the
possibilities of trans-Pacific contacts (and, although 'eccentric' may
just possibly be right).

The word 'miigis' used for the shell in Ojibwa also means 'pearl'
and 'porcelain'
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/miigis.

The Midewiwin were a Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibwa, who stretched
from New England to the Canadian Great Plains (Manitoba in this case). It
would be quite natural for such a Shaman's Club to hold certain amazing
shells as sacred objects, for a very long time. The Petroforms mentioned
in the original Wikipedia article are arrangements of large stones on the
land surface that represent medicine wheels, astronomic indicators, etc.

"According to the oral history of the Anishinaabeg, they originally lived
on the shores of the "Great Salt Water" (presumably the Atlantic Ocean
near the Gulf of St. Lawrence). They were instructed by seven prophets to
follow a sacred miigis shell (whiteshell) toward the west, until they
reached a place where food grew upon the water. They began their migration
some time around 950, stopping at various points several times along the
way (most significantly at Baawitigong, Sault Ste. Marie, where they
stayed for a long time), and splitting up into a number of subgroups.
Eventually they arrived at the wild ricing lands of Minnesota and
Wisconsin (wild rice being the food that grew upon the water) and made
Mooningwanekaaning minis (Madeline Island: "Island of the yellow-shafted
flicker") their new capital. In total, the migration took around five
centuries."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anishinaabe_traditional_beliefs

I agree with someone's comments that some Wikipedia entries are nonsense,
because almost anybody can write them. But most of the responsible entries
link to original sources, which Britannica just doesn't do, so you can
check for yourself. That particular entry had such links.

And because Wikipedia is an 'open-entry' system, loosely policed by a
diffuse group of experts in each subject, it can be very badly mis-used.
Read, for instance, the awful story of Dr Taner Akcam at:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2469270.ece

But I don't find it all nonsense that 'Native Americans' in the middle of
the continent should retain and revere extraordinary shells. Everyone
else, almost, around the world respects cowry shells, and since 'Native
Americans' originally came from Asia, why shouldn't they do as well?

I don't know how long cowries last, but I suspect it might be a very long
time indeed, even in some shaman's pocket.

I do suspect, however, an archaeologist's identification of an Atlantic or
Pacific shell. Is Henk Mienis out there, looking in from time to time?


regards

Richard Parker
Siargao Island, The Philippines.

My website at www.coconutstudio.com is about the island and its people,
coastal early humans, fishing, coconuts, bananas and whatever took my
fancy at the time.




On Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:54:57 -0400, Richard Petit
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Google for "Cowries money Jackson."  Jackson wrote a work presenting
>evidence that Cyopraea moneta was used in the U.S. at least as early as
the
>period 500 B.C.-500 C.E.  This search will turn up the date and title of
his
>work as well as many other references.
>
>dick p.
>
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I followed

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