Purple Wampum shell - handmade earrings💜 🐚

Large oval, teardrop purple wampum shell earrings. Beautiful hues of purple on the front and white on the back. These earrings are even more stunning in person!💜 Earrings are comfortable, not too heavy, solidly made. Shells are polished to a high shine. Wampum is a traditional shell bead of the Native American tribes of the Eastern Woodlands. The beads are harvested from the shells of Western North Atlantic hard-shelled clams and are typically white and purple. Native Americans would harvest the clams in the summer and eat their contents before working on the shells. The process of creating wampum was long and hard, usually taking a full day to make just one bead. Shells would be ground or drilled down very carefully using rocks. Not only was the process difficult, but it was also somewhat dangerous, fine dust from the shaved off shells could cut up the lungs if ingested so Native Americans would often use water to limit the dust. *Natural wampum shell *Argentium silver jump rings and French ear wires *Handmade by Stacee K. of SunFire Studio in her shop in Flagstaff, AZ This listing is for the earrings only. The necklace shown is available in a separate listing! These are the exact pair of earrings you will receive. These earrings are also available for purchase at Stacee’s shop in Downtown Flagstaff at Timeless Treasures 118 S. Beaver Street.