Meadow Noonan presents ‘Native American Use of Shells’ for Pre-K to 5th Grade Students. She will be focusing on the hard clam (referred to as wampum in this context) and both channeled and knobbed whelks (referred to as roanoke). These species were historically used to make beads from various white and purple mollusk shells. Wampum was used as currency by both Native Americans and European colonists, while Native Americans also used it for ceremonial and traditional purposes.