maracle: we were in turmoil.narrator: the color of the wampum beads in the hiawatha belt represents this period of war. g. peter jemison: the purple represents the time period of loss and of grief when this warfare was taking place constantly within our confederacy. narrator: the story recorded in this belt begins in the midst of these wars. (woman singing in native language) tells of a warrior named hiawatha who meets a prophet known as the peacemaker. (wind blows, woman singing) man (speaking native language): (fires crackling) (distant echoing) (waves crashing, birds calling) ♪ ♪ jemison: the story goes that he came up with a way of helping a person who is in grief by using this wampum to clear their eyes, open their ears, clear their throat so they could speak clearly. ♪ ♪ narrator: usg the purity of shells to bring a person to a clear state of mind is called the condolence ceremony. ♪ ♪ it was invented by hiawatha, and the haudenosaunee still practice it today. hill: those wampum beads are very sacred, very