Wampum
WordNet
noun
(1) Small cylindrical beads made from polished shells and fashioned into strings or belts; used by certain Native American peoples as jewelry or currency
(2) Informal terms for money
WiktionaryText
Etymology
Abbreviated from wampumpeag; falsely analysed as ‘wampum’ + ‘peag’; from ‘wamp’ ("white") + ‘umpe’ ("string") + ‘ag’ (plural suffix), in reference to the string of white shell-beads and not the individual beads.