Seawan \Sea"wan\, Seawant \Sea"want\, n.
The name used by the Algonquin Indians for the shell beads
which passed among the Indians as money.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Seawan was of two kinds; {wampum}, white, and
{suckanhock}, black or purple, -- the former having
half the value of the latter. Many writers, however,
use the terms seawan and {wampum} indiscriminately.
--Bartlett.
[1913 Webster]