Mempuc: A Sacred Currency for a Sacred Purpose

Mempuc: Sacred Currency & Modern Exchange

Mempuc began as clamshell disk sacred currency—small, circular shell pieces carved from thick California coastal shells. Each shell was carefully drilled, strung, and ground into a perfect circle. The thicker and more uniform the shell, the more valued the mempuc. For the Winnemem Wintu (and many other California tribes), these shell disks were far more than “currency” They were woven into baskets, necklaces, belts, and sacred garments as gifts, offerings, and regalia.

In ceremony, mempuc honored dancers, gave thanks to the land and water, and carried prayers to ancestors and spirits. It embodied reciprocity, relationship, and respect—wealth measured in cultural and ecological connection rather than accumulation. Chiefs on the Plains wore full breastplates of shell disks to signal status, and coastal peoples traded mempuc up and down the West Coast. Its name may be Winnemem Wintu, but the clamshell currency system was shared among many Indigenous nations. The term Mempuc was also applied to all feathers and regalia making items.

Today, Sawalmem carries mempuc into a new form through our apparel and merchandise. Each Tee and accessory is “modern-day mempuc”— trade it, gift it. a tangible expression of ceremony, culture, and community restoration. Designed by Winnemem Wintu artists on 100 % organic cotton (or sustainably sourced materials), our garments honor the same spirit of reciprocity that once moved shell disks.

When you wear Sawalmem designs, you carry forward a thread of a sacred offering and  a promise of renewal. Every purchase funds salmon restoration, reignites ceremonial fire, and stewards sacred acres along the McCloud River. Our products become more than a T-shirt, they are prayers in motion, stories of landback, and invitations to restore balance between people, land, and spirit.

Mempuc lives on—not just as shell, but as sacred exchange.