Peter Minuit’s Wampum

Origin
Peter Minuit was a colonial settler, Director of the Dutch colony New Netherland from 1626 until 1631, and founder of the Swedish colony New Sweden in 1638. He is most famous for having purchased the island of Manhattan from the Lenape for 60 guilders, or the famously supposed equivalent of $24 (the actual price is upwards of $1000 in today’s money). Minuit also made another sale for Staten Island, trading cloth, axes, wampum (shell money) and other assorted supplies. Given the disparity between Native American and European business transactions, confusion ensued. The Native Americans understood the deal more as a rent payment rather or entrance fee rather than total ownership, as they believed no group could trade land. Many would stay or return to their sold land, bewildering Dutch settlers.

Effects
Rubbing between the fingers removes people from the area. The longer they roll the beads, the larger amount of area people will be displaced from. Each bead releases an invisible barrier that gently pushes people away from the epicenter. Resistance only causes the wall to curve inwards into a spheroid configuration, preventing people from holding their ground. The effect immediately ceases when the user stops rolling and the single thought that will flash between everyone’s mind is to return. In fact, more people will follow in their wake due to the traffic buildup from the temporary blockade. All who return will become fully entrenched in their activities and will refuse to change their course for anything less than an emergency.