Shaman's Rattle

Item number E20583-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

Public

Item Records

This page shows all the information we have about this item. Both the institution that physically holds this item, and RRN members have contributed the knowledge on this page. You’re looking at the item record provided by the holding institution. If you scroll further down the page, you’ll see the information from RRN members, and can share your own knowledge too.

The RRN processes the information it receives from each institution to make it more readable and easier to search. If you’re doing in-depth research on this item, be sure to take a look at the Data Source tab to see the information exactly as it was provided by the institution.

These records are easy to share because each has a unique web address. You can copy and paste the location from your browser’s address bar into an email, word document, or chat message to share this item with others.

Data
Data Source

This information was automatically generated from data provided by National Museum of Natural History. It has been standardized to aid in finding and grouping information within the RRN. Accuracy and meaning should be verified from the Data Source tab.

Notes

FROM CARD: "OVOID-SHAPED; TWO PIECES OF CARVED WOOD JOINED WITH LEATHER THONGS. ANTHROPOMORPHIC FACE WITH FROGS ON THE FOREHEAD AND CHEEKS. "A REPRESENTATION OF HOW FROGS AND TOADS COME WITH THE RAIN. FROGS ARE SHOWN SPRINGING FROM THE EYES OF T'KUL, THE SPIRIT OF THE WIND." SEE: USNM AR 1888, PL. 58, FIG. 306, P. 330; AND PL. 60, FIG. 318."This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=520, retrieved 3-31-2012: Rattle, Tsimshian. Frogs appear often on shamanic art because they were imagined as primordial, partly human creatures that retained supernatural power from early times. They lived in the dark before Raven brought the sun, and they made fun of the great trickster; in anger he caused the North Wind to blow the frogs away and freeze them onto rocks. This shaman's rattle shows frogs that appear with the rain, springing from the eyes of South Wind, who brings rain and desires the world to be green as in spring. The back of the rattle shows the wind's arms, legs, and body. “He is showing this look, like a trance; the eyes are underneath the lids, rolled back. Having these frogs come out, too – frogs were the shaman's messengers.” - David Boxley (Tsimshian), 2009.