Whistle

Item number E206580-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

From card: "Two tapering pieces of wood hollowed out and joined. Reed, if any, missing."Ian Reid (Heiltsuk), Clyde Tallio (Nuxalk), and Evelyn Windsor (Heiltsuk elder) of the delegation from Bella Bella, Bella Coola and Rivers Inlet communities of British Columbia, made the following comments during the Recovering Voices Community Research Visit May 20th -24th, 2013. This is thought to be a Tsetsaut society whistle. This whistle was used during the initiation of a person into Tsetaust society when they received an ancestral name. The initiates would be confined to the back of a house for a period of time prior to the potlatch. These whistles were used to summon the ancestors of the individual being initiated, and they would dance and a crest mask would appear with connection to that name. Traditionally the whistles would be hidden while played, long ago no one even knew where the sound came from. Even today, the whistles are never blown in front of people, it's all in secret. Additionally, they were never used as an everyday musical instrument, whistles were a very sacred ceremonial piece.