Fertility Spoon

Item number 2790/26 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

Large carved yellow wood spoon with a handle split into two branches that cross just above spoon and near top end, leaving an oval space between. The ends of the wood at the bottom crossing are blackened.

History Of Use

Spoon (gâtchi) used during traditional ceremonies to prepare and serve soup. Only men are able to handle the spoon because of the wood the spoon is carved from. The lunar half-crescents represent a link between the living and the dead, showing that the spoon can purify concoctions prepared in an earthenware pot.