Dance Sling Item Number: 3486/41 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
A dance sling (wichi wichi) consisting of a main solid braid with a finger-woven cradle, hand loop, and six tassels. The cradle, which is made of 3 strips that are loosely sewn together, was probably intended to hold a fruit or gourd during a dance. The braid is made up of 16 strands.
Different types of slings are used for different purposes in the Andes. Some are used for hunting or herding, but another type is used as a dance accessory. In the Cusco region, the type that has a small vestigial cradle and many colourful tassels attached near one end of the braid (in Quechua, called a 'wichi wichi'), is used as a dance sling. Sometimes secondary braids with many tassels are suspended from the main braid, and these are worn across the chest or around the waist, with the tassels mainly hanging below the waist. Another type of dance sling, which incorporates pieces of camelid pelt, is used in the Puno area by men and women in the wiphala dance, a dance that ensures success in hunting. This sling was used by the "negrito" character in the Candelaria fiesta, which takes place on February 2nd. It is also used for Carnival dances, around February 20th.
Purchased by the donor in 1983, from the maker, in Taquile.
Sling handles are usually made as solid braids, a technique that is done by holding the braid in one’s fist and crossing threads from the four quadrants across the crown of the braid. Variations in colour, slant, and sequence in the crossing threads produce a variety of diamond or oblique patterns.