Whistle Item Number: A8374 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Large, unpainted, horn-shaped whistle. Has no air vent; mouth end chipped.

History Of Use

Sisaok dance whistle.

Narrative

In 1959 John Davenport Clayton sold this collection of Bella Coola belongings (A8360-A8376) to the Campbell River Historical Society (Museum). The collection comprised 17 masks, headdresses, and other ceremonial items, as well as 3 cedar boxes. In 1963 the Campbell River Museum sold the 17 masks and ceremonial items to MOA (not the boxes). Objects in this collection may have come from Nuxalk households via sale, or exchange (as collateral towards money owed on goods purchased at the store), or may have been placed with the Claytons for secure storage during a time of floods and fires, and ended up remaining with the Clayton family?

Cultural Context

Sacred whistle; not for display (M. Mack, 2019).