{"id":"ELMENDORF1960-001","label":"Twana rain-bringing bullroarer","people_or_site":"Twana (Skokomish and related Hood Canal bands)","country_current":"United States","historic_region":"Hood Canal / Skokomish River, Puget Sound region, Washington","macroregion":"North America / Northwest Coast","local_name":"","source_term":"bullroarer","source_language":"English","object_description":"Flat, long, elliptical blade of cedar, perforated at one end for a cord tied to the end of a stick handle.","function_summary":"A boys' plaything, believed to bring south wind and rain in hot weather.","attestation_type":"ethnographic_attestation","source_key":"elmendorf_1960_twana_bullroarer","source_type":"primary_ethnography","source_url":"https://archive.org/details/structureoftwana0000elme","page_or_plate":"printed p. 227 (index-confirmed: \"Popgun 227, Buzzer 227, Bullroarer 227\" under the Toys heading); Internet Archive search-inside scan position 606","map_confidence":"medium","plot_status":"plot_with_caveat","coordinate_basis":"Skokomish Indian Reservation anchor on Hood Canal, the Twana homeland Elmendorf documents; not a named performance site.","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"Twana boys on Hood Canal had two ways to make the air sing, and both, it was said, could bring rain. One was a perforated astragalus bone on a doubled cord, twisted and pulled taut at both ends until it buzzed. The other was a long, flat, elliptical blade of cedar, corded to a stick handle and whirled around the head — a boys' plaything, kin to the tops, canoes and popguns of a Twana childhood on the water, and the one that called up the south wind.","pull_quote":"It had no adult use nor any ceremonial association. Its use was, however, believed to bring south wind and accompanying rain, particularly in hot weather.","pull_quote_translation":"","pull_quote_cite":"Elmendorf 1960:227","term_gloss":"","cls":"play_practical","class_label":"Play / practical","color":"#24766D","is_candidate":false,"flags":["weather","toy_survival"],"f_jade_complex":false,"f_women_taboo":false,"f_women_special":false,"f_snake":false,"sources":[{"citation":"William W. Elmendorf, The Structure of Twana Culture (Washington State University Research Studies, Monographic Supplement 2, 1960), p. 227","url":"https://archive.org/details/structureoftwana0000elme"}],"source_citations":"William W. Elmendorf, The Structure of Twana Culture (Washington State University Research Studies, Monographic Supplement 2, 1960), p. 227","source_display":"William W. Elmendorf, The Structure of Twana Culture (Washington State University Research Studies, Monographic Supplement 2, 1960), p. 227","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"Flat, long, elliptical blade of cedar, perforated at one end for a cord tied to the end of a stick handle.","function_display":"A boys' plaything, believed to bring south wind and rain in hot weather.","confidence_display":"medium","attestation_label":"ethnographic attestation","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"twana skokomish","display_name":"Twana rain-bringing bullroarer","image":{"full":"assets/objects/pd_plates/MUS2026-011.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/pd_plates/MUS2026-011_thumb.jpg","alt":"The Makah Klokali-ceremony bullroarer blade, shown alone without its cord.","credit":"Densmore, Nootka and Quileute Music (BAE Bulletin 124), 1939, Plate 11 (item d)","license":"Public domain (U.S. Government work, published 1939)","source_page":"https://archive.org/details/nootkaquileutemu00dens","rehosted":true,"representative":true,"caption":"Makah Klokali-ceremony bullroarer blade, photographed without its cord.","pool_id":"auto-pd_plates--MUS2026-011"},"slug":"elmendorf1960-001-twana-skokomish-and-related-hood-canal-bands"}