{"id":"NAMER-001","label":"Tsimshian Thunderbird twirlers","people_or_site":"Tsimshian","country_current":"Canada","historic_region":"Lower Skeena and Nass rivers, northern BC coast","macroregion":"North America / Northwest Coast","local_name":"","source_term":"","source_language":"","object_description":"A wooden slat whirled on a cord to produce a wing-like rustling sound.","function_summary":"Sounded in dances to imitate the thunderbird's wings.","attestation_type":"museum_specimen","source_key":"mining2026","source_type":"museum","source_url":"https://grantkeddie.com/2023/02/bullroarers-in-the-indigenous-collections-of-the-royal-b-c-museum/","page_or_plate":"AMNH 16/390BC","map_confidence":"medium","plot_status":"plot_with_caveat","coordinate_basis":"approximate territory centroid (mining 2026)","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"\"Thunderbird twirlers,\" they were called: a pair of wooden Tsimshian bullroarers, whirled in dances to make a sound like the rustling of a bird's wings. They entered the American Museum of Natural History sometime between 1869 and 1890.","pull_quote":"","pull_quote_translation":"","pull_quote_cite":"","term_gloss":"","cls":"sacred","class_label":"Sacred / spirit","color":"#8A5A2B","is_candidate":false,"flags":["spirit_voice"],"f_jade_complex":false,"f_women_taboo":false,"f_women_special":false,"f_snake":false,"sources":[{"citation":"Keddie, Bullroarers in the Indigenous Collections of the Royal B.C. Museum (2023), citing AMNH 16/390BC","url":"https://grantkeddie.com/2023/02/bullroarers-in-the-indigenous-collections-of-the-royal-b-c-museum/","archive":"https://web.archive.org/web/20260516110350/https://grantkeddie.com/2023/02/bullroarers-in-the-indigenous-collections-of-the-royal-b-c-museum/"}],"source_citations":"Keddie, Bullroarers in the Indigenous Collections of the Royal B.C. Museum (2023), citing AMNH 16/390BC","source_display":"Keddie, Bullroarers in the Indigenous Collections of the Royal B.C. Museum (2023), citing AMNH 16/390BC","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"A wooden slat whirled on a cord to produce a wing-like rustling sound.","function_display":"Sounded in dances to imitate the thunderbird's wings.","confidence_display":"medium","attestation_label":"museum specimen","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"tsimshian","display_name":"Tsimshian Thunderbird twirlers","image":{"full":"assets/objects/KEDDIE2023-001_dhrx16_1166_inner.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/KEDDIE2023-001_dhrx16_1166_inner_thumb.jpg","credit":"Photograph Grant Keddie, Royal BC Museum (DhRx-16:1166)","license":"Courtesy Grant Keddie; permission on file","source_page":"https://grantkeddie.com/2023/02/bullroarers-in-the-indigenous-collections-of-the-royal-b-c-museum/","rehosted":true,"representative":true,"caption":"Whalebone blade with cord hole, Departure Bay, B.C.","pool_id":"auto-KEDDIE2023-001_dhrx16_1166_inner"},"slug":"namer-001-tsimshian"}