The antap's warning at Ventura

Source term: bullroarer

'antap: Chumash for 'initiate, member of a secret society'; also the name of a ravine behind Ventura and of Cuddy Valley.

When the Chumash held their great ceremonies, the 'antap swung the bullroarer to warn the uninitiated that the supernatural was abroad. The 'antap were the initiates, the members of the society that owned the sacred dances, and their name clung to places. A ravine just behind the town of Ventura was called 'antap: through it many dancers made their ritual entry onto the dancing ground, and ordinary people were wise to keep away while the ceremony lasted. Far inland, a plain between the two sacred mountains at the centre of the world, now Cuddy Valley, bore the same name; there, it was said, spirits lit their fires at dusk and danced, making a whizzing sound.

in many ceremonials the 'antap would swing the bullroarer to warn the uninitiated of supernatural goings-on.

Applegate, 'Chumash Placenames' (1974), p. 199.

Particulars

Object

Bullroarer swung by the 'antap, the initiated members of the Chumash ceremonial society.