The Bullroarer Atlas

CCP1994-001 - ethnographic attestation

Bontoc / Bontok

Philippines - Mountain Province, Luzon - Island Southeast Asia

Sacred / spirit

Representative—not this record’s object: an Ifugao wiwiw from Banaue in the Philippine Cordillera.
Representative—not this record’s object: an Ifugao wiwiw from Banaue in the Philippine Cordillera. Yale Peabody Museum, YPM ANT 229683 CC0 Image source

wedwed English

Source term: wedwed (bullroarer)

wedwed = Bontoc name in the reviewed entry; no etymological gloss recovered

A violent death turned Bontoc mourning toward revenge. The wedwed roared with a notched mouth flute and reed pipes “to disturb the killer’s soul.” At the wake, old women’s annako challenged the murdered person’s spirit to strike back and restore their honour.

When a person has died violently, the sinongyup, a notched mouth flute, and the reed aerophones are sounded together with the wedwed (bullroarer) in order to disturb the killer’s soul.

Bontoc cultural synthesis, National Library PDF, digital pp. 15–16
Object
The source explicitly identifies wedwed as a bullroarer; construction is not described in the available text.
Function
After any death by violence, sounded with the sinongyup notched mouth flute and reed aerophones to disturb the killer's soul.
Map confidence
high - Bontoc municipal/culture-area representative anchor; the instrument entry is Bontoc-wide.
Source location
digital pp. 15–16; printed pages not visible

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