The Bullroarer Atlas

FONSECA2005-001 - ethnographic attestation

Pueblo Kisgo (Kizgo)

Colombia - Manzanal - Resguardo Indigena de Kisgo - Silvia - Cauca - South America - Andes

Play / practical

Representative—not this record’s object: Kaxinawa upper-Amazon bullroarer, shown as a regional stand-in; no image of this record’s own object...
Representative—not this record’s object: Kaxinawa upper-Amazon bullroarer, shown as a regional stand-in; no image of this record’s own object is available yet. Courtesy of the Penn Museum (non-commercial / educational use) Image source

Source term: zumbador

zumbador: Spanish source label; no secure Kisgo-language name

At Manzanal, Kisgo elders remembered the zumbador as a childhood voice that imitated local birds. A thin sliver of resonant wood carried one knotted cord, and its pitch shifted with speed, weight, hole size, and cord length. In 2005, children made the remembered instrument again and competed to send it singing around them.

A esta astilla se hace un agujero ... el juego consiste en tomar la pita y mover en forma circular la astilla.

A hole is made in the sliver; the game consists of taking the cord and moving the sliver in a circle.

Fonseca Camacho and Torres 2005:111
Object
Thin wooden slat with one end hole and one knotted cord, moved in a circle; pitch varies with speed, wood weight, hole diameter, and cord length.
Function
Elders remembered it as a childhood game imitating local bird calls; the 2005 recovery project rebuilt it and children competed in making and sounding it.
Map confidence
high - Rounded representative point within Kisgo territory near Silvia; not an asserted workshop or object location.
Source location
printed pp. 111-113; Photograph 13 p. 112

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