The Bullroarer Atlas

JSTEWARD1941-007 - primary ethnography

Smith Creek Valley Shoshoni bullroarer

United States - Smith Creek Valley, west of Austin, Lander County, Nevada - North America - Great Basin

Function not recorded

Painted Hopi tovolpi with cord and toggle from Shipaulovi, KHM Oslo UEM13727.
Representative — not this record’s object. · Painted Hopi tovolpi with cord and toggle from Shipaulovi, KHM Oslo UEM13727. · CC BY-SA Image source

Source term: Bull-roarer

Smith Creek Valley, west of Austin under the Desatoya range, kept the bullroarer — a flat wooden slat swung on a thong and handle — with no account of its use. Its neighbours down the Humboldt whirled theirs at the weather; its neighbours south, toward Death Valley, gave theirs to children. The valley lies between the two.

Object
Not described; the Great Basin form is a flat wooden slat swung on a cord from a short handle stick.
Function
Not recorded.
Source
Steward 1941, printed p. 307, element 1870 'Bull-roarer' entered '+?' for column Se - present, with Steward's symbol for 'Informant uncertain or his answer ambiguous' (key, printed p. 271). Informant dossier, printed p. 214: 'TH, full-blood Shoshoni man, born ca. 1870 or 1875 near Alpine in Smith Creek Valley, west of Austin; fairly well informed; passable…
Source location
Page references

printed p. 307, element 1870 (column Se, +?); informant p. 214

Source confidence
medium Centroid of Smith Creek Valley, Lander County, Nevada. Territory anchor for the named people; not a use site.

View source Open this point on the interactive map