No. KARI1994-001
Notniboddhi, the spinning one
United States · Middle Tanana Valley: Minto Flats, Nenana and Chena rivers, interior Alaska · North America · Subarctic
Function not recorded
notniboddhi
Source term: notniboddhi (n.) bullroarer
notniboddhi: bullroarer, from the stem botth 'roll, revolve, spin' (Kari 1994, pp. 40, 375)
The Lower Tanana named the bullroarer notniboddhi, from botth, the root that means to roll, revolve and spin. The same root names the fishwheel turning in the river current, the sternwheeler riverboat and the car. Lower Tanana is the Dene language of the middle Tanana Valley in interior Alaska, spoken at Minto, Nenana and on the Chena. Down on the Copper River the Ahtna heard the instrument instead: to them it was 'that which speaks' and 'that which blows'.
Particulars
- Object
- A bullroarer, called notniboddhi; its form is not recorded.
- Function
- Not recorded.
Source
James Kari, Lower Tanana Athabaskan Dictionary, First Preliminary Draft (Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center, 1994), pp. 40, 375