No. NAMER-001
Tsimshian Thunderbird twirlers
Canada · Lower Skeena and Nass rivers, northern BC coast · North America · Northwest Coast
Sacred / spirit
"Thunderbird twirlers," they were called: a pair of wooden Tsimshian bullroarers, whirled in dances to make a sound like the rustling of a bird's wings. They entered the American Museum of Natural History sometime between 1869 and 1890.
Particulars
- Object
- A wooden slat whirled on a cord to produce a wing-like rustling sound.
- Function
- Sounded in dances to imitate the thunderbird's wings.
Source
Keddie, Bullroarers in the Indigenous Collections of the Royal B.C. Museum (2023), citing AMNH 16/390BC