No. RAY1942-002
Wenatchi bull-roarer
United States · Wenatchee River · middle Columbia, central Washington · North America · Plateau
Weather / fertility magic
Source term: bull-roarer
The Wenatchi bullroarer was no toy. Alone on the Plateau, the Wenatchi denied the plaything use outright and kept the instrument for the weather: it influenced the sky, it called the Chinook, it brought rain — and children did swing it, at the direction of the old people, on occasions the old people chose. It is the one place where those two things separate cleanly, and it is a reason for thinking that 'toy' is very often a description of who is holding a thing rather than of what it is for.
Particulars
- Object
- Recorded in two forms, a wooden blade of cedar and one of deer rib, whirled on a cord held in the hand without a handle.
- Function
- A weather instrument, not a toy: swung to call the Chinook, the warm wind that clears the snow.
Source
Verne F. Ray, 'Culture Element Distributions: XXII, Plateau,' Anthropological Records 8:2 (Berkeley, 1942), p. 184, elements 4094-4103