No. SHIMKIN1986-001
Eastern Shoshone bull-roarer swung to bring a thaw
United States · Wind River country, western Wyoming (Wind River Reservation) · North America · Great Basin
Weather / fertility magic
Source term: bull-roarer
Power among the Wind River Shoshone worked through objects that compelled rather than asked, and Demitri Shimkin lists them in a row: an eagle feather to chase away clouds, a bull-roarer to bring about a thaw, antelope-hoof rattles to charm the herds. The roarer's job here is winter. Across the northern Great Basin the instrument is swung for wind, often a warm wind to clear the snow; on the Wyoming side of the divide what wants breaking is the ice.
Magic is often mediated through a compelling instrument
Shimkin, "Eastern Shoshone," Handbook of North American Indians vol. 11 (1986), p. 326.
Particulars
- Object
- Not described.
- Function
- Weather magic: swung to bring about a thaw.
Source
Demitri B. Shimkin, "Eastern Shoshone," in Warren L. d'Azevedo (ed.), Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 11: Great Basin (Smithsonian Institution, 1986), p. 326