STEWART1941-009 - ethnographic attestation
Tago-toka Northern Paiute, Owyhee River (now Duck Valley)
United States - Owyhee River, southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon - North America - Great Basin
Weather / fertility magic
wimo'to English
Source term: bull-roarer (wimo'to)
Wimo'to: Stewart's survey-wide Northern Paiute element heading for the bullroarer.
On the Owyhee, where Idaho, Oregon and Nevada nearly meet, the wimo'to was swung to bring wind and was not given to children — a weather instrument, kept out of play, matching what three other eastern bands said independently.
- Object
- A wooden whirrer; not described further.
- Function
- Swung to make the wind blow; toy use denied.
- Map confidence
- medium - Owyhee River near Jordan Valley on the Idaho-Oregon line, the aboriginal territory Stewart assigns the band. Territory anchor for the named people; not a use site.
- Source location
- Stewart 1941, pp. 361, 364, 401, 403
- Weather magic