No. STEWART1942-006
Mowataviwatsiu Ute wind-stopping bullroarer
United States · Saguache · San Luis Valley, Colorado · North America · Great Basin
Weather / fertility magic
munu'nunöpö
Source term: Bull-roarer: whirrer of wood
munu'nunöpö: the Möwataviwatsiu term for the bull-roarer in Stewart's comparative vocabulary (shared with one Moache list); no literal gloss is given.
The Mowataviwatsiu ran the bull-roarer in reverse: while Moanunts and Utah Lake whirlers called the wind up, the munu'nunöpö of Saguache was swung to make it stop. These are the people history knows as the Uncompahgre — the name dates from the years when several Ute bands were united under Chief Ouray at Montrose — but their own home ground, Stewart was told, was near Saguache at the head of the San Luis Valley, from which they roamed north and south.
Particulars
- Object
- Whirrer of wood swung on a string with a wooden handle.
- Function
- Whirled to stop wind.
Source
Omer C. Stewart, Culture Element Distributions: XVIII, Ute-Southern Paiute, Anthropological Records 6(4) (1942), Ute Möwataviwatsiu list; informant Wimövötö (Minnie Chester), ca. 83, interviewed at Randlett, Utah (p. 238)