Medicin's Man's Rattle (Tonga)
date: label: Accession Date
content: 18 Feb 1869
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. William H. Forwood
label: Donor Name
content: Army Medical Museum
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "MADE OF THE SHELLS OF SMALL GOURDS, PERFORATED AT BOTH ENDS FOR THE INSERTION OF THE HANDLE, WHICH IS FURNISHED WITH A SHOULDER AT THE INNER SIDE AND WRAPPED AT THE OUTER END TO HOLD THE BODY IN PLACE. DECORATED WITH BEADWORK, CUT FRINGES, AND FEATHERS." FROM CARD: "A BULLS SCROTUM, DIVIDED LONGITUDINALLY.SEWED TOGETHER AND ATTACHED TO A WOOD HANDLE 4-1/2 IN. LONG, ONE SIDE MARKED LIKE THE EYES AND MOUTH OF A HUMAN FACE. ORNAMENTED WITH TURKEY FEATHERS ATTACHED TO THONGS: ALSO A BUNDLE OF THONGS CUT FROM A PELT WITH THE HAIR ON."
label: Notes
content: Rawhide rattle, handle wrapped with red painted hide, coarse hide fringe with hair on hung from handle. Face indicated on one side of rattle with indented eyes, mouth, and triangular decorations. Other side incised with numerous circles and crescent. Downy feathers tied to thongs on center seam of rattle head. 8" (20 cm). Records: An Indian rattle used by a Kiowa medicine man. A bulls scrotum, divided longitudinally. Sewed together and attached to a wood handle, one side marked like the eyes and mouth of a human face. Ornamented with turkey feathers attached to thongs. Also a bundle of thongs cut from a pelt with the hair on. Received December 11, 1867 from Dr. W.H. Forwood. (Army Medical Museum Catalog, Section VI, # 4782) (C). (from Merrill, William L. et al. 1997. A Guide to the Kiowa Collections at the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, no. 40. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.)
label: Notes
content: Listed in original AMM catalog as #60, An Indian rattle used by a Kiowa medicine man, ornamented with feathers.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 2 Dec 2020
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Kiowa
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 416140
label: USNM Number
content: E8360-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Rattle