Ceremonial flower arrows, "heper-ay"
date: label: Accession Date
content: 16 Jun 2005
name: label: Donor Name
content: National Museum of Natural History
notes: label: Notes
content: Bundle of 8 arrows tied together with fiber rope and wood shavings. Each arrow has hollow shaft and wooden tip. Other end is painted black and carved in decorative patterns. Wood shavings attached to end. According to Chisato Dubreuil, flower arrows have blunt tips and are shot at a bear during the "Iyomante" in order to excite the bear's spirit ("kimun-kamuy") for its journey to the god world. Later in the "Iyomante" flower arrows are shot into the sky to guide the bear's spirit to the god world. The leader of the sponsor family was honored by being the first to shoot the bear with a flower arrow. This arrow was incised with their ancestral sign to let the gods know who staged this event. Made for the 1999 NMNH exhibit "Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People" using traditional Ainu materials and techniques.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 1 Dec 2014
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Japan, Asia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Ainu
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2026093
label: USNM Number
content: E430678-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Arrow
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 66 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 18.5 cm
label: Height - Object
content: 5.3 cm