Shaman's Rattle
Reproduction - "Yakutat Bay - Tlingit Style"; Shaman's Rattle; wood (maple). Made in two registers - upper torso & lower torso. Glued together; Natural colored round handle is also two pieces - glued; tied with rawhide strap and held with one wooden peg at the end. The rattle is the figure of an oyster catcher whose body terminates in the backward - facing head of a mountain goat with a protruding tongue. Rattle is sculptured, painted and relief carved. The oystercatcher rests on two feet with his head down. There is a body of a dead man or a resting shaman on his back. The tongue of the backward facing mountain goat is predominant and extends back over the goat's head towards the man who is drawing secrets of life or spirit power from the tongue. The man's head rests on two faces; one on each side. The oystercatcher's belly shows the spirit of killer whale. The eyes on all figures are inset with abalone. Oystercatcher's beak is ivory or bone. The rattle is painted (pigmented) black with blue and red figures.
- Object: Shaman's Rattle
- Artist: Lavalle
- Circa: 1980's
- Dimensions: 12" x 4 1/4" x 3 3/4" wide
- Culture Area: Northwest Coast
- Cultural Group: Tlingit Style
- Cultural Context: Rattle used by Shamans in curing ceremonies.The Oystercatcher was an ideal assistant to the shaman. In nature the oystercatcher is often the first to sound the alarm with its sharp piercing cry. It therefore parallels the shaman's guardian role. A shoreline feeder, the oystercatcher inhabits a borderline zone between water and land which is suggestive of the shaman's role between two worlds - humans and spirits. The mountain goat also serves a role similar to the shaman. It exists in a borderline environment between mountain peaks and sky and can leap across treacherous chasms, not unlike the shaman. Depicted here is the transfer of power from animal to man through the touching of tongues, a common theme in Northwest Coastal art.
- Donor: Melinda Balaam
- Catalog #: 97.003