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sinew and bone buzzer game


Nom de l'objet : sinew and bone buzzer game
Artiste ou artisan : unknown
Numéro de catalogue : III-B-8
Province d'origine : unknown
Province d'utilisation : part of a collection given by Richard White, a fur-trader from Labrador
Culture : Barren Ground Innu
Contexte culturel : The catalogue originally described this as a charm.A number of toys which at the time of Strong's fieldwork were operated primarily for the amusement of children and adults once belonged to a category referred to by Speck (1935, p.196) as 'minor magical playing devices'. One of these was the caribou astragalus buzzer, of which there are four in the collection. This toy is made of a single astragalus attached to a line of caribou skin or sinew, at each end of which are small sticks which serve as grips when the astragalus is spun...On a fifth specimen a caribou vertebra replaces an astragalus...Originally a magical device, this implement was operated to make the wind rise... (VanStone, 1985:35).We shall have to include, also, the twirling buzzer in the category of minor magical playing devices
for, while it is operated for the amusement of children as well as adults, the buzzer in its original function 'calls the winds to come'. The buzzer is made of a single caribou astragalus attached by sinew to the two sticks serving as grips. It is called tawa'batsigan (Michikamau, Ste. Marguerite), twe'batsigan (Lac St. John) (Speck, 1977[1935]:203).
Date de fin de production : unknown
Fonctions : It's on the leg, and it's called pupuke. It has been cut in half. I can see where it was cut. It must be cut this way and then made. It is made from a caribou long hind leg [bone], it's on the leg. You probably saw one before on the caribou leg. Innu call it pupuke. Children used to play with it. It makes a loud sound. This is what children used for a toy. Men made them. My grandfather [Edward Mishtapesh Rich] used to make them too. He was an old man - Matinen (Rich) Katshinak.
Publications ou références : Frank Speck. 1977[1935]. Naskapi. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. James W. VanStone. 1985. Material Culture of the Davis Inlet and Barren Ground Naskapi: the William Duncan Strong Collection. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History. Fieldiana, Anthropology New Series No.7.
Établissement : The Rooms, Provincial Museum  Facebook-The Rooms, Provincial Museum  Twitter-The Rooms, Provincial Museum 
Ville de l'établissement : St. John's
Province de l'établissement : Newfoundland and Labrador

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