5^6 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 189R. 



litis a reed or vibrating piece within, ;is shown in the sectional view 



(fig. ^). 



Rattles.— These are usually of cedar, generally in sections neatly 

 joined, elaborately carved, and i)ainted with appropriate totem designs. 

 The usual form is a hollow wooden chamber witli a dozen or more small 

 pebbles in it. The most primitive mentioned by the early voyagers is 

 composed of two hoops joined by a wooden crosspiece, the circumfer- 

 ence being closely strung with the beaks of the puffin.— (His fig. 73, 

 plate XVIII.) 



Lieutenant Kiblack witnessed one of the great ceremonial dances of 

 these people at Fort Wrangell, September, 18S7. Describing their 

 nnisic and musical instruments,^ he says: 



It consisted in riiising the feet alternately in quick succession as higli as possible, 

 Avithout niovini;' the body, to the sound of a drum, chorus, and rattle. 



He quotes Dawson's description of a dance: 



■" * " Some had rattles, and added to the din by shaking these furiously at the 

 accentuated parts of the song. * * " The drum was beaten very regularly -with 

 double knocks, thus — tum tum, tum tum, turn turn — and with the sound the dancers 

 kept time in a sort of chant or song. * -^ ^ 



And from Laugadorff:^ 



One of the dancers seems, as it were, to load the rest, carrying in his hand a thick 

 sort of staff ornamented with the teeth of sea otters, which he struck upon the 

 ground to mark the measure. * The women sit on the ground at a distance 



of some paces from the dancers ;ind sing a not inharmonious melodj", which supplies 

 the music. 



OREGON— (HUPA INDIANS). 



Drums, rattles, awl whistles. — Capt. P. H. Ray made an extensive 

 ethnological collection from the Indians in the llupa Eeservation, whicli 

 is described by Professor Mason in the Smithsonian Report for 188G.-' 



Speaking of the musical instruments, he says: 



Rattles employed by medicine men and in gambling are composed of many hoofs 

 and hoofl(^ts of the blacktail deer. Each piece is pierced through the apex and sus- 

 pended on a short thread, upon which four white beads are also strung. These 

 pendants are then fastened to a long belt of cloth or leather and worn around the 

 waist or held in the hand. The hoofs striking together produce a sharp rattling 

 sound. A small, graceful lens-shaped rattle, mounted on a. stick, is held in the hand 

 of the dancer. (Fig. Ill, plate 73. His plate XXYI.) 



The Ilnpa drum is a rectangular box, covered Avitli leather, and has little merit as 

 a musical instrument. (Fig. 118, plate 73. His plate XXVI.) 



The Hupa make tolerably agreeable music on a small bone whistle, made either 

 single or double. (Figs. 115-117, plate 73. His plate XXVI.) 



Professor Mason concludes with the statement that by the similarity 

 of these with the prehistoric instruments found in the ancient graves 



•Report U. S. Nat. Mus., 1888, p. 364. 

 ^Voyages, 1805, plate ii, p. 114. 

 ^'art 1, pp. 2:M, 235. 



