dance-baton
- Museum number
- Am1976,03.9
- Description
-
Wooden dance baton carved a with human figure with a hide strip tied to the waist with four split deer hooves; traces of red paint on head and back.
- Dimensions
-
Height: 42 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- In his notes on this object (Eth. Doc. 1225), R. B. Inverarity records seeing a similar baton used in a dance:
"The quality of "power" itself is an amazing phenomena. In the early 1930s I was in a long house near La Conner, Washington, during a long ceremonial night. During one of the dances a stick was used by a dancer - - it was like a section of limb from a tree about 1-1/2 to 2 inches thick and about 4 feet long - - uncarved or as far as I could see unmarked. The dancer held the stick while dancing and he seemed to have extraordinary vitality. During the dance he passed the stick to another dancer who also seemed imbued with the same vitality. At one point the stick was placed on the ground at one side of the dancing area. Nearby sat an obviously very old woman - - my memory suggests at least eighty years of age but guessing the age of Indians is most difficult. Slowly the woman got to her feet and then grasped the stick . . . in a moment she was transformed into a most active, youthful appearing, dancer. She must have danced, what can only be described as violently, for several minutes, then placing the stick on the ground slumped back into a sitting position and continued watching the other dancers. The stick, I believe, had the "power" and the belief in this enabled an old woman to dance in a manner beyond her normal physical abilities."
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1976
- Acquisition notes
- This object was purchased from Robert Bruce Inverarity in 1976. In his accompanying notes (Eth. Doc. 1225), he records that he purchased the object from Altman Antiques, Los Angeles in 1948.
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Am1976,03.9
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: Item 9 (Inverarity collection number)
