This Native American rattle is made from a snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina serpentine) resonator. A stick handle, inserted into the marrow canal of a deer tibia is passed between the carapace (top shell of turtle) and an animal skin membrane (turtle plastron removed), where it is secured to the rattle body with rawhide lashing. Several vertebrae (from a small mammal), feathers (traditionally from a bird of prey), and horse hair are attached to rawhide lashing at the lower end of the rattle. The contents of the rattle typically consist of corn or small stones. In the Iroquois tradition, the turtle is a symbol of creation and life. According to oral tradition, the turtle came from a place below the earth. On its journey to the surface, animals sprang from the mud and clung to the turtle’s back. Rattles like this are played in Iroquois longhouses by beating them on the edge of wooden benches.
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