Turtle Shell Rattle Use by Indigenous Peoples of the Contiguous United States: Ethnographic Documentation

• Main Author: Gillreath-Brown, Andrew
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Zenodo 2019
• Subjects: Turtle; Musical Instruments; Rattle; Ethnomusicology; Ethnography; Anthropology; Archaeology; Zooarchaeology; North American Indians; Native Americans; First Nations; Indigenous Peoples; United States; History of Anthropology; Gender; Music; Ceremony; Turtle Shell Rattle; Ethnohistory; Terrapene carolina; Chelydra serpentina; Trachemys scripta; Glyptemys insculpta; Gopherus agassizii; Chrysemys picta; Emydoidea blandingi; Ethnobiology; Creation Myth
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2545989

**When using this data and information, please cite all of the following: Gillreath-Brown, Andrew. 2019. Creation to Rhythm: An Ethnographic and Archaeological Survey of Turtle Shell Rattles and Spirituality in the United States. Journal of Ethnobiology 39(3):425–444. http://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-39.3.425 Gillreath-Brown, Andrew. 2019*. Turtle Shell Rattle Use by Indigenous Peoples of the Contiguous United States: Ethnographic Documentation. Version 1. Zenodo. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2545989 .Date of use: day month year.** *Please update year and DOI if you cite a newer version. The DOI changes with each version in Zenodo, or you can use the DOI to cite all versions. ** Example: Date of use: 17 April 2019. OVERVIEW OF CONTENTS The purpose of this work is to summarize information from published and unpublished ethnographies that document how Indigenous Peoples of the contiguous United States used—and, in some cases, continue to use—turtle shell rattles. The data contained herein have been used to suggest and support interpretations of turtle shell rattle remains recovered from the archaeological record across the United States. This compendium draws on an extensive database compiled and maintained by the author. The compendium lists the relevant ethnographic references; it gives the state and region of the United States and the Indigenous group that use(d) turtle shell rattles; it identifies the turtle shell rattle type and the various chelonian taxa by both their scientific and common names; and it describes the documented uses for turtle shell rattles for specific ethnic groups. I intend this compendium to serve as a summary of, and a guide to, the extensive ethnographic literature, which I encourage the reader to consult for additional, more-detailed information, as well as to understand the unique context. I used several criteria for deciding which information to include in the compendium. First, I was interested in what Indigenous Peoples used turtle shell rattles or turtle ...