Hamatsa Whistle

Whistles are generally used in indigenous cultures of the Americas to announce the presence of supernatural forces. In the Hamatsa ceremony, young male initiates who behave like wild cannibals as part of their initiation go through a process of four ceremonial cycles that calm and socialize them until they are accepted into society. During the fourth and final section, they reenact the unruly cannibal behavior of Baxbakwalanuksiwae (Man Eater at the End of the World). The wild Hamatsa dancer is brought inside the ceremonial house while whistles such as this one, representing the Man Eater’s many mouths, are blown.