🎺 BrassNortheastern Woodlands, North America

Horn Rattle

Ga:gä (Haudenosaunee)

Hornbostel-Sachs
112.12
Family
Percussion
Origin
Northeastern Woodlands, North America
Materials
hornantlerdried corn

About

The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) horn rattle is made from snapping turtle shell or carved from cow horn or deer antler, filled with dried corn or pebbles. It is played as the standard rhythmic accompaniment to the water drum in Haudenosaunee social dance music — the two instruments form an inseparable pair, their interlocking rhythms driving the social dances of the longhouse.