Making A Fish Skin Rattle

A set of 35 photos of Napthelie McKenzie and Jemima Charles showing the making of a child's fish skin rattle -p01 to -p04: Napthelie cuts and peels willow wands to be made into hoops. -p05 to -p12: He carefully bends the peeled sticks into hoops and hangs them up to dry. -p13: He celebrates finishing this stage with a little jig! -p14 to -p15: The willows are tied into hoops with strips of bark. -p16 to -p19: His daughter Jemima Charles helps with putting fish skin over the hoop. -p20 to -p24: The fish skin, either maria or jackfish, is then sewn around the hoop. -p25 to p26: Small stones or seeds used to be put inside, but now shotgun pellets are used. -p27 to -p32: More sewing closes up the hole and the skin is trimmed. -p33 to -p35: The rattles are children's toys and may in the past have been used in dances.

Historical note:

Photos of Napthelie McKenzie and Jemima Charles of Stanley Mission taken by Lois Dalby, DNS Academic Education Branch, as source material for developing northern classroom materials.