Choose Native American Rattles To Create Chic Southwest Home Decorating

By: Nelson Montana

Native American Rattles make great additions to any group of Indian musical instruments. Rattles are excellent Native American symbols representing Indigenous people and their unique customs. They are also some of the most popular musical instruments for use in ceremonies and rituals throughout the majority of Indian tribes. Rattles, for hundreds of years and for the majority of American Indians, have always played a large part in religion and spirituality as well as for use in social gatherings.

As you research the fascinating history of American Indians and their use of Native American rattles, you will learn that they are symbolic among the Indigenous people and are essential to the tribal ceremony in which they are used. It is said that they signify the animal, plant, and mineral kingdoms. The animal kingdom is exemplified in the form of the container or decorative feather of the rattle. The mineral kingdom is signified by the stones that sound or also by the paint used for the artwork painted on the rattle. And, the plant kingdom is represented by the handle.

When researching the uses of Native American rattles and how they are played, you will see that almost every Indigenous culture including the Navajo culture, play rattles in their ceremonies. Among the many types of Indian rattles, along with the highly sought-after gourd rattles and turtle shell rattles, the simple rawhide rattle is the most familiar in Native American culture. The patterns and symbols, such as the Navajo bear or Navajo eagle, used in the artwork placed on the rattles, differ with each tribe. You will find it interesting that the different tribes including the Cherokee, Navajo, Apache, Pueblo, Zuni and Hopi, can all be identified by the variations of the beautiful art on their hand crafts. Something these tribes do have in common is that they all play rattles in various ceremonial gatherings and as part of music, dance, medicine and spirituality.

The Indian rattles are really very beautiful and are fashioned using a number of natural materials such as turtle shell, leather, rawhide, bead work and Native American feathers. Fur, fringe, seeds, rocks, antlers, horns, bones and shells are used to create that unique Indian style. Clay beads, blue corn, manzanita seeds or small smooth rocks such as those found at the mouth of an ant hill, are also sometimes inserted in the rattles to get the unique sound.

Indian people have always used music, songs, stories and legends to express their cultural beliefs and customs to each other and to the outside world. It is in connection with these ways of learning that rattles have come to be an important aspect in the ritualistic ceremonies of the Indigenous people.

That is the reason there is nothing more fascinating than owning genuine Indian musical instruments and hand crafts. You can easily find Inidan rattles online and sometimes in stores that sell rustic home decor. If you are interested in authentic Indian musical instruments, or are searching for the best instrument to play in your drumming circles or powwows, you will certainly love the pleasing sound of Native American rattles.

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Craig Chambers is the director of Mission Del Rey and author offering free information online about using Native American Rattles for Native Amercian ceremonies and powwows. For more information visit www.missiondelrey.com

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