White Mountain Apache People / Arizona
Chesley Goseyun Wilson, maker

Plant stalk, horsehair, pigment, wood
1990s
Length: 16 in, Diameter top: 3.5 in
Chordophones – Zither – Bowed

This Apache “Tsii’edo’a’tl ” (Apache for “wood that sings”) with one string and a bow made of horsehair, is a bowed zither handmade by Chesley Wilson Sr, and field collected in the 1990s by Aurelia Hartenberger.  It is also called ki’zh ki’zh di’hi (buzz buzz sound), which fairly describes its musical properties.  Despite its classification, these bowed zithers are often called an ‘Apache fiddle.’  Chesley Wilson was a member of the White Mountain Apache people in Arizona.  I also collected from Chesley Wilson, Sr., a cassette tape he had made, performing, and singing with the Apache fiddle. Chesley Goseyun Wilson, Sr.  (July 31, 1932 – October 4, 2021) was a maker and performer of the Apache fiddle, singer, dancer, medicine man, silversmith, former model, and actor.  He received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1989.