British Columbia
Northwest Coast / Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, (also called Kwakiutl)

Cedar wood, fiber
Late 19th century
Length: 9.5 in
Aerophone – Wind Instrument Proper – Edge-blown Flutes

This Kwakwaka’wakw ‘madzis’ is a whistle flute of the NW Coast.  It is constructed of two pieces of wood lashed together and is used in the transformation ceremonies. Of the Kwakwaka’wakw dances, the Hamat’sa is considered most important in these ceremonies.  The right to perform this dance is owned by specified families whose members have been possessed generation after generation by the man-eating supernatural being called ‘Baxwbakwalanuksiwe’.  The Hamat’sa dance acts out the transformation process of capture, return, and calming of an initiate.  In the ceremony, following the mourning songs the ‘madzis’ (whistles) are blown from behind a dance screen and sounds as though the sound is coming from another areas, possibly outside the Bighouse.  Once the whistles start, this indicates that the Hamat’sa ceremony has started.  The whistle sounds are to represent the sound of ‘Baxwbakwalanuksiwe’ moving through the woods.  It is said he has so many mouths on his body that when he walks it sounds like the whistles.

Resource:  Hamat’sa Whistle, by John Livingston (1951-2019)