Southern Alberta, Canada
Great Plains / Blackfeet Confederacy / Kainai Nation

Wood, paint, feathers, fiber
ca. 1980s
Length 16.5 in; Width with feathers: 30.8″
Idiophones – Struck – Indirectly Struck – Rattles

Signed/carved on underside of the chest: “HENY. CALLiNG. LAST / CANAdA”.

A signed 20th c. Northwest Coast wood eagle rattle from the Northwest Coast, Canada, southern Alberta, Kainai Nation (Kainawa or Blood Tribe).  This exemplary hand-carved wood rattle in the form of an eagle is adorned in white, black, and yellow paints. A pair of decorative leather straps wrapped in red cloth and bearing blue, white, and brown feathers extends from the end of the handle. Naturalistically sculpted, the bird boasts widespread wings, a prominent breast, and a petite head bearing an annular eye and a lengthy, curved beak. The back end of the figure exhibits a flared tail and a cuboid rattle handle embellished with an incised lattice pattern. Each plume of the eagle has been skillfully incised with great detail and care.

The Kainai Nation (Káínawa, or Blood Tribe) (Blackfeet: Káínaa) is a First Nations band government in southern Alberta, Canada. Their name Akáínaa translates directly to “Many Chief” (from aká – “many” and nínaa – “chief”) while Káína translates directly to “Many Chief people.” The enemy Plains Cree called the Kainai Miko-Ew – “stained with blood”, i.e. “the bloodthirsty, cruel”, therefore, the common English name for the tribe is the “Blood tribe.”

The Kainai speak a language of the Blackfeet linguistic group and their dialect is closely related to those of the Siksika and Piikani. They are one of three nations comprising the Blackfeet Confederacy.

Reference: “First Nation Detail”. Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Government of Canada. Retrieved August 20, 2019;   “Blood Tribe – Kainaiwa”; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kainai_Nation