New Mexico
Southwest / Zuni

Gourd, wood, leather, pigment, seeds
1993
Length; Height: 14.25 in; Width: 5.75 in  
Idiophones – Struck Idiophones – Rattles

Signed by the maker in white paint at top of handle stick: ‘93 / Me’

A Zuni ‘Sun’ Rattle, beautifully hand etched and painted gourd securely attached to a black painted wooden handle stick.  The Zuni are Pueblo people native to the Zuni River valley, a tributary of the Little Colorado River, in western New Mexico. 

As with most all Native Americans, religion is central to the Zuni life and is centered on three powerful deities:  Earth Mother; Sun Father; and Moonlight-Giving Mother.  Their religion is katsina-based, and ceremonies occur during winter solstice, summer, harvest, and again in winter.

Resource:  Bonvillain, Nancy (2011). The Zuni. New York: Chelsea House. pp. 18–23, 56–57. ISBN 9781604137996.