Music is plays a huge part in every Native culture, though, each tribe has very different ways to express it. The photos above feature a rattle with a very unique shape; this rattle is flat! A common design to the First Nation’s Tribes of Canada, this flat rattle uses material that was easily found in the area.
The handle and rim of the rattle are made from a flexible branch that has been curled in on itself to create the disc shape. Two thin, wet, rawhide circles were stretched over the hoop and sewn together with sinew, making sure to slip in some dried seeds or small pebbles to make the “rattle” sound. The rattle would be left so the rawhide could dry and harden in its final shape before being painted and used.