The tautirut is an Inuit bowed zither used in what is now northeastern Canada. The instrument may have precontact origins, it also bears similarities to some Scandinavian instruments. Melodies are played on one of the strings while the other serves as a drone.
Fiddle (Ki-Gu-I-Lu-Li-Ag-A-Ag-Ok)
- Notes
- From card: "An elongated balloon shaped body with a flat back and belly made of thin unvarnished pine. The sides are vertical, made of one strip of bent wood, the ends terminating in the neck, held by bent wood, the ends terminating in the neck, held by sewing through and through and iron nails. The back and body are pinned to the sides with wooden pegs. A square star-shaped sound hole is made in the belly, back of the bridge. The bridge is rudely made and has two short legs. Two strings of twisted sinew, their lower ends fastened to pegs driven in the lower side, passing over the bridge. Their upper ends ar fastened to a round knob projecting from the head. It has neither peg box nor tuning pegs nor finger board. Name of the bow: Pi-tik, shi-gak. This specimen is also catalogued uner No. 93,524."
- Illus. p. 54 in Turner, Lucien M., Scott A. Heyes, and K. M. Helgen. 2014. Mammals of Ungava & Labrador: the 1882-1884 fieldnotes of Lucien M. Turner together with Inuit and Innu knowledge. Identified there as "Eskimo violin with bow made from whale baleen (1883). An Inuit violin collected by Turner at Ft. Chimo, known as Kiyuiluli-agiagok to the Ungava Inuit(Turner 1884: 2312). This name derives from: kiyu, wood; iluli, hollow; agiagok, filer, from the word to file or scrape (Turner 1884: 2312). The bow, made from Bowhead Whale baleen, was known as pitikshigak, and the strings were known as Ivulu, the term for sinew (Turner 1884: 2761, 2257). Turner wrote that "... the Innuit are passionately fond of music," and "[a Koksoak Inuit] performer was able to play quite a number of recognizable native tunes upon the instrument.""
- Record Last Modified
- 20 Jul 2023
- Specimen Count
- 2
- Data Source
- NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
- Collector
- Lucien M. Turner
- Donor Name
- Lucien M. Turner
- Accession Date
- 9 Jan 1884
- Object Type
- Fiddle / Fiddle Bow
