Keeper of Breath "Haboolm Ksinaalgat" *(gallery below)
A "Soulcatcher"(Haboolm Ksinaalgat, 'keeper of breath') is an amulet (Aatxasxw) used by the shaman (Halayt) of the Tsimshian, Haida, Heiltsuk, and Tlingit tribes of the Pacific Northwest Coast of British Columbia and Alaska. It is believed that most soulcatchers were constructed by the Tsimshian tribe, and traded to the other tribes.
NAMES
*Tsimshian: Haboolm Ksinaalgat (literally, 'keeper of breath')
*Haida: K’angitlkigya (Boas -Proceed. of the Am. Philosophical Society, Volumes 27-29, p. 192)
*Tlingit: Káa Yahaayí Shatl'ékwx'u, or x'aséikw- a daakeidí
*Kwakwaka'wakw- Ba'baqoayuL (Boas Soc. Org. Kwak. p.561)
*English: Soul-Holder (R.J. Dundas 1863), Spirit-keeper (early term),
Soul Trap, later: Soul-catcher
USE
*Sickness incurable by secular (herbal) means was believed to be caused by:
-soul loss: lost during dream travels, frightened out of the body,
or removed by a witch
-contamination by a witch
There were three elements to the human form:
*body (kada in Tlingit)
*soul (ka yahayi in Tlingit, " shadow") that goes to the Land of the Dead
& can be reincarnated
*breath of life (ka xa segu in Tlingit) the vital force that dream-travels,
leaves when fainting/illness, can be stolen, or be recovered
by a shaman with his yehk (helper spirit)
-F. de Laguna. Under Mount Saint Elias: History & Culture of the Yakutat Tlingit. 1972
To cure the patient, the shaman would wear the "keeper of breath" as a necklace. He/She would then travel to the spirit world by calling spirits using trance music, employing helper-spirit masks, and magical implements such as staffs. Once the errant "breath of life" (soul) was located, the shaman would suck the "breath of life" into the "keeper of breath", and return to the patient. The soul would then be "blown" back into the patient. Another use of the soulcatcher was to suck malevolent spirits out of a patient. So important was the act of blowing (with the soulcatcher) that the Tsimshian word for a healing shaman is, "swansk" (literally "blower").
.*Tsimshian Culture: A Light Through the Ages By Jay Miller p. 178.
NAMES
*Tsimshian: Haboolm Ksinaalgat (literally, 'keeper of breath')
*Haida: K’angitlkigya (Boas -Proceed. of the Am. Philosophical Society, Volumes 27-29, p. 192)
*Tlingit: Káa Yahaayí Shatl'ékwx'u, or x'aséikw- a daakeidí
*Kwakwaka'wakw- Ba'baqoayuL (Boas Soc. Org. Kwak. p.561)
*English: Soul-Holder (R.J. Dundas 1863), Spirit-keeper (early term),
Soul Trap, later: Soul-catcher
USE
*Sickness incurable by secular (herbal) means was believed to be caused by:
-soul loss: lost during dream travels, frightened out of the body,
or removed by a witch
-contamination by a witch
There were three elements to the human form:
*body (kada in Tlingit)
*soul (ka yahayi in Tlingit, " shadow") that goes to the Land of the Dead
& can be reincarnated
*breath of life (ka xa segu in Tlingit) the vital force that dream-travels,
leaves when fainting/illness, can be stolen, or be recovered
by a shaman with his yehk (helper spirit)
-F. de Laguna. Under Mount Saint Elias: History & Culture of the Yakutat Tlingit. 1972
To cure the patient, the shaman would wear the "keeper of breath" as a necklace. He/She would then travel to the spirit world by calling spirits using trance music, employing helper-spirit masks, and magical implements such as staffs. Once the errant "breath of life" (soul) was located, the shaman would suck the "breath of life" into the "keeper of breath", and return to the patient. The soul would then be "blown" back into the patient. Another use of the soulcatcher was to suck malevolent spirits out of a patient. So important was the act of blowing (with the soulcatcher) that the Tsimshian word for a healing shaman is, "swansk" (literally "blower").
.*Tsimshian Culture: A Light Through the Ages By Jay Miller p. 178.
_______________________________________________________________________
According to the unpublished field notes of George T. Emmons (1912-1915), the soulcatcher was:
*was key to treating soul-loss
*decorated with the image of a naxnox met in trance
*a manifestation of the shaman’s spirit helper
*Use: when the soul located, it is stored in the bone tube (soulcather), the ends plugged with shredded cedar bark to prevent the soul from escaping. The soulcatcher is brought to the patient and the soul replaced by placing the soucatcher on the patient’s head, or by blowing through the soulcatcher into the patient’s mouth.
*used in one instance to recover a lost soul trapped in another shaman’s corpse, inside a grave
REFERENCE
John Cove, Shattered Images: Dialoues and Meditations on Tsimshian Indians. Carleton University Press. 1987. pp. 222-3.
George T. Emmons, Unpublished Field Notes. held in the Canadian Museum of Civilization. 1912-1915.
_______________________________________________________________________
*Soulcatchers are also used to blow breath or water on a patient.
*Soulcatchers are a tunnel connecting the human and supernatural worlds
*the central head may represent the shaman who controls movement through the tunnel
*a famous Tsimshian shaman was named, “Mouth at Each End”
REFERENCE
Marie F. Guedon,“Tsimshian Shamanic Images” in Tsimshian: Images if the Past, Views for the Present. 1984, p.208.
_______________________________________________________________________
"A small box carved with magical symbols, the soulcatcher was carried by the shaman when he pursued the soul of an ailing patient under his care. Usually at twilight, the soul, visible only to the shaman, fluttered toward the horizon. With the stopper removed from his magic box, the shaman followed it, beguiling it with incantations. When he succeeded in approaching it, he popped it into the box, replaced the stopper, and returned it to the patient, who recovered."
Hawthorn, A. 1979 Kwakiutl Art. Seattle, WA:
University of Washington. p.249
"It is said the shaman on the north coast could see the soul departing from a patient's body, as if it were a firefly or small light darting around... The shaman's task was to capture the lost soul in a double-ended soul catcher, then trap it inside with a plug of shredded red cedar bark until it could be blown back into the patient."
MacDonald, George. "Haida Art." (Canadian Museum
of Civilization). p. 57.
"A particular type of charm, known as a soul catcher, is a tube carved of bone or occasionally of wood that was originally fitted with a bark stopper at each end. It was worn as a pendant by the shaman in curing ceremonies when it was believed that the soul of an ailing person had departed from his body. Only the shaman was able to locate the soul. He followed it, often chanting and repeating incantations until he was able to catch it in the charm. The soul was then returned to the patient who was expected to recover from his illness. "
Tangible Visions- Wardwell (1978) p.92
"Shamans are often charged with the task of retrieving lost souls of sick people. The shaman who possessed this carving would have traveled into the world of supernaturals, located the soul, returned to the human world, and replaced the soul in its owner's body. He is said to use the soul catcher to 'blow' the patient's soul back into his or her body. The shaman could also use the soul catcher to suck out intrusions that cause disease, or to blow away evil forces from a patient. ... These amulets were often worn around the shaman's neck."
Art of the Northwest Coast – A.Jonaitis (2006) p. 158
"Shamanic doctoring includes a great deal of symbolism. The shaman sucks and blows, affecting movements and displacements of spirit and supernatural power. A patient's soul was most likely to leave its body at dusk, and the shaman might then suck the infected soul into a tubular implement called a soulcatcher, cleanse the captured soul and return it in a healthy state to the patient."
Understanding Northwest Coast Art - C. Shearar (2000) pp. 98-99
CONSTRUCTION
*Tube of bear femur, incised on one or both sides, and often ornamented with
abalone shell
*A few older examples are reputedly constructed of human bone (see first four
photos in the gallery below)
*Often carved with land-otter or bear head at both ends of the tube, and a man-like
face in the middle.
- The land-otter and bear were imbued with great shamanic power.
-This form may have represented the ability to shift shapes,
or the mythological land-otter canoe, implying the ability to
travel between the three realms:
air/god realm (ki), earth/human/animal realm (taki), and water/spirit realm (teki).
*A shaman's helper spirit (Tsim: naxnox, Tling: yehk) may have resided
in the central head.
*The soulcatcher was plugged at both ends with shredded cedar bark, to contain
the lost soul, or to hold a malevolent spirit "sucked out" of a patient.
The amulet was usually worn as a necklace.
* Soulcatchers ranged in length from 16 cm to 21.6 cm (6 5⁄8" to 8 1⁄2").
REFERENCES
*Bancroft Hunt, Norman. "Shamanism in North America." 2002. Firefly Books. Buffalo.
*Wardwell, Allen. "Tangible Visions: Northwest Coast Shamanism and its Art." 1996. The
Monticelli Press. New York.
*Wikipedia: Soulcatcher
According to the unpublished field notes of George T. Emmons (1912-1915), the soulcatcher was:
*was key to treating soul-loss
*decorated with the image of a naxnox met in trance
*a manifestation of the shaman’s spirit helper
*Use: when the soul located, it is stored in the bone tube (soulcather), the ends plugged with shredded cedar bark to prevent the soul from escaping. The soulcatcher is brought to the patient and the soul replaced by placing the soucatcher on the patient’s head, or by blowing through the soulcatcher into the patient’s mouth.
*used in one instance to recover a lost soul trapped in another shaman’s corpse, inside a grave
REFERENCE
John Cove, Shattered Images: Dialoues and Meditations on Tsimshian Indians. Carleton University Press. 1987. pp. 222-3.
George T. Emmons, Unpublished Field Notes. held in the Canadian Museum of Civilization. 1912-1915.
_______________________________________________________________________
*Soulcatchers are also used to blow breath or water on a patient.
*Soulcatchers are a tunnel connecting the human and supernatural worlds
*the central head may represent the shaman who controls movement through the tunnel
*a famous Tsimshian shaman was named, “Mouth at Each End”
REFERENCE
Marie F. Guedon,“Tsimshian Shamanic Images” in Tsimshian: Images if the Past, Views for the Present. 1984, p.208.
_______________________________________________________________________
"A small box carved with magical symbols, the soulcatcher was carried by the shaman when he pursued the soul of an ailing patient under his care. Usually at twilight, the soul, visible only to the shaman, fluttered toward the horizon. With the stopper removed from his magic box, the shaman followed it, beguiling it with incantations. When he succeeded in approaching it, he popped it into the box, replaced the stopper, and returned it to the patient, who recovered."
Hawthorn, A. 1979 Kwakiutl Art. Seattle, WA:
University of Washington. p.249
"It is said the shaman on the north coast could see the soul departing from a patient's body, as if it were a firefly or small light darting around... The shaman's task was to capture the lost soul in a double-ended soul catcher, then trap it inside with a plug of shredded red cedar bark until it could be blown back into the patient."
MacDonald, George. "Haida Art." (Canadian Museum
of Civilization). p. 57.
"A particular type of charm, known as a soul catcher, is a tube carved of bone or occasionally of wood that was originally fitted with a bark stopper at each end. It was worn as a pendant by the shaman in curing ceremonies when it was believed that the soul of an ailing person had departed from his body. Only the shaman was able to locate the soul. He followed it, often chanting and repeating incantations until he was able to catch it in the charm. The soul was then returned to the patient who was expected to recover from his illness. "
Tangible Visions- Wardwell (1978) p.92
"Shamans are often charged with the task of retrieving lost souls of sick people. The shaman who possessed this carving would have traveled into the world of supernaturals, located the soul, returned to the human world, and replaced the soul in its owner's body. He is said to use the soul catcher to 'blow' the patient's soul back into his or her body. The shaman could also use the soul catcher to suck out intrusions that cause disease, or to blow away evil forces from a patient. ... These amulets were often worn around the shaman's neck."
Art of the Northwest Coast – A.Jonaitis (2006) p. 158
"Shamanic doctoring includes a great deal of symbolism. The shaman sucks and blows, affecting movements and displacements of spirit and supernatural power. A patient's soul was most likely to leave its body at dusk, and the shaman might then suck the infected soul into a tubular implement called a soulcatcher, cleanse the captured soul and return it in a healthy state to the patient."
Understanding Northwest Coast Art - C. Shearar (2000) pp. 98-99
CONSTRUCTION
*Tube of bear femur, incised on one or both sides, and often ornamented with
abalone shell
*A few older examples are reputedly constructed of human bone (see first four
photos in the gallery below)
*Often carved with land-otter or bear head at both ends of the tube, and a man-like
face in the middle.
- The land-otter and bear were imbued with great shamanic power.
-This form may have represented the ability to shift shapes,
or the mythological land-otter canoe, implying the ability to
travel between the three realms:
air/god realm (ki), earth/human/animal realm (taki), and water/spirit realm (teki).
*A shaman's helper spirit (Tsim: naxnox, Tling: yehk) may have resided
in the central head.
*The soulcatcher was plugged at both ends with shredded cedar bark, to contain
the lost soul, or to hold a malevolent spirit "sucked out" of a patient.
The amulet was usually worn as a necklace.
* Soulcatchers ranged in length from 16 cm to 21.6 cm (6 5⁄8" to 8 1⁄2").
REFERENCES
*Bancroft Hunt, Norman. "Shamanism in North America." 2002. Firefly Books. Buffalo.
*Wardwell, Allen. "Tangible Visions: Northwest Coast Shamanism and its Art." 1996. The
Monticelli Press. New York.
*Wikipedia: Soulcatcher
Shaman Kit. Likely Haida. Sweden National Museums of World - Ethnographic Dept.: Soulcatcher, cedar-bark basket, quartz crystal, beaver maxilla piece, black pigment, seal-intestine string, carved wooden seal figure, slate bird amulet . http://www.kringla.nu/kringla/objekt?referens=SMVK-EM/objekt/1068105
Soulcatcher from Iandi Riddim on Vimeo.