String

Museum number:

1-20890

Permalink:

ark:/21549/hm21010020890

Alternate number:

283 (original number)

Accession number:

Acc.511

Description:

Knotted. Made of commercial twine, with 19 knots. Sent as an invitation to a ceremony. Probably made for the same occasion as 1-10360.

Donor:

Phoebe Apperson Hearst

Collection place:

Mariposa, Mariposa County, California

Verbatim coll. place:

California; Mariposa

Culture or time period:

Eastern Miwok

Maker or artist:

Ephe Cummings

Collector:

Edwin Lincoln McLeod and E. L. McLeod Memorial Collection

Collection date:

1906

Object type:

ethnography

Function:

7.1 Writing and Records (including religious texts)

Accession date:

1916

Context of use:

Sent as an invitation to a ceremony. Probably made for the same occasion as 1-10360.

Department:

Native California (archaeology and ethnology)

Comment:

Native name and meaning: "sutela". Another string, obtained by C. Hart Merriam at the same time and place has more information. See also 1-10360 and a similar string in C. Hart Merriam's notes. "Soo-te-lah", the knotted string sent to a person as an invitation to a ceremony. The number of knots indicates the number of days before the ceremony. This particular "soo-te-lah was my invitation to a 4-day ceremony held at "Ha-cha-nah" (Railroad Flat) Calaveras Co., Calif. Oct. 9-12, 1906. It was sent to me on Sept. 22, from which date the count begins. It has 19 knots. One knot should be untied each day till only 2 are left. On the night of this day, (the 17th after the sending of the invitation) the "yum-me" or mourning ceremony begins. Two nights later (when the last knot has been untied) the "Kal-la-ah" or dancing ceremony begins. I went and remained through the entire ceremony." - from the notes of C. Hart Merriam. Exhibit: This piece was included in the Newport Harbor Art Museum's exhibit "What Time Is It?" (February - April, 1973).

Loans:

S1972-1973 #51: Newport Harbor Art Museum (February 5, 1973–May 2, 1973)

Legacy documentation: