Turtle Shell Shakers

Season 5 • Episode 11

Chickasaw Culture Keepers

Turtles are sacred in Chickasaw culture and today their shells are used to bring music and rhythm to traditional dances, just as they have throughout Chickasaw history. Dixie Brewer, a dancer for over 20 years and Chickasaw cultural demonstrator, explains that "women are the rhythm keepers for the dances" but those who wear turtle shells are especially knowledgeable about "the leader's song ... and how it should be danced to." Of the three types of shakers (turtle shells, deer toes and cans), turtle shells must be earned. Dixie was taught that "you had to learn how to dance before you could wear the turtle shells because they're so important."

To create the shakers, adult box turtle shells are filled with round, fingertip-sized rocks collected from a running river bed, sometimes from as far as the Homeland. Each shaker's unique sound depends on the amount and size of the rocks inside and holes are drilled along the back of the shell to ensure the music of tumbling rocks is clearly heard. The sacred process of creating turtle shell shakers is time-consuming and labor-intensive, so there are few people today who still make them.

Turtle shell shakers have been a part of Chickasaw culture for a very long time and the art of wearing shells is still passed down today. Dixie's own daughter is one of these young dancers, now wearing her turtles and keeping the tradition alive. There is a variety of opportunities for anyone to learn more about or even participate in traditional Chickasaw dances and songs by visiting the Chickasaw Cultural Center. "We have lost so many of our traditions and pieces of our culture that this is one thing we can't afford to lose," Dixie says.

EPISODES

3m 30s

Turtle Shell Shakers

EPISODES

Pottery

Stickball Sticks

Beading

Regalia

Metalsmithing

Shell Carving

Weaving

Horticulture

Baskets

Traditional Foods

Quilting

Flutes

Beaded Collars

Drum Making

Storytelling

Bow Making

Brent Greenwood Art

Beaded Jewelry

Flint Knapping

Stomp Dancing

Beadwork

Turkey Calls

Traditional Stories: How Day and Night Were Divided

Woodturning

Bead Artisan

Textile Art

Quilt Making

Jewelry

The Legacy of Bow Making

Bead Artistry

Painting

Woven Mats

Metalworking

Photography

Pashofa

Deer Toe Shakers

Stickball Sticks

Shell Carving

Medicine Bags

Natural Dyes

Twinning

Bladesmithing

Fish Nets

Porcupine Quillwork

Pottery Burnishing

Shell Carving

Duck Decoys

Traditional Arrows

Fine Gourd Art

Traditional Flutes

Turtle Pottery

Turtle Shell Shakers

Pucker Toe Moccasins

Chunkey

Tattoos and War Paint

Leggings and Breechcloths

Hide Brain Tanning

River Cane Harvesting, Splitting and Peeling

Stories of Kullihoma