Waodäni Poisoned Dart Holder with Cap
OBJ.000418.1-.2
Object
mid-1900
Ecuador
N/A
Bamboo, Wood, Coconut, and Bone
Diam: 2.3 in. (6 cm); H: 13.7 in. (35 cm)
Not on View
This poisoned dart holder was made and used by the Waodäni people of Ecuador. The holder is made from a section of bamboo capped at each end with leather. The 127 thin, wooden, poisoned darts are each about 12 inches in length and stored within the hollow center of the bamboo. The poison, made from the bark of a jungle vine, is scraped, cooked over the fire until it syrupy, and then placed on the darts to dry. Attached to the belt is a coconut and the teeth and jawbone of a small monkey.
This poisoned dart holder was kept by Elisabeth Elliot as a reminder of her time living among the tribe as a Christian missionary during the 1950s.
Created in the mid-1900s by the Waodäni people, Ecuador; Gifted to Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015); Via death in 2015 to Lars Gren, Little Rock, Arkansas; Donated in 2020 to Museum of the Bible, Washington, DC.
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