Baton

Painted dance baton called "yan-at kawatani-kit" carried by a presenter in conducting the ceremonial dance songs. The thin, wooden body is designed to flex as it moves which then tells the dancers how to react. An animal head is carved into the lower end of the baton and painted with black, red, and blue pigments. Two circles are carved out from the baton, one just above the animal head and the other close to the distal end. The edges above the head are beveled and painted with an inner line of red and an outer border of blue. The handle is wide and flat with segments of plant fiber inserted into the upper end.