RED BIRDS PAINTING

This historical Kumeyaay photograph pictures an old hand painted Kumeyaay gourd rattle used by California Native American bird singers of Southern California and northwest Mexico.

The redbirds antique Native rattle was painted by hand by Isabel Thing, Kumeyaay, in 1940s or 1950s, and her surviving family believes it to be the last gourd rattle she made.

Isabel Thing is the grandmother Daleane "Dee" Adams, Kumeyaay, and the mother of Jane Dumas, Kumeyaay.

Gourd rattle contributed by Daleane Adams.
Photo illustration by G BALLARD, San Diego