Rare Ceremonial Snapping Turtle Rattle

Native American, probably Iroquois. Northeastern, second half of the 19th c.
The snapping turtle shell is most likely filled with small fruit pits wrapped with ash splints and leather. Although small snapping turtle shells were used by most Native Americans, the larger shells (as seen here) were originally used by Seneca and Iroquois singers during the Great Feather Dance and in healing rituals. Iroquois mythology maintains that the earth rests on the back of a turtle.
For a nearly identical example, see: The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.