The yelatáj chos woley, yelataj chas woley or simply jelataj choz, is a

musical bow The musical bow (bowstring or string bow, a subset of bar zithers) is a simple string instrument used by a number of South African peoples, which is also found in the Americas via slave trade. It consists of a flexible, usually wooden, stick 1. ...

which is characteristic of the Wichi culture in the South American

Gran Chaco The Gran Chaco or Dry Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semiarid lowland natural region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato Gro ...

Features

The Yelatáj chos woley consists of two bows of tusca wood. The performer holds the end of one of the bows between his teeth and rubs that bowstring with the other. The musician's mouth acts as a

resonator A resonator is a device or system that exhibits resonance or resonant behavior. That is, it naturally oscillates with greater amplitude at some frequencies, called resonant frequencies, than at other frequencies. The oscillations in a resonator ...

. Originally the bowstrings were made from

peccary A peccary (also javelina or skunk pig) is a medium-sized, pig-like hoofed mammal of the family Tayassuidae (New World pigs). They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North A ...

hair, vegetable fibers or other hair. When horses arrived with the Spaniards to America, instrument makers began to use the hairs from horse manes and tails. The dimensions of one listed at Musical Instrument Museums Online (MIMO) is 350 mmm long x 60 mm wide (bowstring to bow handle).

Usage

The yelatáj chos woley is for ceremonial and shamanic use. He is attributed the power to invoke Nilataj, God of the Wichi ethnic group.

References

Musical bows Argentine musical instruments {{Zither-instrument-stub