Bidspirit auction | Guna Inaduledi ”Nier-Sandup” Ritual Bone-Mending

Guna Inaduledi ”Nier-Sandup” Ritual Bone-Mending Wood - A double helix twisted wood/vine used by the shaman to heal broken bones.  From the Guna (Kuna/Cuna) Culture, Cartí Sugtupu Island, San Blas, Panama. Collected directly from the named medicine man (I.T. / Ina Tuledi), mid-20th century (circa 1961–1972). 9” long, with original field tag attached which reads: NIER-SANDUP from IGUA-NIDI ERNANDEZ (I.T.) at Carti Sugtupu. To help mend broken bones. In Guna healing arts, the practitioner encouraged ancestral spirits to use the wood's inherent interlocking energy to weave fractured human bones back together.  Also, a medicinal wash could be made with scrapings from the wood (see scraped areas in photos). Provenance:  From the collection of American ethnologist and explorer Captain Kit S. Kapp. Retains the handwritten paper field expedition tag which reads: NIER - SANDUP from IGUA-NIDI ERNANDEZ (I.T.) [an abbreviation for Ina Tuledi, Kapp's spelling of Inaduledi]  at Carti Sugtupu. To help mend broken bones.