National Museum of Natural History

The National Museum of Natural History is dedicated to understanding the natural world and our place in it. The Museum's collections serve as one of the world's great repositories of scientific and cultural heritage, documenting the cultural and biological diversity of humankind, past and present. The ethnology collection is comprised of a quarter of a million objects representing 19th, 20th and 21st century cultures from around the globe, including Africa and African cultures in the Americas.

This rattle, made of woven cane and filled with wari beans, is known as an "ericunde" used by the Abakwa cult of Cuba. The Abakwa is a secret society with historical links to the Calabar region of West Africa and this object is likely an early version of an ericunde.