Shofar Made by The Cherokees

Shofar Made by The Cherokees

Has original tag "Made by The Cherokees Qualls Reservation Cherokee, NC"
CIRCA: 1967- 70s

So back story..this piece hung by the fireplace since I was a kid. I hadn't seen it in awhile. I just started moving things around since mom passed and I took possession of the estate. It was cold and a sprinkle of snow this morning, so I built a roaring fire foe me and the dogs. I found this under some newspapers next to the fireplace.

It is a horn made from horn(say that 3 times fast!). It appears to be a decorative Shofar. I always thought it was a stylish powder horn or water horn. Although now I remember trying to play this as a kid...I played the trumpet from elementary through high school.

My parents were never religious per say. Meaning we didn't goto church on Sundays..heck no...dad was busy on his Ham radio running the Sunday Swap n Shop and W A.R.T.S. NET(Washington Amateur Radio Traffic Society). But...mom was Japanese and Buddhist, and at the end of dad's journey he embraced his heritage and attended the synagogue. After all our last name is Jewish/German and have some sort of ancient relationship to Jewish relatives. Not really sure...

WHAT THE SHOFAR?
Finally..what is a Shofar?
"An ancient musical horn typically made of a ram's horn, used for Jewish religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying the player's embouchure."

On a real shofar, the mouthpiece was only a small hole drilled into the smaller end of the rams horn.

My shofar has a mouthpiece..

"In order for your performance to be considered “kosher” in the Jewish faith, the ram’s horn cannot have any attachments or modification done to it other than polishing."