Our joyful RIVER OTTER squiggles with delight when you work its mouth, head and tail with the movement of your hands. This two-handed puppet features handsome chestnut fur and detailed webbing on his leathery feet.
Otters are
considered lucky animals in many Native American cultures and it is a symbol of loyalty and
honesty in some West Coast tribes. However in Northern British Columbia and the Alaskan coast, river
otters (usually called "land-otters") were associated with ghosts and drowning and were regarded
by the people with awe and dread. It was taboo to eat land-otters in many Pacific Northwest tribes,
and in colonial times, the trapping of land-otters to sell their furs to non-Natives became a source
of tension in some communities. Sea otters, on the other hand, had long been hunted for their skins
and meat by these tribes, and sea otter fur was considered very prestigious on the Northwest Coast.
The otter is a light-hearted trickster character in the folklore of some tribes, particularly in
children's stories. His exploits are mischievous but rarely malicious or aggressive.
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