A rainstick is a long, hollow tube of bamboo or dried cactus that is partially flooded with small pebbles, rice, dried beans, or other hard granular matter. The inside surface of the tube has small pins or thorns arranged helically. When the stick is rotated and held upright, the pebbles fall to the other end of the tube, bouncing off the internal protrusions to create a sound reminiscent of falling rain. In South America, rainsticks are believed to have been invented by the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

, and was played in the belief it could bring about rainstorms. It was also found further north on the coasts of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, potentially having also been used by the

Incas The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The Inca civilisation rose fr ...

. Mapuche rainsticks are usually made from any of several species of

cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

such as ''

Eulychnia acida ''Eulychnia acida'' is a flowering plant in the family Cactaceae A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with s ...

'' and ''

Echinopsis pachanoi ''Trichocereus macrogonus'' var. ''pachanoi'' (Synonym (taxonomy), synonyms including ''Trichocereus pachanoi'' and ''Echinopsis pachanoi'') is a fast-growing columnar cactus found in the Andes at in altitude. It is one of a number of kinds of ...

''. The cacti, which are hollow, are dried in the sun. The spines are removed, then driven into the cactus like nails. Pebbles or other small objects are placed inside the rainsticks, and the ends are sealed. Variants of the instrument can also be found in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, where it was developed independently, and is often made using bamboo rather than dried cactus. Rainsticks may also be made with common household materials like paper towel rolls instead of cactus, and nails or toothpicks instead of thorns, and they are often sold to tourists visiting parts of

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and also the Southwestern United States (which has a history of Spanish and Mexican cultural influence).

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Further reading