Drum

Function: Used in shamanic rituals/séances among the Chakass of the Minushinsk area, upper Jennisey basin, Southern Siberia. A short, and far from complete description of the drum could read like this: The front side of the drum, the skin (¿agy¿ych) is painted with a cosmological representation of the upper world of the high God (Kubaj Khan) also containing a stylized Milky Way (tiger-kurum), being separated from the underworld, whose greedy ruler is Ärlik Khan, by three lines representing “the three layers of our earth”, in red, black and white). In the under-world human beings and animals can be seen, and spirits who assist the shaman. Two birch trees can be seen as well, associated with the realm of death. The back side is no less symbolic in its construction, with a horizontal and a vertical bar, with the intricately shaped and ornamented handle of the drum, bells made of brass as well as iron, small sickle-formed pendants and strips of cloth. All have their expressed meanings and functions, the last ones (¿alaba) being associated with the power that the shaman wields. The drum is beaten with a stick made of a bone. The drum and the stick are metaphorically spoken of as the shaman’s “horse and whip”, his “bow and arrow”, his “boat and rudder”. Acquisition Acquired by the Swedish Orientalist Fredrik Robert Martin (1868-1933) during his travels in the Ob and Yenisey areas in 1891, a journey mainly for acquiring ethnographic and archaeological collections. From his report one can learn about the exact circumstances of the acquisition: “ By chance I was informed that an old shaman drum could be found on board a lodkorna (local boat). After many difficulties the owner brought it out, which resulted in protracted haggling. I was absolutely determined to acquire the drum, but its owner was equally determined not to sell it. At the end, somewhat annoyed, he said `I am not selling it for less than 6 rubels, calculating that at such a price nobody would be willing to pay. I immediately handed over what he had just demanded, which made him rather concerned. Some other old men expressed their anger over the fact that he had parted with such a rare object. I had to increase the sum to calm them down-- a bottle of vodka surely contributed to this.” Why this is a masterpieceShaman drums are much sought after by Ethnographic museums since they provide a rare entry into and an explicit form against which one can talk about the complex cosmological world contained in shamanic religion and shamanic praxis. They are also often aesthetically beautiful pieces to behold and contemplate over. Among the shaman drums owned by the Ethnographic museum this is surely the best preserved one, and furthermore the one that most clearly conveys a number of basic principles in shamanic cosmology. History of the ObjectIn 1892 F.R. Martin sold this object to the Museum of Ethnography as part of a big collection brought together in Siberia. Before that the object had evidently belonged to a shaman from the chakass people (who speak a northern Turkic language). Martin called these people “Abakantartars”. It is uncertain whether the man who sold the drum to Martin was the shaman who had once used it. (Virtual Collection of Masterpieces, http://masterpieces.asemus.museum/Default.aspx)