Sámi Drum
The frame drum of the Sámi shaman, or noaidi, a shallow bowl of carved pine covered with reindeer skin painted in red alder juice with figures of gods, animals, and the sun. Struck with a reindeer-horn hammer while the noaidi sang, the drum revealed answers in the path of a jumping ring. Hundreds were burned by missionaries in the 18th century, and survivors are treasured museum objects. The drum was both an instrument and a sacred map, its painted surface showing the upper, middle, and lower worlds and the figures of the gods who governed the herd, the weather, and the sick. The noaidi used i