with the reuse of heritage
6.1 The Sami noaidi drum and the animistic worldview of Sámi culture
Because the noaidi drums and their decoration are not something that suddenly appeared in the seven-teenth and eighseven-teenth centuries, there are also theories from within rock art studies (Helskog 1987), in-dicating the use of drums within the Stone Age period in for example, Finnmark and also striking parallel similarities between symbols and figures, suggests there has been a long and on-going continuity of such practices. Therefore, and whilst bearing in mind the title of the dissertation, the opportunity to be able to capture and understand how cultural shifts and developments are taking place, where today, we can see how both prehistoric rock art and noaidi drum symbolism as systems of embodied knowledge has for a very long time influenced Sámi artists in their works.
From within scholarly literature written on the subject matter of noaidi drums from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and their constructions, designs, creations and usage, there are descriptions, which refer to the instruments and decorative symbolism as a type of Cognitive Map (see for example:
Pentikäinen 1998 and Keski-Santi et al 2003).
Traditionally, the substance used to paint the markings on the drumhead was made from alder bark, which was either chewed or boiled beforehand.
From the scholarly work of Ernst Manker (1950), and his detailed compilation of art work from the drumheads, it is obvious how different manifestations of these animations of spirits and other types of phenomena were portrayed by the noaidi through art. A study of the works of Manker demonstrates how the structure of the noaidi drum varied in different parts of Sápmi, but yet all seem to have a common theme regarding the cyclical worldview of the culture and the role and function drum landscapes portray in terms of establishing and maintaining cosmic order, particularly through sacrifice and worship.
On some drums mythical epics were also painted where the noaidi with the assistance of helping spirits would hunt a celestial reindeer or bear. A description of such events is seen on a drum, which is currently in the Pigorini Museum in Rome as noted by Pentikäinen (2007).
As a way to expand on the complex animistic worldview and cosmology of the Sámi, the following descrip-tions illustrate how important the zones or segments on drums were for helping to shape the cosmological landscapes, which underpinned the universe, a comprehensive explanation concerning a description of noaidi drums is provided through an account by Sámi scholars Anna Westman and John E. Utsi (1990: 10).
“Frame and Bowl: The frame-drums gievrie, from the South Sámi area, were made in an oval shape. The frame was called Gievriegisa. The pine or spruce from which it was made should grow straight and regular. It should be a flexible material that one could heat and bend into a bow-shape, and either sew or rivet together. The handle and wooden crosspieces gave the frame its proper form. Over the frame was laid the wet, defurred reindeer skin which was fastened over the frame while it dried. The leather was fixed to the frame with threads made from sinews.
The skin used for the drum came from a special animal: stainnak – a sterile reindeer cow, rod-nu – a reindeer without a calf, or from a miessi calf. Finally, on the smooth skin the cosmos one inhabited was drawn or painted. On the back, the part of the drum that was turned towards the body, were hung different amulets of silver and brass, or pieces of bone and teeth from different animals. They have the drum power and noise. Small pieces of tin were also driven into the frame, one for every bear that was caught, giving the drum increased strength.
In the northern area the pine and spruce were also used, but there it was the boles and knots of the roots that formed the body of the drum. Goabdes or meavrresgárri are the names for these bowl-drums. The body of the drum was hollowed out into a bowl leaving two linear gaps which made a handle. Sometimes they did not take much time to decorate the wood, but on other drums we find beautiful ornamentation that attests to great artistic skill and craftsmanship. Sun and Fields: It was not just in the shape of the drum but also in the pictures themselves that the southern and northern traditions were different. In the centre of the frame drum, was a squared cross with four radiating lines which symbolized Beaivi, the sun and its power. Round the edge of the drum were then grouped the different pictures and figures.
In the North Sámi area they chose to divide the drum-skin into different ‘fields’, in layers: the upper, lower and middle worlds. Those with enough skill could move between these, inde-pendent of time and space. On the drums from the Central Sámi area the two traditions are combined. Here we see both a layered and solar-centered world”.
In addition to what has been noted above, more information providing further detail about the construc-tion of drums and elaborating on earlier scholarly sources, with regard to the variaconstruc-tions encountered within shapes and forms of different types of instruments is expanded on by Swedish scholar Rolf Christ-offersson (2010: 100-103).
“When it comes to construction, there are two types of Sámi drums, frame drums and bowl drums. These two types correspond with the tambourines with only one skin and a puka ac-cording to the common drum typologies. All known Sámi drums have one skin, these are often characterised as frame drums, which means they have objects which are added and these create sound. The frame on which the drum skin was stretched, was made of a plank or slat of wood which was curved most likely around a template. The ends of the strip were riveted together with lead-, copper or brass rivets or sewn together with sinew thread.
The bowl drums were made out of a piece of wood which had been hollowed out, which had naturally grown into a suitable form, often a so-called burl. The bowl drums are unique given the fact they are only found amongst the Sámi. All other shaman drums are of the frame type.
Hallström thought that the bowl drum was more interesting ethnographically, he suggested that ring drum, and one preserved example, can be seen as an explanatory link between the two types. In both cases, the drum skin was fastened with sinew thread which was tightened through holes in the wood.
A special type of angle frame drums of which only two or three are preserved. The two that are described by Manker for example, numbers 43 and 44, are relatively big in formation. The con-struction is an innovative way to create a strengthened frame that tolerated the pressure from a larger skin which has been tightened around the frame. Hallström considered in his article 1910, that it was in his typologies a question of a pair of “reluctant” drums. K. B. Wiklund called them “box type” because of a misunderstanding of the construction. Ernst Manker published a more specific more specific research in 1937. The frame is built on top of an edging with an L profile. By making V-formed cuts in the base of the L you can bend the strip so that the grooves go together and strengthen the frame.
Since the frame is not a round circle the angles of the grooves must vary. Most likely the angles were cut in right to give the desired rounding through practical attempts during the man-ufacturing process. Most likely, the fitting of each frame half with the middle part. Manker presumes that the pieces of the frame were steamed in hot water to get the soft, rounding they have” (Hallström (1910: 88 & 99), Manker (1938a).
The Sámi drums have a richer world of signs and figures that are painted on the drum skins than most other ceremonial drums. Usually the shaman drums are circle round, even if oval or egg-formed exist. The Sámi drums are egg-shaped or oval. The Sámi names are goavddis or meavrresgárri (saN), Goabdes (saL) and gievrie (saS) 70.
To add to what has already been noted above, a further assessment of descriptions of noaidi drums in research conducted at an earlier time, is likewise continued by Christoffersson (2010: 103).
“The drums can be studied according to different categorizations. They come from different parts of Sápmi. A more certain categorization would most likely contribute to our knowledge about differences and similarities between different areas. But of the many drums we know of […] there are very few which we can say where they have originated from, and likewise, is the case with the drums that are spoken of in literature’”71.
Christoffersson (2010: 237), has also included a chapter concerning how the drum was used from accounts provided by missionaries. “Samuel Rheen (1671; 1983: 33), tells how the drum was used to tell fortunes”.
It “is used in an excellent way for the following reasons 1, to determine how things are in strange and faraway places
2, to determine fortune and misfortune, concerning health and illness
70 Translated from Swedish to English by Linda Granfors 2015.
71 Translated from Swedish to English by Linda Granfors 2015.
3, how to cure sicknesses
4, to perceive what the Gods required for sacrifice, and to which of their Gods they should offer the animals. They want to sacrifice for either Thor, Storjunker or the Sun” (Rheen 1671/1983:
31f & 33). 72.
In addition to what is written above, further reference to missionary sources from the works of Rheen (1671/1983: 31f), are discussed by Christoffersson (2010: 237), for the sake of clarifying how and in a much wider context the drum was used for divination and healing.
“Thereafter, Rheen describes how to proceed in these different cases. No matter what the ques-tion was, the procedure was about the same. The pointer was put in place, and then “a big bunch of brass rings […] on top of the sun picture,” where after the noid struck the drum with the hammer so that the rings started moving.
A second way of devising is the way the drums are built, a third way of devising has to do with the differences in the drum skin pictures. There is also a fairly big difference in size. Ernst Man-ker is giving probable origins for the 71 preserved drums that he found authentic. In the first case the idea of the drumming was that the noid would go into trance and from his visit to other levels of the world inform decisions and wishes of the powers.
In the second case, of health or sickness, the answer was given directly by the pointers move-ments on the drum skin. If the pointer went “straight around and according to the sun, [in other words, clockwise] it meant luck, good health and well-being”. If not, then the opposite. When it comes to the third case, curing sickness, the drumming should take place in a more extensive ritual involving both the noid and the gathered community. Here the noid got knowledge of whether the affliction or the sickness was something natural or had been caused by witchcraft.
In order to become cured the sick person or the relatives had to promise a sacrifice according to what the noid prescribed after he had been negotiating with the powers.
In the fourth case, that can obviously follow the third, one would find out to whom the sacrifice should be offered and where. A hair from the sacrificial animal was fastened on the pointer, the brass rings, and when the noid was drumming the pointer went to the picture on the drum which represented that God that should receive that sacrifice, according to Rheen: “Storejunkar, Thor or the Sun” (Rheen 1671, 1983: 34)73.
There is also a brief description regarding the conflicting ideas about the drums functions as detailed by Christoffersson (2010: 246-247).
“The drums of the Sámi were therefore considered only useful for taking away evil, in other words for witchcraft. But for the Sámi it was instead a “means of praying” which through you could find out the will of the gods and ask advice of the powers, one of the many methods for divination that the history of religion knows”74.
72 Translated from Swedish to English by Linda Granfors 2015.
73 Translated from Swedish to English by Linda Granfors 2015.
74 Translated from Swedish to English by Linda Granfors 2015.
Another aspect to the Sámi drum is its function as a musical instrument, which is not a topic scholars of shamanism in Finland have covered extensively. However, this subject matter has been addressed by Swedish scholars Rolf Christoffersson (2010), and Bo Sommarström (1991). A brief mention about the role of the painted drum as a musical instrument is warranted here because in the interview with Elle-Maaret Helander (2011), one of the drums was used as an instrument used during joiking performances by her daughters, which shows how they can have a multi-functional purpose. In relation to the Sámi drum being used as a musical instrument, according to Christoffersson (2010: 151), the following information has been presented.
“One early reason why I paid so much attention to the Sámi drum, was as I have told, that I found that it was not considered to be seen as a musical instrument but was called a sound tool and a witch drum. Otherwise, a not uncommon perception has been that music has a link with magic.
Here it seemed to be the contrary. In general, drums are seen as musical instruments and are to be found in for example, symphony orchestras, jazz bands and in military music. What could make the Sámi drums so different from other drums? I also found that the perception that the Sámi in the same way were seen as different from other people – that they were seen as unmusical.
Gradually they were seen as being able to produce an unmusical song called joik. When it comes to the drum it has still in our time been seen as something not associated with music, an attitude which is no longer possible considering what we now know about ethnomusic.
The Sámi drum was also a musical instrument played in music fundamentally different from the western art music. So, there is proof enough for an indigenous Saami music. Meaningful evidence of this is the drum that created a Saami sound landscape. According to sources [ by]
Niurenius [1640s] (1983, 21), it was heard over an extensive area. Traditional Saami music was considerably different from the music of the surrounding Scandinavian north peoples’ music, but has many similarities with the music of other indigenous people”75.
The information above has provided both insight and depth into the custom of building, decorating and using noaidi drums for a variety of purposes, thereby demonstrating a legacy that is built on systems of knowledge passed from generation to generation within Sámi culture.