The Sami Drum from Oracular Rituality to Musical Perform

FIGURE 1. Sápmi borders according to the subdivision of Sami dialects (Ligi 2016: 222).

FIGURE 2. Map of the archaeological finds and regional variations of the drums cataloged by Manker in his 1950 monography.

FIGURE 3. In Manker 1938, Drum n. 30.

FIGURE 4. In Manker 1938, Drum n. 71.

FIGURE 5. Excerpt of the melodic and drumming lines which characterize the joik Dolla, by Angelit Tytöt.

FIGURE 6. Rhythmic and vocal complexity of the joik Gumpe, by Niiles-Jouni Aikio. It is possible to notice the extensive use of “acciaccature” and mordants which performed in order to amplify the expressiveness of the joik by imitating the wolf ’s howling.

FIGURE 7. Example of “southern” drum’s shape and figurative system represented on the membrane of Manker’s Drum n. 30 (Manker 1938) found in Folddalen (Norway). Its first account dates back to 1727 (Henneberger Museum, Meiningen).

FIGURE 8. Manker’s Drum n. 71. A “northern” bowl-shaped drum owned by the noaidi Anders Poulsen in the XVIII century. Dimensions: 43.8 x 32.8 x 9.9 cm (Sámiid Vuorká-Dávvirat Museum, Karasjok).

FIGURE 9. Frames from the Sami movie Ofelaš (Nils Gaup, 1987). The noaidi beats the drum to find out if the bear hunt would have taken place under good or bad omens.

FIGURE 10. Mari Boine’s drum and percussive style during the performance of Gula Gula at the Ijahis Idja festival (Inari, 16th August 2019, frame from Video example 2).

FIGURE 11. Angelit Tytöt trio (Ulla Pirrttijärvi, Ursula Länsman and Tuuni Länsman), in Angelit 1992 (booklet).

FIGURE 12. Niiles-Jouni Aikio during one of his tour in Africa (Dar es Salaam, 2013, photo: courtesy of Aikio family).

FIGURE 13. Niiles-Jouni Aikio joiking and playing his drum in Vuotso (10th August 2019, frame from video by N. Renzi).

FIGURE 14. Wimme Saari joiking at the opening stages of Ijahis Idja festival (Inari, 16th August 2019, photo: N. Renzi).