The drum is the main attribute of shamans, used to communicate with spirits. Shamanism as a system of religious practice has existed for about 10,000 years, but it is more often regarded as an element of various religious beliefs. Siberia and the Russian Far East are home to some of the world’s largest shamanic centers.
The ancient peoples of the North believed that every phenomenon is associated with a spirit that can either help or harm people. According to them, the world is a unity of three realms — the Lower, Middle, and Upper Worlds. The shaman lives in the Middle World but can travel to the other two as well.
The word “shaman” literally means “the one who knows”. Shamans were believed to receive their power from spirits. A person could recognize their purpose and develop this gift. Shamans participated in all important rituals, including sacrificial offerings, festivities, rites of passage, and funerals. People turned to shamans who, in turn, asked spirits to heal the sick, predict the future, or give warriors strength before a battle.
Many pagan peoples treated the shaman’s drum as a living being and the source of shamanic power. At the heart of its power was the spirit of the animal whose skin was used for the instrument. The drum was also associated with the “magic of sound” used since the times of early people to enter a trance state and break away from reality. By striking the drum rhythmically, dancing, and singing, a shaman opened a gateway to another world.
Khanty and Mansi drums are distinguished by not being decorated with symbolic painting, jewelry, or pendants. The Khanty and Mansi treated the drum as a boat, a deer, or a bird which took the shaman’s soul on a journey to other realms. The design of both drums and beaters varied greatly, but most often, a beater looked like a flat, slightly elongated paddle covered with reindeer or hare fur.
On the back of the drum, there was a handle — a Y-shaped branch or two straight sticks joined crosswise. The body of the drum from the museum’s collection is round, its wooden rim is tightly covered with deer hide, sewn on both sides with a strap of rovduga — deerskin suede. The handle has the shape of a wooden plate with a fork at a distance of about two centimeters. It is attached to the rim with a leather strap and copper wire.
