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The Shaman drum is a single-headed frame drum which is the ancient instrument for the shaman in Southern Siberia. The shaman drum is distributed in Indonesia, East Asia, India, the Arctic region and other countries. Shaman drums are widely used as an auxiliary tool in shamanism's healing journey. Shamans believe that the sound of shaman drums can heal people's souls and resist diseases. Shamans believe in the existence of souls. In addition to being used as a healing tool, the shaman drum is also used as a map, because the surface of the drum is covered with pattern. The shaman drumming activity is also used as an addiction treatments.

Origin

The origin of the word “shaman” is from the Tungusic language; it is also known as saman. The shape of the drum is slightly different between different ethnic groups. For example, Saami, Yakut and Tungus use the oval drum, Ostyak and Altaian use the round drum, and Chukchee and Eskimo use small and round drum. Shamanism regards the existence of the spirit, devil, charms, magic figures, incantations and supernatural powers. They worship of evil spirits, use charms to defeat diseases and the rules on the formation of the magic figures. From the shamanic point of view, everything that lives in the world has a spirit. The shamans believe that the spirit provides a healthy body for life, which is called “power full body ”. The “power full body ” provides the strength to prevent diseases from entering the body. The disease can not intrude the "power full body" unless the souls of the body are lost or broken. Shamans believe that when people experience illness, it means that their body and guardian spirit do not have enough power to defend the spreading of disease and other encroachments. In Shamanism, there is a healing journey that shamans believe can restore lost and damaged guardian spirits and return it to the body . In the shaman healing journey, the shaman drum is one of the elements that helps the shaman to process the healing treatment; the shamans also believe that the music of the drum (vibration, rhythm) can enter the inner world of the listener and connect to the outer world and therefore heal the listener. In brief, shamans use the shaman drum as a healing tool to help people recover and fight diseases. In professional shamanism rituals, every shaman has their own shaman drum. Each drum belongs to a specific shaman, and shaman drums are the exclusive property of individuals. In the ritual-religious sphere of Shamanism, only the owner of the shaman drum can use it.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, there was a time in shamanism called "drum time". During drum time, Shamanism collided with other religions, however Christianity claimed to be exclusive of shaman religion. From the point of view of the church authorities, the shaman drum represented“paganism”,  and the Shamanism was not regarded as a religion. During the “drum-time” shamans were forced to hand over the drum, and many drums ended up being burned. Some of the drums were given to the museums. Other shamanistic activities included in the healing journey are also indefensible and contested by the different religious and political authorities, and therefore the shaman drums gradually disappeared under the suppression of other religions and political authorities.

Construction of the drum

The construction of the drum is straightforward, it usually consists of a single head. The base is a hollow drum, and depending on different ethnic groups, the drum may be have a round or oval wooden frame. Shamans used animal leather to stretch and fix it to the sides of the drum to form a drum head. They usually use reindeer, goats or horse skin to make drum heads. The bottom of the drum head is supported by a vertical wooden stick that is fixed inside the frame, or extends from the outside of the frame. The wooden stick not only supports the structure, but also is a handle to hold the drum. The shaman will often use the animal's bones or a wooden stick as a drum stick to beat the drum head. The shaman drum is usually decorated with bells, metal ornaments or ribbons. Under the supervision of the shamans, professional craftsmen used a Hazel Grouse bone to paint the drum head.

Used of the shaman drum

17th and 18th centuries

As a healing treatment tool

The most common use of shaman drums is as an aid to the shaman's healing journey. Shaman drums can be used alone or in combination with shaman soul songs and dances. The main rhythm of shamanistic drumming is usually a steady 4 to 5 beats per second. Throughout the healing journey, shaman drums need to continue to sustain the journey. Shamans believe that the sound of drums can enter the inner world of the listener. In the ancient culture and the shamanism society; this is called consciousness-altering technique. The shaman believes that these techniques can treat various diseases, especially with regard to in mental illness.

As maps

The shaman drums serve as maps in two different forms. The non-visual map and the visual maps. The non-visual maps is the shaman drum itself includes drumming, drum sticks, drum face and drum ornaments. The drum was made by individual shaman during their journeys. The whole drum is a map of human experience of journey or a place. Each part of the drum symbolizes the life experience of the its owner. When the owner of the drum dies the shaman drum loses its meaning, and is usually buried with its owner.

The visual maps is use the drum surface as the drawing paper and draw symbols on it to identify direction. A cross is usually painted at the center of the drum, dividing the drum into four parts. A circle or a diamond painted at the middle of the cross represents the sun. The four images separated by the cross are interpreted as the seasons. These drawings on the shaman drums help shamans identify directions and calculate times. The drummer turns the drum slowly, beats it in different places and then tells the direction by the sound. The shaman drum is a way-finding device for the shamans, it can help the shamans find their way back to their tents. Shaman drums are also used as hunting maps. Shamans used drums to record successful hunts. After each kill, they inserted a nail or stored a metal in the drums to show their appreciation for the animals’ contributions.

As a divination tool

The shaman drums are used as a tool for simple divination. Fortunetellers usually hold the shaman drum in their left hand and hold the drum stick in their right hand, placing a triangular reindeer bone decorated with metal rings and other ornaments on the drum surface, which is call “apra". When the drum is struck, the divination is performed according to the movements of the “apra”. The divination includes, which direction the clan should continue to migrate; where to find a lost reindeer; where is the best hunting spot; how to protect their clan and family; or what to do the murder and other crimes. Shamans also use the drum as a hunting map to instruct hunters to look for specific prey or predict the type of animal a hunter expects to catch that day. During the divination ritual, the pointer falls on a drum and points to the corresponding animal figures. There is a special norm in shamanism that woman are forbidden to use the shaman drum, and are not even allowed to touch the drum. Shamans believes that if a woman touches a shaman drum, she will have bad luck.

Modern

Shaman drumming activities have been incorporated into substance abuse rehabilitation programs and as complementary addiction treatments, particularly for repeated relapses. The program, known as “drumming out drugs ” has been incorporated into the prison system, rehabilitation programs and training programs. The principle of shaman drum therapy has used drumming to stimulate the patient's physical, psychological, and social faculties, and to facilitate the recovery processes. The vibration and rhythms produced by drumming can induce relaxation and help the patient recover by synchronizing their brain waves. The drumming treatment is conducted through group drumming activities, which begin with a simple bass percussion to help patients relax. It then speeds up the and incorporates more complex movements, such as hitting the drum with heel, toe and hands. The drumming can be used as a form of entertainment, to help patients focus. As the drum treatment continues to deepen, it will gradually produce a variety of physical and psychological effects. Through the drumming, the process can reduce patients' psychological states such as isolation, alienation and self-centeredness, and help patients gradually integrate into the community. The vibration of the drum stimulates the spirits to achieve emotion release. The drumming treatment can reduce participants’ desire to use marijuana and cocaine, as well as drug-related violence and other crimes.

Symbolize of the drum

In Shamanism, every piece of equipment that constructs the shaman drum has a role and symbolizes something. The drum stick alone carries a lot of information and meaning. The drum stick is usually made of fresh wood. Some of the drum sticks are covered with carvings and some of the drum stick carved with portraits. The handle represents the owner, and its sculpture symbolized the identity of the master.

The painting on the drum also has significance in Shamanism. The picture on the drums shows the power of the shaman and their professional qualifications, and express the idea of shaman protection and the help of the spirit. These meanings are represented on the drums by the image of wild animals or human, for example, reindeer, bear, elk, wolf, snake, bird and fox. This animal figures are also related to traditional Sammi hunting. On the surface of the drum, each figure of the animal represents the success of animal hunting. From a cosmology point of view, some of the paintings can be seen as the expression of shaman spirit in the universe. On that drum, the sun is usually painted in the centre of the drum, because the economy and culture of shaman rely on the sun. The earth and heaven is separated by a line; this line also represents the line of life and death. All other figures, including images of god, Christian houses, animal figures (reindeer and beer) and other symbols, are arranged symmetrically around the sun. The shape of the drum and the location of the figures, and the oval shape of the drum shows the circular world view advocated by Shamanism. The painting on the drums are very diverse, but ultimately, the painting together with the design and the construction of the drum, emphasize the religious intentions of the Shamanism.  

The craved symbol at the bottom of the drum is interpreted as a clue to the drums 'age and location. The symbol is usually carved with a knife, and the figure is symmetrical. The symbol may be the figure of reindeer, or family and clan information passed down from generation to generation; or a traditional shaman symbol.

References

• Ahlbäck, T. (1991). The Saami shaman drum.
• Ahlbäck, T. (1987). Saami religion.
• Harner, M. J., Mishlove, J., & Bloch, A. (1990). The way of the shaman. New York: Harper San Francisco.
• Laufer, B. (1917). Origin of the word shaman. American Anthropologist, 19(3), 361-371.
• Keski-Säntti, J., Lehtonen, U., Sivonen, P., & Vuolanto, V. (2003). The drum as a map: Western knowledge systems and northern indigenous map making. Imago Mundi, 55, 120-125.
• Potapov, Leonid P. “Shaman’s Drum: A Unique Monument of Spiritual Culture of the Altai Turk Peoples.” Anthropology of Consciousness 10.4 (1999): 24–35. Web.
• Shamanism: An Encyclopedia of World Beliefs, Practices, and Culture. N.p., 2004. Print.
• Van, D. K. (2014). Singing story, healing drum : Shamans and storytellers of turkic siberia. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy1.library.usyd.edu.au
• Winkelman, M. (2003). Complementary therapy for addiction: "drumming out drugs". American journal of public health, 93(4), 647-651.