Cochiti Pueblo Vintage Small Handheld Drum

ARTISAN UNKNOWN

Publication: Made in New Mexico, n d (ca 1800's), N P

This small hand-held Cochiti Pueblo drum was carved from a local cottonwood tree, painted with colors red, green, and yellow and covered on both ends with rawhide. The edges of the rawhide that overlap on the wood were painted blue. On one of the drum heads is written in pencil the name Denny Evans. Spaniards introduced two-headed drums used by the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico over 400 years ago. They are used for ceremonies and rarely for other purposes. Native drums are generally used during traditional dances at many of the Pueblos located along the Rio Grande and its streams. The drum has played an intrinsic role in the lives of Native Peoples for centuries. Celebrations and ceremonial dances accompanied by the reverberating pulse of the drum. Crafted from natural materials over a months-long process, American Indian drums are constructed of a wooden frame, or a carved and hollowed-out log. They can be natural or colorfully painted with solid colors or designs. Drum bodies are created from native woods of New Mexico such as cottonwood, aspen or pine. Drumheads are usually made from cow, deer, elk, goat, horse or buffalo hide stretched taut across the opening by sinew thongs. Traditionally, Native American drums are two to three feet in diameter. This drum is in very good condition.

Inventory Number: 46647