Very Large Cochiti Pueblo Vintage Wood Drum [SOLD]

This is a very large drum made from the trunk of a very large diameter cottonwood tree trunk. This one seems too large for a person to hold for any significant time during a Cochiti Pueblo ceremonial performance. There is a handle at each end of the drum so that it could be flipped if desired. The color of the drum is black, the end caps are white, and a red band separates the two. Two of the drumhead straps are broken but both are on the same side of the drum.

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.

Condition: this Very Large Cochiti Pueblo Vintage Wood Drum is in good condition for its age

Provenance: from an extensive Native American collection of a client from Washington, DC

Recommended Reading: Rain: Native Expressions from the American Southwest by Ann Marshall

Relative Links: Pueblo Drums, Cochiti Pueblo