Drum

Ute Ceremonial Drum

Ignacio, Colorado
Great Basin

Cedar wood, Elk skin
Early 20th century

Height: 16.25 inches, Diameter: 12.5 inches

Ute American Indian Ceremonial drum-very old artifact from the early 1900's. It is made of cedar wood, painted with mustard, half moon shapes, underlined with black, white and sky blue horizontal lines. The middle of the drum is rust-colored. Black elk skin is stretched over the top and bottom of the drum, pulled together with leather cords.

Owner:
Catalog#: HWMC

Letter accompanies about the history and provenance of the drum. "Dear Aurelia, The Ute chief was Ouray, his tribe was located in the town now called Ouray, Colorado which was named after the chief. The town Ouray boomed in 1876 and the Indians were moved to what is now the Ute Indian reservation in Ignacio, Colorado about 175 miles southeast of the town of Ouray. This drum was given to my grandmother and mother, somewhere in the 1940s. My mother and grandmother worked on Indian reservations in Toas New Mexico and Ignacio, Colorado before my mother married my father in Durango, Colorado. My mother and grandmother treated the Indians so well that my mother and grandmother were loved by the Indians, showering them with gifts of pottery, Indian rugs among many other things. I played with the drum when I was a boy. My great-grandfather made his own fiddles and wrote music. He was an artist and very good carpenter, he was also a orchestra leader, so since you are a music teacher I though you might like to know that the drum came from a cultured family. I'm an artist also, but I don't play any instruments. But I love the Indian people, having been brought up without any form of bias for the many cultures of people who lived in the are I grew up in! So I hope you enjoy the drum. Best wishes, Bill Locke.

© Hartenberger World Music Collection