From the construction we can devide the sami-drums into to groups, framedrums and bowldrums.

The framedrums were more common in the southern parts of Lappland (northen scandinavia) and were constructed of an oval frame of pine or spruce.

The frame could be constructed in three ways: one piece of wood sweeped into a frame, the oval frame cut in one piece or two ovals puted together. The southern-sami name for framedrum is "gievrie".

The bowldrums are thought to be a development of the framedrums and were mostly used in the northen parts, they were also made from pine or spruce.

The body was hollowed out as a bowl and had two oval holes which were used as a handle.

The northen-sami name for bowldrum is "goavddis"

The skinn was painted with different signs such as animals, houses, landscapes, sun and moon and the gods, all that were in the samis world picture.

The paintings can be devided into three groups: southern-sami, central-sami and northen-sami.

The southern samidrum had the sun in the middle in the manner of a cross.
The central samidrum devided the skinn in two parts and often a cross or a sign for the sun in the lower part.
The northen samidrum had three or five fields that could represent e.g. the sky, the human world and the underworld.

Of the 71 preserved drums 42 are of the southern kind, 22 of the central and 7 of the northern.

Of course there were many variations and crossings of these three groups.

The drum was played with a stick made of a hoarn from a reindeer.

The samidrum had the function of an oracle. They used the drum when they looked for an answer of something or when they needed help, e.g. if they were sick. The drum was mostly used by the "nċjd" (shaman) but later and more south there were a drum in almost every home.
The nċjd used the drum to get into trance, then he traveled to other worlds to talk and negotiate with gods and ancestors. In that way he could heal the sick and get advice and help if there were a problem.

Those who had a drum at home used it in an other way. They used the drum when they needed an answer to a question, e.g. what to sacrifice to a certain god or how the weather would be.
On the drumskin they placed a ring or a piece of bone as a pointer. When they hited the drum the pointer moved over the drumhead and when it stopped on a sign that was the answer.

 

The oldest evidence of the samidrum is in a Norweigan writing from the 12th century but those drums that are preserved are from the 17th and 18th century.

The drums were prohibited by the goverment in the end of the 17th century, and baned by the church because they were used in the old religion of the lapps. The drums were of course in focus when the church tryed to force the lapps into the christian belives. The drums became associated with witchcraft and the lapps were forced to leave and destroy their drums, and those who didn´t were punished or even killed.

Pointer
Stick

This is a page dedicated to the old sami drums, they were used in the northen part of scandinavia called Lappland by the sami people.

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Sources:
Kjellström, Rolf & Rydving, Håkan. Den samiska trumman, 1988.

Westman, Anna & Utsi, John E. Trumtid - Om samernas trummor och religion, 1998. (Nordiska Museet)