Tatai (drum)

Single-skin, footed drums were a feature of several eastern Polynesian island groups. In Hawai'i and parts of French Polynesia, including the Marquesas, they were used in elaborate religious rituals, accompanying song and dance or signalling various stages of the ceremony.

Such drums were works of art. Both the wood from which the drum was constructed and the chords that the membrane was attached with provided opportunities for artistic expression. Hawaiian and Austral Island examples were sometimes ornately carved and had fine lashings. The Marquesan drums were decorated with very detailed plaiting, and attached ornaments.

This drum has been hollowed from each end, leaving a solid septum or partition between the resonating chamber and the base. The shark-skin membrane is secured by coconut-fibre cords fastened to a wooden hoop, which is lashed into the body of the drum.

The hoop has been covered in plaited cord, in which tufts of hair have been inserted. A delicately carved bone toggle, in the form of a tiki figure with a large tuft of human hair, is attached to the top of the drum by a plaited cord. The drum stood on the ground when it was played.

Text adapted from Icons Nga Taonga: From the Collections of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (2004)