Iatmul Mud Beater Drum / Water Drum(Middle Sepik, New Guinea, Papua New Guinea)

The mud beater / water drum is one of the most unusual ritual sound instruments of the Middle Sepik region of New Guinea. Among the Iatmul, such instruments belong to the restricted ceremonial sphere of male initiation. Unlike the kundu, the water drum has no membrane. It is a hollow wooden stamping instrument whose sound is produced when the body is plunged forcefully into the surface of water.

The present example has the characteristic form of an elongated, rounded wooden vessel and is open at the lower end. Two projecting loops or eyelets are incorporated into the upper part of the body. These are not conventional hand grips; rather, they serve for the attachment and guidance of the wooden rods or cords used to lower and raise the instrument during its ritual use. The construction is closely comparable to a water drum in the collection of the Musée du quai Branly, Paris, inventory no. 72.1969.2.4, which is also identified as an Iatmul kami from the Middle Sepik.

During the initiation ceremonies, pairs of water drums are plunged into a specially prepared pit filled with water. The instruments are lowered and raised repeatedly, producing a deep, sudden and resonant thudding sound. Historical descriptions emphasize that the instruments were concealed from women and non-initiated persons and were used within the restricted ceremonial environment surrounding the men's house.

The sound of the water drum was understood as the voice of a supernatural being. Within Iatmul initiation traditions, this sound was associated with the supernatural crocodile and with the transformation of the young initiates. The powerful thudding produced by the immersion of the wooden body evoked the sound of the initiates being swallowed by the crocodile, before their ritual return to the community as initiated men.

The term kami is associated with this particular type of water drum and is also connected with fish imagery. Some documented examples bear carved representations of fish or other aquatic creatures, while others incorporate animal or human imagery into their handles and terminals. The sculptural treatment of the present instrument is particularly remarkable. Its carved finial and elongated zoomorphic elements transform the functional sound-producing object into a highly expressive work of Iatmul sculpture.

The Musée du quai Branly comparison is especially significant because its documented construction corresponds closely with the present example. The museum describes its kami as a hollow elongated wooden vessel with two opposed sculptural projections and two loops through which a vine is passed. The instrument is lowered into a water-filled pit during male initiation, where the impact against the water produces a muffled sound associated with the spirits of the water.

The mud-beater drum / water drum therefore occupies a very different position from the ordinary musical drums of New Guinea. It is not primarily an instrument for accompanying dance or song, but a restricted ritual object whose sound forms part of the secret knowledge of male initiation. Its unusual construction, method of performance and association with supernatural voices make it one of the most distinctive sound-producing instruments of the Middle Sepik.