Pre-contact Massim Drum (Kupi, Trobriand Islands, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea)

This exceptional pre-contact Massim drum belongs to the large drum type known as kupi or kasausa'u in the Trobriand Islands. Measuring 72 cm in height, it is particularly noteworthy for its finely carved ornamentation and for the evidence of traditional manufacture with stone and other pre-contact tools. The carving was executed before the introduction of European metal tools and would have required considerable technical skill using implements made from stone, shell and boar tusks.

The Trobriand Islands form part of the Massim cultural region of southeastern Papua New Guinea. Music, singing and dance occupy an important position in ceremonial and social life, particularly during the annual milamala harvest celebrations. Drums are not merely rhythmic instruments but form an organized ensemble in which different drum sizes contribute distinct musical voices. In Malinowski's early ethnographic classification, the large kupi was played together with the smaller katunenia, each contributing its own voice to the combined rhythm. He recorded ensembles in which five kupi drums were accompanied by a single katunenia.

The beginning of dancing itself was associated with the ritual initiation of the drums, known as katuvivisa kasausa'u. During the circular dances, the singers and drummers occupied the centre while the dancers moved around them. Different dances were associated with characteristic movements and rhythmic structures. In the kasawaga dances, for example, three men performed highly conventionalized animal movements while the musical ensemble consisted of several kupi drums and one katunenia. These observations demonstrate that the Kupi was an integral part of a complex system combining rhythm, song, dance and ceremonial performance.

The terminology used for Trobriand drums varies somewhat between historical and later ethnographic sources. Malinowski described the kupi as the large drum and the katunenia as approximately one third its size. Later documentation records a more differentiated system in which katunenia, kupi and kesosau represent different drum sizes and musical roles. The present instrument corresponds closely in scale to the large Kupi documented in the early ethnographic literature.

The pre-contact character of the present drum is particularly important. Its decoration was executed without the use of modern metal carving tools, and the finely controlled incised and relief ornament demonstrates the sophistication of Trobriand woodworking traditions before European contact. Stone, shell and boar-tusk implements were among the traditional materials available for cutting, scraping and engraving wood.

Ethnographic source

"The drums (...) consist of: (1) the large drum called kasausa'u or kupi (this latter word being an obscene synonym for the glans penis): and (2) the small drum, about one third the size of the larger, called katunenia. All their drumbeats are a combination of the two drums, the kupi and the katunenia leading each its separate voice. There are two main types of dance in Boiowa. The circular dances, where the orchestra (the drums and the singers) stands in the middle, and the performers go round them in a circle, always in the opposite direction to the hands of a watch. These dances are again subdivided into: (1) bisila (pandanus streamer) dances with slow movement,(2) kitatuva (two bunches of leaves), with a quick movement; and (3) kaidebu (wooden painted shield), dances with the same quick movement. In the bisila dances women can take part (very exceptionally), and all the performers wear women's petticoats. The second group of dances are the kasawaga, where only three men dance, always in imitation of animal movements, though these are very conventionalized and unrealistic. These dances are not circular, there are no songs (as a rule) to accompany them; the orchestra consists of five kupi drums and one katunenia."
Malinowski, Bronislaw (1916) : Baloma - the Spirits of the Dead in the Trobriand Islands.


Comparative ethnographic source

"Bij de traditionele dansen waarbij de mannen in een cirkel tegen de klok in dansen staan de trommelaars en zangers in het midden van de kring. Andere dansen zijn de dansen waarbij drie mannen een dier uitbeelden, en de modernere ontwikkelingen van dansen waarbij de dansers in rijen achter elkaar staan, zoals bij cricket wedstrijden of bij optredens voor toeristen. Voor alle ritmes worden de twee soorten trommels altijd in combinatie met elkaar gebruikt met ieder een eigen stem (Malinowski in Young, 1989:93/97). De lange trommen worden met meerdere vingers bespeeld, de kleinere slechts met een vinger (Norick, 1976:209). Malinowski (1930:29) beschrijft een opvallend gebruik in verband met Trobriand trommels. Op de ochtend voordat de oogstfeesten beginnen moet het taboe op de trommels in een eigen ritueel worden opgeheven. De dansers treden in vol ornaat op met de zangers en trommelaars. Maar het trommen is van korte duur want de vrouwen uit het dorp die nog in rouw zijn beginnen bij de eerste trommelslagen al snel hevig te weinen und von hinter den Häusern kommt eine menigte schreeuwende vrouwen te voorschijn die de mannen met stokken slaan en met stenen en kokosnoten bekogelen. Volgens het ritueel moeten de mannen snel vertrekken achtervolgd door de vrouwen, een leeg dorp achterlatend. Daarmee is het taboe gebroken, op de zelfde middag begint het oogstfeest met de eerste volledige dansuitvoering."
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Comparative historical documentation

A Kupi from the Trobriand Islands in the Malinowski collection was documented by Aldo Massola as measuring 28 inches (approximately 71 cm), while the associated Katunenia measured 11 inches (approximately 28 cm). The close correspondence in size provides an important comparative reference for the present 72 cm Kupi.

Massola, Aldo (1957): Drum Types of Eastern New Guinea. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, No. 22.


Bibliography:

Beran, Harry (1980): Massim Tribal Art. Wollongong: Wollongong City Gallery.
Hamson, Michael and Richard Aldridge (2009): Art of the Massim & Collingwood Bay. Palos Verdes Estates, California: Michael Hamson Oceanic Art.
Malinowski, Bronislaw (1916): Baloma – the Spirits of the Dead in the Trobriand Islands.
Malinowski, Bronislaw (1930): Das Geschlechtsleben der Wilden. Leipzig and Zürich.
Massola, Aldo (1957): Drum Types of Eastern New Guinea. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, No. 22.
Newton, Douglas (1975): Massim – Art of the Massim Area – New Guinea. New York: The Museum of Primitive Art.
Norick, Frank Albert (1976): An analysis of the material culture of the Trobriand Islands based upon the collection of Bronislaw Malinowski. Ann Arbor, Michigan and London: University Microfilms International.
Finsch, Otto (1888): Reisen in Kaiser Wilhelms-Land und Neu-Guinea an Bord des Dampfers Samoa.
Finsch, Otto (1888): Ethnologische Erfahrungen und Belegstücke aus der Südsee – beschreibender Katalog einer Sammlung im K.K. Naturhistorischen Hofmuseum in Wien.