(Lali) Wooden War Drum
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1858
label: Collection Date
content: 1840
name: label: Collector
content: Lt. Charles Wilkes
label: Donor Name
content: United States Exploring Expedition
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "War drum. Hollowed like a trough from a log of hard red, wood, the bottom is convex like the bilge of a cask, or more so when used, a coil of rope forms it base. Beaten with two sticks one of which is small, the other large. The tavola tree of Fiji, (terminalia catappa) is said to make the best sounding lalis, although the vesi tree (afzelia bijuga) is also used. 'The sides are beaten by two sticks about 18 inches long. In different ways, measures or tunes are beaten on them, the meaning of which is known by the natives and the "old hands" or settlers. The sound of the lali is not unpleasant when beaten by a practiced hand, and a good sounding one may be heard at a distance of four or five miles on a quiet evening.' -Horne, 'A Year in Fiji', p. 114. Commodore Wilkes in his "Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition [vol. III, pp. 316-317; see also related illustration p. 334]," states that this drum was given to him by Tiu Thakau, a chief of the island [sic] of Somu-Somu, together with a thousand yams in exchange for a musket-the usual price, and a whale's tooth in token of friendship. "After the drum had been presented to me," he continues, "I was desirous of hearing them beat upon it. They have several beats or calls to give notice to the koro (or village), one of which was for calling the people together to the feast of human bodies. They were all distinct and they said quite audible at a great distance. The Feejee [sic] drum is similar to that described at Tonga, and is made of a log hollowed out and placed on one point. It gives out a deep, hollow tone when struck with the small and large sticks, with which they produce the different sounds.' -Vol. iii, pp. 299-300."
label: Notes
content: "Tiu Thakau" is most likely a title rather than a name. Today the Tui Cakau is the Paramount Chief of Cakaudrove Province in Fiji. Cakaudrove Province includes the island of Taveuni, which includes Somosomo. Somosomo is the traditional fiefdom of the Tui Cakau.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 20 Jul 2023
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Somosomo, Taveuni Island, Fiji, Melanesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Fijian
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 66A00050
label: USNM Number
content: E2827-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Drum
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 143.5 cm
label: Diameter - Object
content: 160 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 33.5 cm