Sulawesi Island, Indonesia
Torajan People

Wood
Early 20th century
Length: 36.375 in, Height: 17 in
Idiophones – Struck Idiophones – Slit Drums

The slit drum is a cylindrical idiophone, made from a hollowed piece of wood in which a narrow groove serves as a sound opening. The form of this slit drum from the Sulawesi Island is zoomorphic (animal shaped) and looks to be a water buffalo.  In Tana Toraja on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, the water buffalos play a major role in funeral ceremonies, as they believe that the buffalos lead the deceased on to their afterlife.  This ceremonial slit drum is struck with two mallets/sticks along both sides of the narrow opening. The Torajan people are renowned for their elaborate funeral rites, burial sites carved into rocky cliffs, massive peaked-roof traditional houses known as tong Konan, and wood carvings.  

Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torajan_people; https://www.auralarchipelago.com/auralarchipelago/okol