NMM 7280. Natural trumpet (towel), Kapriman Village, Blackwater River, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, 1970. Side-blown, wooden, natural trumpet with crocodile head carved above the embouchure hole. Body decorated with carved circular, curvilinear, and zig-zag patterns. The crocodile is considered to be a sacred creature and often appears in the mythology and art of the Sepik region. One group tells a creation narrative, for example, in which the upper jaw of the crocodile became the heavens and the lower jaw became the earth. For other groups, the crocodile is a totemic ancestor or believed to be the sacred being that created mankind. Length: 55.9 cm (22"). Joe R. and Joella F. Utley Collection, 1999.

Go to Annotated Checklist of Musical Instruments From Oceania on Display at the NMM

National Music Museum
The University of South Dakota
414 East Clark Street
Vermillion, SD   57069