The Sami drum.

Traditionally, the Sami drum has been an important tool in the Sami society. It was an instrument to help the Sami shamans to enter a trance. It was helped by the drawn of icons in its leather membrane, as well as the addition of amulets and objects of power. But when the Sami people were forced to convert to Christianism, the Church focused its persecution at the shaman and his tool, the drum. They were thought to be the main threat to Christianism. They were forbidden, together with the practise of its religion, by law. All the drums were collected and burned in order they couldn’t be used. Nowadays, only around 70 drums are still preserved. You can see some of them in the Nordic Museum in Stockholm.