Voices From the Drum Celebrates Osage Culture

By Carson Ball

Jessica Moore Harjo and Rock Pipestem, Little Stars from the Sky Lodge, 2018, pine, birch plywood, bison hide, acrylic paint, steel, Photo: Ryan Red Corn

At the heart of the Osage Nation, serving as a keepsake for cultural traditions, sits the drum. The Osage Nation Museum explores the significance of the drum and its role in Osage culture in their exhibition, Voices From the Drum, on view until March 26. Here, the Osage Nation Foundation (ONF) not only cultivates a space to learn, but also to promote numerous Osage artists at many stages in their careers. Voices From the Drum is a community arts initiative by the ONF, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Osage culture. The exhibition was first brought about by conversations between ONF and Wilson Pipestem, who was inspired to view the hand drum as an artistic canvas. Wilson says he was “motivated” by his brother, Rock Pipestem, an Osage singer and drum maker, to bring this vision to life. Rock Pipestem, son of the late Browning and Sharon Pipestem of the Grayhorse District, is a nationally recognized artist. His drum-making inspiration comes from his Osage and OtoeMissouria people’s ceremonies and traditions. He has demonstrated his drum-making for the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. and this past year was inducted into the 2021 class of Cultural Capital Fellows for The First Peoples Fund, one of the oldest national organizations dedicated to supporting Native American artists and culture bearers. When creating the plan for the Voices From the Drum exhibition, ONF board member Chad Renfro explained that they wanted this exhibition to “be large enough, successful enough, and speak about us (ONF) enough that we could move this and keep it moving as a traveling exhibition all around the United States, and perhaps even take a trip to Europe at some point.” With this end goal in mind, the ONF commissioned Rock Pipestem to create nineteen drums.

Pipestem partnered with Osage artists to bring their individual visions to life. Each piece was designed by a different Osage artist who used the drum as a canvas to

Left: Norman Akers and Rock Pipestem, From the Heart, 2018, pine, birch plywood, bison hide, steel, acrylic paint, Photo: Ryan Red Corn; Right: Sarah Elsberry and Rock Pipestem, Untitled, 2018, pine, birch plywood, bison hide, acrylic paint, steel, Photo: Ryan Red Corn

express their individuality and Indigenity like the relationship between geography and community in Norman Akers’ From the Heart. Exhibiting artists include: Norman Akers, Dante Biss-Grayson, Joe Don Brave, June Carpenter, Sarah Elsberry, Anita Fields, Yatika Fields, Jessica Moore Harjo, Kilan Jacobs, Jonathan Lunsford, Harleigh Moore, Ted Moore, Vanessa Moore, Rock Pipestem, Wendy Ponca, Alex Ponca Stock, Jon Red Corn, RA Red Corn, Addie Roanhorse, and Jen Tiger. Based on these artists’ visions Rock Pipestem began building each piece. When he finished each drum, he then personally presented it to the Osage artist commissioned for the project, and together they discussed their thoughts and experiences surrounding their individual drum.

Voices From the Drum is a representation of the Osage community’s beliefs, culture, humor, and craftsmanship. The artists in the exhibition range from well-established and nationally known to emerging. ONF board member Julie O’Keefe states “This [exhibition] brought out artists that we currently know, but there were some emerging artists that we didn’t know existed. It was amazing to see talent in our tribe that we didn’t even know we had. I felt like we uncovered treasures along the way.” Voices From the Drum will be many of these emerging artists’ first museum show, creating opportunities for them to gain increased recognition and build a foundation for their careers.

Among these new nineteen drums will be one historic drum, used at veterans dances, on loan from the Pawhuska American Legion Post 198. The integration of this drum creates juxtaposition within the exhibition to underscore the historical significance of the items on display. Throughout Osage history the drum has stood as a cultural symbol representing past ancestors and present generations. The Voices From the Drum exhibition models community building through the underlying collaboration between Osage creators. While maintaining traditional modes of crafting the drum, artists continuously re-envision its meaning. In this, the Osage Nation Museum creates a space that simultaneously invites viewers to learn about tradition while celebrating the innovation of each individual artist. The exhibition will be on view until March 26th, 2022 at the Osage Nation Museum in Pawhuska, OK. n

Carson Ball is an Indigenous Graduate Student and Fulbright Scholar at the University of British Columbia. His hometown is Owasso, Oklahoma.

June Carpenter and Rock Pipestem, Untitled, 2018, pine, birch plywood, bison hide, acrylic paint, synthetic sinew, steel, Photo: Ryan Red Corn