ABSTRACT
This chapter follows the itinerary of a goavddis, or a drum from Northern Sápmi, via the Kunstkammern of Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie in Stockholm and Johannes Schefferus in Uppsala, to its present location in Nordiska museet in Stockholm. The chapter traces the recontextualization of the goavddis from a ritual musical instrument central to Sámi culture to an object of knowledge and a museum specimen. As it is currently displayed at Nordiska museet, the goavddis is situated in a field of attraction, fascination, exploitation, and a struggle over the right to define. Yet it has also maintained some of its thing-power and material independence.
