Qilaut Explained

The qilaut (Inuit: "that by means of which the spirits are called up",^[1] syllabic: ᕿᓚᐅᑦ^[2]) or qilaat (Greenlandic) is a type of frame drum native to the Inuit cultures of the Arctic.

The drum is distinctive in that it has a handle and is made of caribou skin, which is not particularly resonant, giving it a dull, rumbling sound. It is beaten with a stick, the qatuk.

Notes and References

1. Lucien Lévy-Bruhl. Primitives and the supernatural. Haskell House Publishers, 1973,, pg 132.
2. Book: Lucien Schneider. Ulirnaisigutiit: An Inuktitut-English Dictionary of Northern Quebec, Labrador, and Eastern Arctic Dialects (with an English-Inuktitut Index). 10 November 2012. 1985. Presses Université Laval. 978-2-7637-7065-9. 299–.