Indian Rawhide Drum Making

“They say when an unborn child is developing, the first thing they hear is the heartbeat of the mother —so when babies go to powwows and hear the music, it is just natural. The drumbeat symbolizes the heartbeat of mother earth.”
Bill Runsabove, Northern Cheyenne composer and singer of traditional songs.
The drum is an important instrument for Indian people, giving both rhythm and meaning to life. It provides the beat for dancers to proudly offer their thanks and praise to the Creator and the Mother Earth during ceremonies. It was and still is used to help heal the sick and as a way of carrying songs and prayers to the Great Above All Person. The tradition of the drum is still very important today and is a way of bringing the People together.

In the northern plains there are two main kinds of drums. The hand drum (pictured above) is usually played by only one person, but several people can play their hand drums together to create rhythms for a winter round dance, for instance.
The second kind of drum is played at powwows. The modern powwow is a relatively recent development in Indian Country. Music for these social occasions is provided by several people playing and singing around one large drum, set on a stand. “Drum” is also the name given to the group of people that plays the large drum together. The names given to the drum often refer directly to the places where the people live. Below is a photo of Pat Kennedy and the Starr School Singers, named after the Starr School Community in Browning, on the Blackfeet Reservation.

Before Europeans arrived on the continent, the peoples of the northern plains depended almost entirely on animal hides to furnish clothing, shelter and most of the other objects of day-to-day living. They always gave thanks to the animals for giving their lives to feed and clothe the People. Historically, Indian drums were made from the hides of buffalo, elk or deer. Today they are sometimes made from cowhide.
The drum-making process begins with soaking the hides for 24 hours or more. The hides are then stretched on a flat frame and the hair is removed with a metal scraper. In the 19th Century, the blade of the scraper may have come from the seat of a covered wagon or a buggy abandoned by immigrants and appropriated by Indians. The scraper handles were made from animal bones or horns.
Once the hair is removed from the hide, the hide must be cut and shaped and dried. If the drum is painted, natural paints made from ground-up earth powders are mixed with water and applied using a brush made from bone. The drum making process is often accompanied by stories and legends that illuminate the significance of the drum's central place in ceremonial life.
Pat Kennedy is a Chippewa Cree elder who is known throughout the region for composing songs and for being among those who started the celebration, which became Browning Indian Days. His CD is available from the Montana Arts Council.

Activities

1. Invite Al Chandler Goodstrike to your classroom. Al is a master hide worker and painter from the Gros Ventre tribe (ah ah ni nin meaning “white clay people” is the name that the Gros Ventre use for the themselves) on the Fort Belknap reservation in north central Montana. He has won awards at all the major Indian art shows for his exquisite earth-painted hides and has served as a master in two traditional arts apprenticeships.

Al teaches students to make Indian hand drums with natural materials. He demonstrates how drums are created from animal skins, discussing the current laws and regulations governing the use of animal hides.
In addition to making an actual drum, Al’s students learn how Indian people invented ingenious uses of natural materials from their environment to create objects of beauty for everyday use. They learn about the history and culture of American Indian peoples, the importance of drums and drum making to their ceremonial life, and the different kinds of drums that are used for different kinds of singing and ceremonies.