WHY DO WE USE RIVER-RECOVERED CEDAR? While most other drums are made from plywood, our drums are constructed from river-recovered cedar logs. Some trees fell in the time of our ancestors, perhaps centuries ago. The age of these logs does not just add to the mystery of the drum, this wood is denser and produces a deeper resonance. Cedar is a sacred wood to Native Americans. Legends tell that Thunderbirds only built their nests in the protected branches of cedar. Cedar is considered the blood of the people. How sacred is plywood? You choose. We think that healing drums should be crafted with love and sacred materials. We will not compromise. We will not cut down a new tree. We believe that deforestation is a serious problem. We refuse destroy our planet. We are die-hard recyclers and admitted "tree-huggers." That is our commitment to Mother Earth, to ourselves and to you. |
OCTAGON HAND DRUMS
Our one-sided hand drums come in three standard sizes. Each drum is approximately three (3) inches deep. Dimensions vary by drum, since each drum is built and sanded individually. Special sizes can be made to fit any need. Every drum comes with a free stick. For more detail, click on the images below to see the front, side and back of our cedar octagon hand drums.
- 12” diameter - $75.00
- 14" diameter - $95.00
- 16” diameter - $120.00
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| Sizes: 16", 14", 12" |
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| Slim 3" profile |
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| Rawhide lacing -back |
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ROUND HAND DRUMS
We have had many requests for a round hand drum. We refused to build this drum using the "cheese wheel" or mass-produced plywood "hoop." We had to use our cedar. After considerable experimentation, Little Badger has constructed our round drum: it is a 16 sided drum sanded into a circle. NO TREES HAD TO DIE.
We use rawhide laces, not string or imitation sinew, to keep your drum head tight. These rawhide laces are cut from same hide as the head so they will expand and contract with your drum. This is extremely important: drums laced with nylon cord or sinew will eventually result in a loose drum head. We provide a FREE drum stick with every drum. CLICK on the thumbnail photo of drum back at right to see detail of the lacing and back.
- 12" diameter: $90.00
- 14" diameter: $120.00
- 16" diameter: $150.00
- NEW SIZE - BIG BOOM!
18" diameter: $180.00
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WHY NO PADDED HANDLE ON OUR DRUMS? We do not use a padded handle because Native Americans believe that the heartbeat of Mother Earth echoes through a drum. First, padding interferes with the contact between you and your drum. Caucasian drum makers often use a sheepskin handle. Of the thousands of Native Americans we have met at powwows, not a single one carried a drum with a padded handle. It defeats the purpose of drumming as prayer. Second, padded handles restrict the sounds of your drum. Our drums are famous as "scratch drums" used by Northern tribes, where you use your thumb to stop the reverberation and create a unique drumbeat. Drumming involves the whole hand, not just the drum beater. |
SWEAT LODGE DRUMS
This is a traditional double headed stave drum. Lodge drums are approximately 5" in depth. Because this drum has two rawhides, it is the preferred type for sweat lodges, but the two hides raise the cost as well. We have tested these drums. Friends and customers have tested the lodge drums. The results: these drums still sing after 28 stones. In an experiment, we took our friend, Kathy's, single sided buffalo hide hand drum and our cow hide lodge drum into sweat lodge. After first round, Kathy's buffalo drum was flat as a pancake. Our lodge drum sweated through all four rounds with songs still in her. These drums make the perfect "traveling drum" when you add a collapsable stand and custom drum bag. All drums come with a free stick.
- 12” diameter - $145.00
- 14" diameter - $170.00
- 16" diameter - $195.00
- 18" diameter - $220.00 NEW SIZE BY POPULAR REQUEST
For flexibility, we can build you a "traveling stand." This is a two piece stand that collapses for easy travel and storage. We create a special padded and lined drum bag to carry both lodge drum and collapsable stand. This "traveling drum package" is $95.00.
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UNBLEACHED COW HIDE
Bleaching weakens rawhide, so we use only unbleached cow hide. Why cow hide? Cheap drums will be covered with goat, pig, or deer. Those hides warp in even 5% humidity, and they also stretch and stretch, so that your drum head will never be tight. Cow hide holds up under all weather conditions, and can withstand the humidity of a sweat lodge.
We wish we could use Buffalo, but it would triple our cost, and thus your cost. Also, Buffalo have been on the species extinction list; cows have not. We believe that it is wrong to kill Buffalo to make drums when fast food restaurants slaughter cows by the billions. Haven't humans killed enough Buffalo? For these reasons we believe the finest, most affordable sound comes from unbleached cow hide. All of our hides are commercially tanned to ensure uniformity in thickness and quality.
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| Double-sided Hand drums |
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| Large Drums with Floor Stands |
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PERSONAL POWWOW DRUMS
Our full size powwow drums boom! We provide a furniture grade red oak stand with each large drum. Stands make perfect easels for the painted drum. Stands collapse into two flat pieces for easy transportation. We routinely carry these four sizes of larger drum for personal and healing uses. Both the stand and stick are FREE!!
- 12” high x 20” diameter - $260.00
- 12” high x 24” diameter - $315.00
- 12" high x 26" diameter - $365.00
- 12" high x 28" diameter - $415.00
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POWWOW DRUMS
Little Badger's largest drum to date - the 42 1/2" powwow drum - found a home. But since he likes to break his own records, the next drum will be larger. These big drums are perfect for professional powwow drum teams with 10 or more singers. Our powwow drums win competitions. If you want to excel at something, use the correct tools. Powwow singers across the United States find that Little Badger drums are THE drums for them.
Little Badger builds larger powwow and ceremonial drums to order. We often carry these drums in stock during powwow season, so give us a call to see if we have the size you want. Typically, though, it is better to order large powwow drums 3-4 weeks in advance.
Each powwow drum is made from two cowhides, one hide per each head. Every powwow drum comes with a FREE collapsable stand (your choice of Swing Stand or Elevated Floor Stand) and FREE drum stick. Stands are made from very hard Red Oak, for durability.
- 12" high x 30" diameter - $500.00
- 12" high x 32" diameter - $550.00
- 12" high x 34" diameter - $625.00
- 12" high x 36" diameter - $700.00
If you have a special need, please call for special pricing. We are always happy to negotiate prices for Native American powwow drum teams, Native American churches, and boy scout groups.
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| Now you can choose between our red oak and hardwood peg SWING STAND (featured above) or an elevated stationary floor stand. Both types of powwow drum stands are collapsable for easy transportation and FREE WITH ANY POWWOW DRUM! |
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