Traditional Drum Making Workshop

Come learn the process of making a 🥁 Double Sided Cedar Drum
I’ll be offering a small-group workshop where participants will learn how to make a traditional double-sided hand drum using cedar frames, rawhide, and traditional lacing methods inspired by Plains Indigenous traditions of North America.
These drums are traditionally used for song, prayer, gathering, and ceremony, and are often referred to as the “heartbeat” within many Indigenous cultures. While this workshop is primarily focused on the hands-on process of building a drum, we will also share stories around a fire and discuss the importance of the drum within ceremonys.
Throughout the workshop we will:
• Shape and finish a cedar drum frame (frames will be prepared and glued beforehand due to the time required, though the process will still be demonstrated)
• Prepare, cut, and fit rawhide skins
• Learn the lacing technique used for double-sided drums
• Create an internal woven handle
• Make a matching drum beater/mallet
• Learn how to care for a drum in a ceremonial setting
• Discuss the role of the drum in ceremony, song, and community traditions
Each participant will leave with their own completed drum and beater.
No prior woodworking or crafting experience is necessary. The workshop is designed to be approachable for beginners while still offering depth for those already connected to craft, music, or ceremony.
Workshop Details 📍 Location: 44 Rhine Street, Island Bay
📅 Date: Saturday June 20th
🕰 Time: 9:00am arrival 9:30am start
💰 Cost: asking for a contribution of $400 (All primary materials included)
Recommended Tools to Bring
• Flat rasp
• Half-round rasp
• Awl • Sharp knife
• Large leather sewing needles
• Strong scissors
If you don’t have access to some tools, please get in touch beforehand and I can do my best to organise extras.
Spaces will be limited due to the amount of preparation, materials, and one-on-one guidance involved.
We can sit around the fire and craft our drums through-out the day. Bring anything to make your time comfortable, as we will be working outside and likely sitting on the earth. I have plenty of blankets but if you'd like a chair or stole to sit on, considering bringing these.
A little bit about me and what you'll be supporting
Over the past four years I have been mentoring and learning about ceremonies and their tools within a specific lineage connected to the Lakota nation — an Indigenous people from the plains of South Dakota. Within this Woptura lineage I have spent time studying traditional drum making, ceremony, songs, and cultural teachings connected to Lakota traditions. Much of what informs this workshop comes from relationships and time spent learning from people connected to the lakota sioux in South Dakota.
What first drew me to this work was the experience of making something slowly and carefully by hand that carries sound, rhythm, and connection. Over time I’ve come to appreciate the drum not just as an instrument, but as something that brings people together and creates space for reflection, song, and presence.
This year I will be returning to South Dakota to participate in an annual Vision Quest and also a very special Sun Dance ceremony. Sun Dance is an important ceremonial gathering within Lakota tradition centred around prayer, community, endurance, and spiritual commitment.
Many people in New Zealand have attended a Sun Dance or participated in Vision Quest ceremonies over the years, but the reality is that many of these traditions originated in communities that are still struggling to hold these ceremonies for their own people. Places like Pine Ridge Reservation continue to experience the ongoing effects of colonisation, loss of land, poverty, segregation, and the disruption of cultural traditions that were actively suppressed for generations.
Part of what makes this particular Sun Dance Stone Alter important is that Bison Land Productions are working to bring these ceremonies back to the people on the reservations, where they originated and are struggling with daily life. I feel it is important to acknowledge where these teachings come from and to approach sharing them with respect, humility, and reciprocity.
Workshop fees will first cover the hard costs and materials required to run the workshop. All remaining proceeds will be donated to help support the lineage and the upcoming Sun Dance at Pine Ridge Reservation - link attached to donation page https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/donate-to-change-lives-7195?zlinkid=4216e9dc-3235-4e57-8e2f-59ebe23cb4e4
These funds help contribute toward practical costs involved in holding ceremony, including food, firewood, travel, upkeep of ceremonial grounds, and support for the community carrying these traditions forward.
Whether you are drawn to the craft itself, the sound of the drum, or simply the experience of spending a day making something meaningful with your hands, you are warmly welcome.
Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ — All My Relations