Our Native American Drums are easy to care for!! Please remember that a drum has a rawhide that is a natural, living material and it will change with humidity and temperature. Once you receive your drum we recommend cleansing your drum with aromatic smoke from sage, sweetgrass, cedar tips, or palo santo. Also, your drum will benefit from saging it on a regular basis use the sacred herbs to cleanse your aura and sacred space at the same time. Your drum has come to you in a sacred way and you will wish to have a bonding/welcoming ceremony with your drum to establish that sacred relationship. Prepare yourself with prayer and meditation ask your guides and animal spirits to be with you during this welcoming ceremony. You will wish to cleanse yourself and your drum with the sacred smoke of the sage, sweetgrass, or palo santo as part of the ceremony. Start drumming and send your prayers to the 7 Directions. When the ceremony is over send out a prayer of gratitude to all the spirits that came.

To insure a long life for your drum, we recommend the following:

The heat from a campfire will quickly cause the hide on your drum to tighten and the tone to rise. Please be careful with fire as prolonged exposure to the heat will cause the hide to crack.
Do not leave your drum in a vehicle in summer or leave your drum in direct sunlight!!! If you live in a hot dry climate it's best not to leave your drum in the car.
Do not store your drum near a stove, fireplace, heater or in a location with direct sunlight. We recommend our drum bags for protecting your drum and for traveling with your drum.

We recommend you use a sweat lodge drum or a Remo Buffalo Drum (has a great voice and never fails in wet conditions) in a sweat lodge. Our sweat lodge drum is made specifically for sweats and is guaranteed to hold its tone in a sweat. We have had folks take their drums in a sweat lodge and their drum is ruined from the heat and moisture of the sweat lodge.

Simple methods to change the tone of your drum..... If the tone is too high...Add moisture (mist front and back using water and a spritzer, or take into the bathroom when you shower). If the tone is too deep...Add heat (put in the sun or next to heat source briefly, or use a hair dryer). If the tone is flat or drum ripples...Add heat as above (this is the extreme end of too deep—do not worry—tone will return as it dries). For more information on the care of a Native American Drum see Sacred Drumming by Steven Ash.