Mar 18, 2009
From Hide to Drum – Finding the Right Fit part I
The hides are ready! On a recent trip to the trading post, Kaye and I picked up four buffalo half hides and two horse hides. I’m amazed that we were able to fit these hides in my car with three people along for the ride. The buffalo was thick and had little flexibility. This was a great time to practice one of the truths of living on this planet. As the hides were carried one by one to the car I spoke with each one, bringing honor to the spirit and asking each to soften just enough to go along for the ride. Amazing enough it worked! There was no way we could fit all of this in one of the smallest SUV’s but we managed, without compromising the ride for the people.
buffalo and horse hides
Later that evening we arrived at my house, and unloaded the hides. The buffalo were each nearly the size of a queen size bed. From these hides we were tasked with finding two buffalo hide rounds for a ceremonial drum, one 9 sided hide buffalo, and as many 15″ and 17″ drum rounds as we could fit around the occasional holes in the hide.
Oh yes, we had one more task to contend with during our measuring and cutting: Angie, my son’s black lab, discovered the joy of hide one afternoon when we built drums at my house. Oops. This time the hides are dry, and the dog was well supervised and well behaved.
Once we settled in for the evening we pulled out the horse hides, measuring and rearranging our templates so that we would make the greatest use of the hide. “No waste”, shares Kaye, our drum making teacher. “The rest will be little drums, or rattles.”
Next: part II of the “From Hide to Drum – Finding the Right Fit“, to be posted later this day.
