Native American Drums

Native Drum American

Traditionally American Indian drums are large, two to three feet in diameter, and they are played communally by groups of men who stand around them in a circle. However, there were also some tribes in which each drummer had his own instrument, and it is possible to buy a smaller Native American hand drum for either musical or decorative purposes. (These hand drums are the ones that are sometimes called "tomtoms" by non-native people--contrary to popular belief, tomtom is not an American Indian word, but rather an old British word for a child's drum toy.)

If you are looking to buy a drum that was actually made by Native Americans--either because it's important to you to have the real thing or because you want to support native people with your purchase--then here is our directory of American Indian artists whose drums are available online. If you have a website of Indian drums to add to this list, let us know. We gladly advertise any individual native artist or native-owned art store here free of charge, provided that all drums were made by tribally recognized American Indian, Inuit, or First Nations artists.