- Hornbostel-Sachs
- 211.311.12
- Family
- Percussion
- Origin
- Widespread across North America
- Materials
- rawhidewoodsinew
About
A single-headed frame drum 12 to 18 inches in diameter, held in one hand and struck with a beater in the other. Used across virtually all Indigenous North American traditions for solo song, healing ceremonies, storytelling, and travel songs. The head is typically rawhide or commercial drum skin; the frame is bent wood, sometimes with pebbles or seeds sealed inside for a rattle effect. Each nation has its own traditions for making, decorating, and using hand drums.