- Hornbostel-Sachs
- 211.311
- Family
- Percussion
- Origin
- Great Plains, North America
- Materials
- rawhidewoodsinew
About
The large communal drum at the centre of powwow music — a bass drum typically 2 to 3 feet in diameter, with two heads of rawhide stretched over a wooden frame. Struck by four to twelve singers seated around it, the powwow drum represents the heartbeat of the Earth and is treated as a living, sacred being. Each drum has protocols: it must not touch the ground without a blanket or stand, and some drums have names, songs, and histories. The sound carries long distances across open ground, coordinating the movements of hundreds of dancers.