Turtle Mound Flutes

To the Cherokee (and most other Native Americans) the drum is looked upon with great respect and dignity, representing the sacred heartbeat of Elohino (Mother Earth). The drum is most evident if you attend a Pow Wow. Anyone who approaches the drum must come with a sense of humility, refraining from the use of alcohol, drugs, or profanity.

The care of the drum is very important. Children 5-6 years old have traditionally been charged with the responsibility of caring for the large Pow Wow drum. It would be wrapped carefully in a blanket and kept in a corner. The children were charged with preparing the drum for the Pow Wow, unwrapping it and placing it on its cradle. They would then rub tobacco over the drum head, put water on their hand and rub it all over the drum. At the conclusion of the Pow Wow, the children wrap the drum again and put it aside for transport. Caring for the drum is a tradition that resembles the caring for a baby. This tradition was considered an important part of teaching parenting skills to the children.

The drum is an excellent instrument to accompany your flute playing. It can be played with a flute in any key. Almost anyone can pick up a drum and maintain a somewhat steady rhythm, so it is a great way to involve others - even those with no previous musical instrument playing experience - with your flute music.

Turtle Mounds Flutes has a line of painted hand drums that are ideal for flute accompaniment. Although we try to keep some drums in stock and ready to ship, we can make up, paint, and ship a drum to your size and design specification, typically in about 4 weeks. We offer drums in 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 18 inch diameters with round frames (or 8-sided by special order). The larger drums will normally be of elk skin (rawhide), with the others of deer skin. Skins are normally unbleached, but bleached (a light tan color) skins may be available for special orders. Below are photos and descriptions of the drums that are currently available from our on-hand inventory for immediate shipping, with examples of all designs we have used at the bottom of this page. If you don't see a design you'd like, let's talk about it. Check back often because we are continually adding new designs and our inventory changes frequently.

Drums Currently Available * - This drum is on consignment to the *Sundancer Gallery* in historic Cocoa Village, FL. Call to determine whether this drum is still available or not.
18 inch
	18 inch round hand drum with the Blackfoot War Shield Buffalo design. Maple frame with natural (unbleached) elk rawhide drumhead. Buckskin wrapped hand grip. This is currently our biggest size hand drum, and it has a powerful deep voice suitable for large rooms or outdoor use with authority. Price: $200.00 - includes a buckskin covered natural stick beater Shipping and handling extra. Florida residents also must pay state sales tax. See ordering information below.
	18 inch round hand drum with the Turtle design. Maple frame with natural (unbleached) elk rawhide drumhead. Buckskin wrapped hand grip. This is currently our biggest size hand drum, and it has a powerful deep voice suitable for large rooms or outdoor use with authority. Price: $200.00 - includes a buckskin covered natural stick beater Shipping and handling extra. Florida residents also must pay state sales tax. See ordering information below.
16 inch
	16 inch round hand drum with the Pacific Northwest Stellar's Jay design. Maple frame with natural (unbleached) elk rawhide drumhead. Buckskin wrapped hand grip. *SOLD*.
	16 inch round hand drum with the Double Birds (Raven and Redbird) design. Maple frame with natural (unbleached) elk rawhide drumhead. Buckskin wrapped hand grip. Price: $175.00 - includes a buckskin covered natural stick beater Shipping and handling extra. Florida residents also must pay state sales tax. See ordering information below.
	16 inch round hand drum with the Knotted Serpents (Uktena) design. Maple frame with natural (unbleached) elk rawhide drumhead. Buckskin wrapped hand grip. This design is adapted from a shell carving found in Tennessee. Price: $175.00 - includes a buckskin covered natural stick beater Shipping and handling extra. Florida residents also must pay state sales tax. See ordering information below.
10 inch
	10 inch round hand drum with the Chilkat Bear design. Maple frame with natural (unbleached) deer rawhide drumhead. Buckskin wrapped hand grip. The Chilkat Indians inhabit the Pacific coastal region of far southern Alaska. *SOLD*
	10 inch round hand drum with the Raven design. Maple frame with natural (unbleached) deer rawhide drumhead. Buckskin wrapped hand grip. Price: $85.00 - includes a buckskin covered natural stick beater Shipping and handling extra. Florida residents also must pay state sales tax. *SOLD*
	10 inch round hand drum with the Seven Sacred Cherokee Directions design. Maple frame with natural (unbleached) deer rawhide drumhead. Buckskin wrapped hand grip. The pattern for this design is adapted from Apache beadwork, but the colors have been selected to represent the 7 sacred directions of the Cherokee: east (red), south (white), west (black), north (blue), up/above (yellow), down/below (brown), center/where you are (green). *SOLD*
[Photo coming - see prior example below]]	10 inch round hand drum with Standing Kokopelli design. Maple frame with natural (unbleached) deer rawhide drumhead. Buckskin wrapped hand grip. Price: $65.00 includes a buckskin covered natural stick beater Shipping and handling extra. Florida residents also must pay state sales tax. See ordering information below.
	10 inch round hand drum with the Deer with Heartline design. Maple frame with natural (unbleached) deer rawhide drumhead. Buckskin wrapped hand grip. Price: $65.00 - includes a buckskin covered natural stick beater Shipping and handling extra. Florida residents also must pay state sales tax. See ordering information below.
	10 inch round hand drum with the 4 Woodpeckers design. Maple frame with natural (unbleached) deer rawhide drumhead. Buckskin wrapped hand grip. This design is adapted from a shell carving found in Tennessee. Price: $75.00 - includes a buckskin covered natural stick beater Shipping and handling extra. Florida residents also must pay state sales tax. See ordering information below.

To order: To place an order for a Turtle Mound Flutes hand-painted hand drum, please call or e-mail your request. We accept Visa, MasterCard, and Discover, and payments via PayPal electronic funds transfer to john@turtlemoundflutes.com.

Send mail to webmaster@turtlemoundflutes.com with questions or comments about this web site.