Native American Drums

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.