{"id":5802,"date":"2015-07-13T19:02:55","date_gmt":"2015-07-13T19:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blogblog\/?p=5802"},"modified":"2015-09-07T20:21:07","modified_gmt":"2015-09-07T20:21:07","slug":"baby-raven-reads-program-drum-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/baby-raven-reads-program-drum-making\/","title":{"rendered":"“Baby Raven Reads” Program — Drum Making"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Drum1\"<\/a>

7-year-old Elizabeth Hope reads the step-by-step instructions out loud on how to make a drum<\/p><\/div>\n

Sealaska Heritage Institute sponsors the “Baby Raven Reads” program which mainly teaches young children how to read yet also conducts other cultural projects for the young minds and bodies. \u00a0This past Sunday, Mary Folletti taught the drum making class for children and their families took place for a couple of hours at the Gajaa Hit Building near the ANB Hall in Juneau. \u00a0Thank you Davina Cole, project coordinator from SHI…!<\/p>\n

\"Drum2\"<\/a>

Prepared raw hide is soaked in water<\/p><\/div>\n

The drum making kits were purchased from a supply store in Centralia,\u00a0Washington State at Centralia Fur and Hide Company (their website is of the same name). \u00a0The kits included the pre-bent wood frame, the pre-cut circle of hide and the raw hide threads.<\/p>\n

\"Drum3\"<\/a>

A few tools and supplies needed for drum making: \u00a0 needle-nose pliers, hammer, scissors, push pins and “Tightbond” wood glue<\/p><\/div>\n

My grand-daughter Elizabeth and I were one of approximately 20 Juneau families who took this class. \u00a0Most of the children were around 4 to 7 years of age, though there were a few younger.<\/p>\n

\"Drum4\"<\/a>

After the raw hide has soaked, place on a flat surface smooth side down with pencil markings facing down; pat with a towel to absorb excess moisture<\/p><\/div>\n

For many years my friend, Becky Etukeok made drums from local hides such as deer, moose, and caribou. \u00a0After taking this class I have a larger\u00a0admiration towards\u00a0her dedication to this art form. \u00a0I had never seen how drums were made nor had the appreciation of how they were made until doing this simple class where all the hard work was done for us. \u00a0Although Beckie\u00a0now is the program director of arts at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, she is still known as “Beckie Drum-maker.”<\/p>\n

\"Drum5\"<\/a>

Soak spiral-cut, 3\/8″ “threads<\/p><\/div>\n

When threading, pull so there’s no slack, but not too tight as that will make your drum too high pitch.<\/p>\n

\"Drum6\"<\/a>

Instructor Mary Folletti demonstrates how to begin threading<\/p><\/div>\n

How to include your young child in making a drum:<\/p>\n

* \u00a0Let your child explore the materials (sinew, frame, hide) while you name them.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0Talk about how the frame is a circle. \u00a0Ask what shape the hide is and why it’s bigger than the frame<\/p>\n

* \u00a0Ask what the different materials feel like (smooth, wet)<\/p>\n

* \u00a0Ask or explain where the materials comes from (deer, tree, intestines)<\/p>\n

* \u00a0Count the holes together, name the tools (hammer, pliers, scissors)<\/p>\n

* \u00a0They can help pull the sinew through<\/p>\n

* \u00a0The can help “pull tight”<\/p>\n

* \u00a0They can help hammer tacks with close supervision<\/p>\n

\"Drum7\"<\/a>

Begin threading through one hole and tie a half hitch knot<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Drum8\"<\/a>

Thread through the hole directly across the first hole, and repeat<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Drum9\"<\/a>

Clarissa helps her grand-daughter Elizabeth how to create a handle<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Drum10\"<\/a>

Most everyone in the class has created their “star” pattern<\/p><\/div>\n

I had a blast making this drum with my grand-daughter Elizabeth. \u00a0I look forward to doing more cultural things with all of my grandchildren as they grow up.<\/p>\n

\"Drum11\"<\/a>

Some drum makers fold rawhide between the threaded areas over the frame and hammer a tack in each section to hold it down.<\/p><\/div>\n

When you have completed your drum, make sure you take the thumb tacks out and let your drum dry on a clean, flat surface, face up. \u00a0Depending on your climate: \u00a0it takes about 2 days to dry in Alaska, though at 7000 feet where the climate is a bit drier like the 4-corners area of the United States, the drum may not even take a day to dry!<\/p>\n

\"Drum12\"<\/a>

Directly after creating the handle and pushing the raw edges of the leather to the inside of the drum, with her strong fingers, Elizabeth carefully smoothes the frame removing all the big folds and wrinkles – you must do this step as soon as possible before the hide even starts to dry<\/p><\/div>\n

HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR DRUM:<\/p>\n

Your drum was made out of an animal and a tree and some say the drum is a living being so you want to honor its spirit with love and respect<\/p>\n

Store it wrapped in cotton, wool, or a custom drum bag face up or on a wall. \u00a0Keep it from extreme temperatures and direct sunlight as heat may cause it to crack.<\/p>\n

Water expands and heat constricts. \u00a0On sunny days you can mist with a damp cloth or spray bottle. \u00a0If your drum is cold you can warm it slowly, using your own skin as a gauge.<\/p>\n

Clean with a slightly damp cloth. \u00a0You can condition with Shea butter bought from cedarmountaindrums.com<\/p>\n

Careful not to set anything on your drum and remember to play your drum often. \u00a0It wants to sing!<\/p>\n

\"Drum13\"<\/a>

Mary Folletti teaches some of the kids how to do various beats with their new drums and drumsticks<\/p><\/div>\n

How\u00a0to make a drumstick:<\/p>\n

You will need a stick, padding (cotton or wool cloth), sinew, and a piece of buckskin.<\/p>\n

1) \u00a0Put glue on one end of stick covering 1″ down around the whole stick.<\/p>\n

2) \u00a0Wrap padding around end of stick that you glued, snuggly not to tight.<\/p>\n

3) \u00a0Use sinew and wrap around padding a dozen times crisscrossing, then tie off on stick behind padding.<\/p>\n

4) \u00a0Center Buckskin on end of padded end, pull down stick and hold snug behind padding then wrap sinew very tightly around buckskin and stick 7 to 9 times; tie off using scissors to trim excess buckskin<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sealaska Heritage Institute sponsors the “Baby Raven Reads” program which mainly teaches young children how to read yet also conducts other cultural projects for the young minds and bodies. \u00a0This past Sunday, Mary Folletti taught the drum making class for children and their families took place for a couple of hours at the Gajaa Hit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,13,29,50,150],"tags":[90,62,382,381,380,100,98,32],"class_list":["post-5802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-travels-adventures","category-classes-retreats-apprentices","category-latest-art-projects","category-tlingit-cultural-events","category-tools-of-the-trade","tag-alaska-native-art","tag-alaskan-artists","tag-becky-etukeok","tag-davina-cole","tag-mary-folletti","tag-native-american-art","tag-northwest-coast-tlingit-native-art","tag-sealaska-heritage-institute"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5802"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5822,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5802\/revisions\/5822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarissarizal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}