Conclusion

Wrapping Everything Up

To the majority of the cultures in the world a drum is nothing special. It is simply used to make great music, keeping time, providing the basic rhythm for the other instruments to keep time with. There are very basic, inexpensive kids drums, drums used in bands and still others specifically designed to meet the needs of the drummer, whether it be specific amount of cymbals in the drum set, or made from a special wood for a certain sound. 

To Native Americans the drum means everything; it is the heartbeat of the nation. Because most drums are made from the trees the Creator provided to the Indians and the drums made from those trees are a good way to communicate with the Creator. Even down to who can make a drum and who sits in the drum circle, there are spiritual reasons for all happenings related to drums. While there are artifacts that have great spiritual meaning to other cultures, there may not be one that holds such significance across so many sub-cultures – Cherokee, Lakota, Shawnee, Stillaguamish, Chippewa, Assiniboine, Apache and Navajo just to name a very few. 

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One of the things that struck me as especially interesting to think about: folklore can change quite a lot over relatively small timeframes, morphing as society changes. As far as folklorists can determine however, the drum has always been a very important piece of the Native American culture and it appears that it may continue to be so without changing the meaning or spiritual connection to the Creator.