Some examples from one of our clinics. Every frame, and every hide of Elk is different and lends to the uniquness of each drum.
They couldn't make class, so I held a private Drum Making in the park on a nice, sunny Spring day! There are FEW things as wonderful than making a FAMILY DRUM with a loved one! Elk wrapped Kelp rattle on Manzanita, with Hawk and Crow feathers. We sometimes make Ceremonial/ Medicine Rattles :)

(Taken from Voice of the Circle, newsletter for Northern California Flute Circle, Fall 2008 issue)

As both a drum maker and collector and player of Native American flutes I have come to find the greatest joy in bringing drumming and flutes to people’s lives. During a conversation about drums and the Native American flute with Geoffrey Ellis of Earth Tone Flutes and the Native American Flute Portal, he said something that really hit home. He said, “Flute and drums go together like ham and eggs”.

I’ve started bringing more percussion to the flute circles I facilitate or attend and find it to be a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between an individual taking his or her turn at the mic, and the entire flute circle participating, and supporting the flute player. Drums really do build the Community Spirit. Along with Native American style drums, I always have a Djembe, Udo, shakers, bells, percussion frog, clapper sticks, and anything else I can fit into the car handy with me.

I help facilitate a weekly drum circle in my local area. Attendees include members of the Senior Center, members of W.A.T.C.H. which is a local program that helps with life skills with those who have mental disabilities. About 10% also have severe physical disabilities. We also service the local veterans who are using our Circle to help with PTSD. The remainder of the members was between ages of 8 and 65, or folks who have just come to see what the entire buzz was about from the fliers at the college or the big sign in front of the library.

The voice of the drum transcends and unites all languages, ages, barriers and blood, and has been an interesting bridge to the Native American Flute. The act of beating the drum is just the vehicle. The same holds true when someone whips out a Native American flute, a didgeridoo, or anything else. Before I started attending there were only a couple of folks with a Native American style hand drum, and few of them rarely even heard, let alone had seen a Native American flute up close. When I started attending and bringing my flutes and the drums I have made, it wasn’t longer than by the second Circle I attended that I was asked to teach a drum making class. Anyone can buy a drum. Making one puts you in touch with your creative self, with the animal, and with the natural components gifted to us by our Creator to lend life force the voice and rhythm of the drum. Our relationship with the flute or drum is almost as important as our interpersonal relationships, in my opinion. Like those, they must be nurtured and genuine.
 
Experiencing the benefits of such nurturing has been a very unique experience as it is as if the instruments come alive. In my most recent class our new drum makers were ages 55 to 84. We instilled a lot of life parallels and paradigms to the drum making experience, including patience as it related to having to perhaps redo a portion of the lacing, to the 4 day wait before our Drum Birthing ceremony at the next Drum Circle. Other interesting things occurred such as a sudden well of strength that came over our eldest participant. Her 84 year old hands took on a strength she hadn’t experienced in 30 years and she required very little assistance during the final tightening phases of the drum making. As such, I have committed to offering many of my drum making classes at about “cost” to some of our service groups so that the initiation as a drum maker and the experiencing of connecting to the drum is open to a wider audience."

BlackWolf and his wife "Sigil" to the left, and BlackWolf with 2 Grammy Winning Artist Mary Youngblood at her annual pilgrimage concert to
Moaning Caverns where she recorded her first record. BlackWolf has been of the back up musicians along with the Northern California Flute Circle at the
cavern concerts, and also served on the Leadership Board of the Northern California Flute Circle, as well as was Editor of the NCFC newsletter.

Ancient Kauri Wood Native American Flute with Squirl block and red coral inlay

Sub Bass Native American flute in Redwood

The Wolf Paw within a Paw graphic was designed by an Apache Elder who gifted it to me to
represent Our Connection. Please honor that Sacred gift and the Medicine behind it by not taking it.

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