Drum Lodge: Frame Drum Making Ceremony

The Drum Lodge is 10am-6pm on Wednesday March 18th and 10am-6pm on March 19th. A hearty lunch will be served both days. Breakfast and Dinner will be on your own. There are plentiful accommodations around Asheville for those traveling from out of town.

The Drum Lodge is a ceremonial gathering where participants create their own elk-hide frame drums on maple rounds — powerful instruments of rhythm, song, and prayer. Making a drum is both the power of a physical craft and a spiritual activation: every step of the process becomes part of the prayer.

These drums are created to accompany you as a long walk companion and tool for vibrational healing, journeying, carrying songs to where they are needed.

• Elk-Drum Crafting: Guided step by step in the mindful, prayerful process of crafting your own elk-hide drum on a maple frame.

• Ceremonial Practice: Every action in the lodge is done with presence and intention, honoring the drum as a sacred tool.

• Prayer & Song: Discover how the drum elevates prayer, grounds rhythm, and amplifies song — a companion in both personal and communal ceremony.

• Lineage of Teaching: This particular style of drum was passed to me by Claire D'Gaia. I have been teaching drum-making for nine years, utilizing the drum as a tool for healing, rhythm, and empowerment.

Acknowledgment

I am (Lena) a non-Indigenous woman who walks with the drum as part of her personal and community-based spiritual path. I offer this work with deep respect and gratitude to the Indigenous nations who have kept the drum and drum-making traditions alive through the generations.

What to Bring

Come with reverence and readiness. Drum-making is both craft and ceremony — the drum you create will walk with you and those after you.

Tuition

Includes all materials, two 8 hour days of instruction and two local and organic lunches.