Ethical considerations around hide drums

Firstly, none of the Deer or Horses are killed specifically for their hide to make your Drum. 

So where do the hides come from? Our Horse hides come from privately owned, very much loved animals that have died naturally and our Stag and Reindeer hides come from wild culled herds, where their hides are otherwise discarded.

In the absence of top predators in the wild, such as wolves, bears and lynxes, the wild Stag and Reindeer populations rise each year to levels that have detrimental effects on the rest of the ecosystem, both in terms of  the plant life that they eat and of the other animals that are effected by this. To try and manage this, the current imperfect solution is to cull the Deer. While the meat does enter the venison trade, the vast majority of the hides are discarded.

In the interest of honouring the spirit of the animal and not wasting any part of its body, by birthing a Drum from its hide, you give it new life as a Sacred Medicine Tool which will be loved and cared for and which will share its wisdom and healing with all those who work with it.

From an animistic point of view, seeing everything as being spirit, the tree that gave the wood for the hoop is valued in the same way. The hoop is often, sadly, overlooked in these discussions, and it is forgotten that a tree felled is also a life taken. As such, it is ensured that they are responsibly sourced in respect of the tree that gave of itself to provide the wood that became this Shamanic Drum hoop.

In our Drums, each hoop is honoured and the tree that gave the wood is thanked for it and for the qualities of spirit that it gives to the whole of the Drum.

 Plastic is not victimless.

While you may choose a synthetic Drum for personal or practical reasons, these plastic drumheads or plastic laced Drums are not sustainable or eco-friendly alternatives, nor can they claim to be made from ethically sourced materials. 

For these reasons, I prefer not to use a plastic where I can avoid it.

However, on a practical level sometimes playing a plastic Drum can be advantageous (for example while playing in the rain), but it is far from the eco-friendly alternative.

When we discuss the ethics of Hide Drums, we often focus around questions of sustainability and cruelty to animals, and tend to miss the discussion around  “Spirit Ethics”. 

In many traditional animistic cultures, before a tree is cut, they would go to it, give it an offering, say prayers and sing songs, and tell it that it will be cut down. Similarly, before hunting an animal, there would be offerings made to the spirit of the animal, and spiritual journeys made to ask permission to hunt. 

While we can speak for the sustainability and ethics of the materials we work with in our Shamanic Drums, we can be sure that no one gave offerings to the tree, or sang songs and said prayers before it was cut down. We can be sure that no-one journeyed to ask the Stag Spirit for permission before the hunt. As such, this is something that we weave into the ceremony of birthing our Drums, to remember the spirit of the animals and trees, sing songs to them, and say prayers for them.

“We move through a world of life and death.” 

When we consider the world around us, we can see these cycles of life and death all the time. We are involved in those cycles, the animals and trees are also involved in those cycles: they are natural.

Just as the Deer has taken from the plants to feed itself, and as the tree has taken from the air and soil to feed itself, so too are the Deer and tree one day taken by these cycles. We cannot stop or prevent this cycle; it is something that we must accept.

What we can do, however, is live in gratitude and with respect for everything around us. In the birthing of Drums, we can honour the animal and the tree that has been taken and that is now reborn as a Sacred Medicine Tool, one that will be loved and bring healing to many.

The ethics of hide Drums is an important discussion to have, and I am happy every time someone asks me about it. In giving time to think about it, I believe you gain a greater respect for your Drum, a greater respect for your role in birthing the Drum as an agent of transformation, and a greater respect for the cycles of life of which you are a part.

Adapted from Jonathan Weekes, Heron Drums. 

He explains so much more eloquently than I can!