Katie Randall and I travelled to Tulita recently to visit one of our Skill Builders Projects in action. Bradley Menacho, the community recreation coordinator, is leading a Drum Making workshop at the Cultural Centre on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Participants are learning the basics of drum making through this series of workshops. Drum making is a tradition that has long been a part of Shúhtaot'ine culture, though fewer drums are made now so the skills involved are not being passed on as readily.
The previous week, workshop participants learned that the kind of hide and how it’s applied make a big difference. They prepped and stretched a hide over one of the frames, but the hide unfortunately cracked while it was drying. They worked together to troubleshoot and figure out how to make it work next time, learning that the hide they used was too thin and stretched just a little too tight. Participants said they appreciated learning and helping one another through the process.
When we came into the meeting room at the bustling Cultural Centre, the table in front of us was covered in drum frames and the room smelled of fresh animal hides. There were buckets of hides soaking in salted water and a few more hides laid out on plastic on the floor nearby.
All of these hides, we were told, were from caribou hunted in the mountains near Colville Lake, so they are thicker than the last one participants used.
After the hides were placed on the frames and trimmed, the elders guiding the project passed each of the drums on to waiting participants. The men worked in small groups at a nearby table to attach the hide to the wooden drum frames with string. They made evenly-spaced holes in the frames, and then carefully measured string to lace through those holes.
As the drums were strung, the elders showed us how they make babiche (long, thin strips of animal hide) from the scraps of leftover hide. These strips will be hung to dry and used at the next session to string the drums.
The men proudly made three drums that evening and laid them out to dry. We checked on the drums early the next morning to find that they had tightened almost perfectly over their frames. Many of the men came by to check on the drums. They were proud, relieved and pleased by how much they learned together the previous few nights.
The men say they are looking forward to creating a booklet or video to document and pass on their learning. This will expand the essential skills the men learn during this project.
The group repaired old frames from existing drums for this project. Their new drums will be donated to the community where they can be played for many years to come.
-- Laura Eby
