Drums sound to honour Mother Earth

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This article was published 22/04/2022 (1623 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A drum circle to honour Mother Earth on her special day was held at the Brandon Friendship Centre Friday.

Around 20 people gathered for the Awakening Our Hearts drum circle on Earth Day. With drums and rattles in hand, the group spent an hour singing and saying prayers for the planet.

“When you think about a deliverable coming out of the Friendship Centre and looking at us as that bridge between cultures, today we saw exactly that,” Brandon Friendship Centre president Jason Gobeil.

“We saw Indigenous people standing beside non-Indigenous people, standing beside new Canadians, all together understanding we can stand side by side and make sure that we acknowledge and understand everything that we are doing as beings, as a spiritual being on this earth, how we can move forward together in a beautiful and good way.”

The event was as an opportunity to bring the community together and talk about people’s responsibilities when it comes to looking after the land. Everyone plays a part and can take steps to make the world a better place, he said.

“It’s not just the big organizations, the big corporations that are harming our earth, it’s about what we can do to understand our daily responsibilities.

“When we get together in this beautiful way with our drums and allow our voices to be heard through song, we help in that process of waking [Mother Earth] up.”

The group was thoughtful in the songs they sang to honour Mother Earth, said Debbie Huntinghawk, Brandon Friendship Centre ’60s Scoop co-ordinator. The spirit of songs, such as the Wind Song or Bear Song, can create powerful change in the community.

“They’ll come and help us do that healing work.”

People need to start looking at and thinking about flora and fauna to better understand their place in the world, Huntinghawk said. They serve as a reminder that there is a responsibility to care for the earth to ensure it is there for future generations.

“It’s the greed. The big corporations. We’re mining where we shouldn’t be; the pipelines are killing Mother Earth. If we don’t look after her, if we don’t raise our voices and say something, then we’re going to have nothing left.”

She hopes those who participated in the ceremony and drum circle incorporate daily actions into their lives to help protect the environment. There needs to be an ongoing conversation in the community that pushes people to reconnect with nature and relearn their place on the planet.

“If we’re talking about that carbon footprint and leaving a smaller footprint when we leave, it’s making sure that we do everything we can while we’re here to take responsibility for this. To leave this earth as good as it was when we showed up, if not better when we leave,” Gobeil said.

Healing the environment remains essential, Huntinghawk said, and she appreciates the joyful and vibrant atmosphere those in attendance were able to create during the drum circle.

The Earth Day theme this year is “Invest in Our Planet. What Will You Do?”. The Earth Day website described April 22 as a moment to foster change and take action for the climate to preserve and protect people’s health, families, livelihoods through thoughtful investments in the planet.

Ashley McKay and her family attended Earth Day to honour Mother Earth and ensure her young children can experience Indigenous culture. The family was invited by Brandon Friendship Centre knowledge keeper Frank Tacan to attend, bringing with them their drums and voices.

Together they drummed and sang in unison in the ceremony honouring Mother Earth.

“I am Dakota and Ojibway, and so we’re always trying to teach the kids all of my culture and my husband is very interested in our culture, too, and wants to help teach our kids,” McKay said. “We come to every ceremony we can.”

She described the drum circle as a happy atmosphere during the ceremony and she could feel the joy and unity created by those participating and singing together. Her young children played a drum beat and her daughter had a new ribbon skirt for the special occasion, adding to the exuberant feelings of the day.

It remains essential to have the children participate in drum circles and ceremony while learning about Mother Earth, she said, because it shows how anyone can connect to these messages and traditions, from little tykes to elders.

“My oldest son, he sings with his dog and Frank, and they go to their men’s group and I and my daughter go to sweats,” McKay said. “We loved participating today and we were happy to be here.”

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