Goals for midterm:
- Attend One Wave Gathering
- Contact an Aboriginal Support worker with SD61
- View a drum circle
On Saturday September 15th, I attended the One Wave Gathering 2018, which had presentations from 12 – 6pm. I observed three presentations, Anela Kahiamoe (Slack key guitarist), the Kwakiutl Dancers, and the Closing Dance Celebration and Unity Dancers.
The One Wave Gathering is the Pacific People’s Partnerships. It is opening eyes to discuss aboriginal cultures along the Pacific.
Anela Kahiamoe, the slack key guitarist is a man from Hawaii who now lives up island, I believe he said Courtenay, B.C. He played both the acoustic and ukulele. He told a story of Captain George Vancouver coming to Hawaii and bringing a guitar but not showing how to tune it. His show was an hour long and was filled with stories and music. One of his songs was called ‘Canucka’.
The One Wave Gathering was a great experience, not only for the music and entertainment, but I also stopped by the Songhees food truck and bought some homemade pesto. I found out that on top of the Songhees Wellness Centre there is a vegetable and herb garden, which they used to make the pesto with.
When the Kwakiutl Dancers came on stage, they thanked the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nation. The men sang and used drums and the women danced. The female dances started with a traditional long house dance called ‘The opening of the house’. One man informed the crowd that for 70 years, dances, music, and potlaches were banned. In 1951, the ban was quietly lifted from the Indian Act and in 1953 the house for potlaches across from the Royal BC Museum was built and in use.
I came back to view the Unity Drummers which was during the closing celebration. Along with viewing them, I will be attending a drum circle in the next couple of weeks. I have been in contact with someone from Unity Drummers and I am very excited to take part in this.
I took photos of the event but I didn’t receive permission to upload them (they all have performers in them), but I have included photos of the event lineup, the poster, and the pesto I purchased from the food truck.
Along with attending the One Wave Gathering and viewing a drum circle, my other goal for this pedagogy midterm was to contact an Aboriginal Support Worker with SD61. I contacted someone from a middle school and they told me about their role at the school.
The Aboriginal Support Worker I met told me that on Wednesday mornings, they meet for Cedar Circle at the middle school. The students are excused from class and this is a time for mindfulness. They gather around a blanket that students from a previous year made, and one of the things they discuss when they will get together for drumming. They meet up twice a month for drumming and on Orange Shirt Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day they perform their songs in front of the school. The songs they use have been gifted to them to perform and are taught by someone who has an extensive background in drumming. Two years ago, they had the opportunity to make drums at school. They used deer hide and once complete, had a drum awakening ceremony. Below are some photos of one of the drums.
On October 19th, my seminar class attended a Pro-D with teachers and support staff of SD61, which was held in the auditorium at UVIC. Sarah Rhude of Unity Drummers was joined with five other women, and they played two songs together, the Migma Welcome Song, and the Bear Welcome Song.
The Migma Welcome Song had the six women taking part. Three women were beating on the same large drum, one had her own drum, one had a shaker, and another woman was doing hand movements with a small fan. All of the women were singing together.
During the Bear Welcome Song, Sarah actually wore a bear pelt and did traditional dancing across the stage. This song felt extremely powerful as Sarah danced along to the heavy beat of the drum. This song also involved the large drum, smaller drum, and singing.
Rosie Reynolds 