When women drum

Page 5

Re: Tradition goes to court, as published in the March 2002 edition of Windspeaker).

Dear Editor:

It disturbs me to see the opinions of these women. There was a time when singers and dancers were initiated into the powwow circuit. Parents and family would save for a year for a give away. Elders would counsel the initiates.

I suspect this is not commonly practiced protocol any more. I was given a drum as a young woman, but do not play it. I have my teachings, and no court will force me to divulge those teachings to people who don't respect them.

We as Native people once had a position of honor for Elders, traditions and women. We did not have to question this because the knowledge came from sources wiser than our limited human understanding.

The need to challenge, question and have the same duties as men is a colonizer's view. Whether it is a competition powwow for money or not, these women were not taught the respect and power of the spirit of that drum. In my heart I am sad for these women because they will be reprimanded for their disrespect, even if they win in court.

Leta Houle

Dear Editor:

I am writing to talk about Sweetgrass Road Drum Group and other women's drum groups. As for myself, I sing with the Sunrise Singers. I was hurt and upset at the same time when I read about the happening at the powwow at St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minn. I feel that things went a little too far, and this would have not happened if the girls would have just left when they were asked to.

I know how bad it feels not to be wanted somewhere, especially if you worked really hard to get where you are at. It hurts a lot and you feel no one sees all the good that is being done for our youth and for our people when the women drum. But we, the women drum groups, have to understand we have to show respect and understand different tribes/First Nation teachings.

We, as Ojibwe people are not the only ones with teachings about women drumming with the grandfather drum. We are not the only tribe on our Mother Earth. There are many and we have to understand that. We can't make people want us to sing with our grandfather drum at a powwow.

It is not us that make it happen. It's the people's choice. Today teachings are very different from long ago, and there are still people who understand and are following the original teachings and when we do come across these people, the highest respect has to be shown.

As women drummers, we have a lot of responsibility we voluntarily accept, and we must be strong and believe in what we do, and to never disrespect other people's teachings. Our teachings are strong, sacred and from Nation to Nation different, but still lead to the same Creator. A strong Elder from our reserve in North Eastern Ontario spoke to us about that big drum, and how she would like to see us drum and to never stop. I will continue drumming till the day I leave this world and go to the spirit world, and I will keep using that big drum. It is like my child. I care, speak and sing with the grandfather drum. That Elder also said, "you will run into people with different teachings. Show great respect for them, for they are speaking their minds. If they ask you to leave when you are at a powwow, tell them what you believe in. If they still don't want you there, put your big drum away. Speak to it, pray with it, and humbly explain why you are putting him away and then take out your hand drums, and start singing for your people.

I know for a fact, we female drummers have to work really hard to get where we are at, and we feel we have to help the youth change their ways of doing such as drinking, doing drugs. And by drumming, it helps us so much to be the people we always wanted to be; to be sober and clean.

So in closing, I pray and show huge respect for all the women drum groups out there. You will make it, and maybe soon things will change about women using the grandfather drum, however respect to your Elders and hat people have to say about us women drumming. Why should we ask the white courts to decide our traditions, since they have always tried to take all things from us.

Samaria Ineese

Constance Lake First Nation

Dear Editor:

After discussing this we are having a hard time understanding what has happened to women's positions within Native societies that would allow young Native women to stray as far from their culture as the women featured have.

My understanding has a lot to do with the spiritual energies that women encounter in their monthly cycle, which can easily kill the spirit of the drum. How then could the spiritual message of the songs be sent with no spirit?

Frankly, I'm appalled to hear of an instance where people are going to use written laws to challenge those not written, but are kept in oral tradition. These people want answers, and the court won't find those answers for them.

The Ojibwe Elder who gave these women the drum, and the right to use it is sketchy because in other Ojibwe traditions the power of a woman in her time is still honored. These are the type of detractors the Elders warned us about in prophecy. For if they plan to sing at future events, there will need to be mutual respect. And I am afraid that venturing down the road of written law in the opposition of tradition can be spiritually damaging.

Dale Saddleback