THE REAL RHYTHM OF MI’KMAW MUSIC AND DANCE

A common sound at many Mi’kmaw events is the steady beat of the drum. Sometimes a solo drummer invites participants into a space with a drum. At other times, performers sit in a circle around a large drum, striking the skin in unison. A steady rhythm builds and is felt, reverber ating in the chest, as much as it’s heard.

This rhythm is said to be the heartbeat of a nation, the blood of the Mi’kmaq coursing through the veins of the generations, the very pulse of Mother Earth. The drummers may break into song, the drum serving as a metronome to the unity of their voices raised in those familiar, high-pitched chants.

The drum is not an original Mi’kmaw instrument and group drumming is not a customary practice. High-pitched chanting is not a customary Mi’kmaw cultural practice. The large, group drums are pan-Indigenous instruments. In other words, they’ve been adopted across Turtle Island by many Indigenous First Nations. The post-contact loss of regional Indigenous cultures led to this kind of pan-Indigenous musical practice. The Mi’kmaq are only now rediscovering their own customary instruments and music.

The original customary Mi’kmaw instrument is called a ji'kmaqn. The ji'kmaqn is believed to have a connection to the spirit world. It’s a piece of ash wood split into layers and sounds like a rattle when slapped against the palm of the hand. Sometimes, a hand drum is played to accompany the ji’kmaqn. Sometimes, the player chants or sings traditional Mi’kmaw songs.

The ji'kmaqn.A tradtional Mi'kmawinstrument

Even in their construction, ji'kmaqn and small drums carry information about Mi’kmaw culture. They’re made with materials gathered from the natural world around us: wood, bark, skins, antlers. For millennia, these were the materials that came to the Mi’kmaq as those that acknowledge and honour countless generations of life on their ancestral lands. Today, musical groups like Alan Syliboy and the Thundermakers call upon these traditions when they compose and perform songs in their language than honour this rich heritage.

One particularly important song, the “Mi’kmaq Honour Song,” is sung on many special occasions. Musician Alan Syliboy says of the song, “It’s a Mi’kmaw anthem, a very powerful song.” His band, Alan Syliboy and the Thundermakers, performs the song often, especially to open special events as a message of welcome and inclusion. “It means that you honour everybody at that event,” says Syliboy. “Everybody here is celebrated.”

Singing is also a form of language keeping. “When I make music, the language is front and centre,” says Syliboy. “It’s a way to preserve it and keep it alive. It’s a continuation of an old story.”

For a long time, the Mi’kmaw language was not just discouraged, but forbidden, even violently purged from its speakers. Today, the language is taught to children in schools and at home. Mi’kmaw songs are like a jar where the language is preserved and into which the singers dip to retrieve words, concepts, and ideas from the mouths of ancestors. *