Saliqmiut Drummers and Dancers

REVIVED BY A GROUP OF TEENS after the tradition began to slip following the passing of elders, the Saliqmiut Drummers and Dancers are now some of the most passionate and energetic culture carriers of the Western Arctic.

Group leader Joe Nasogaluak would always play drum dance music in his home while his children grew up. He remembers his three boys – Larsen, Henson and Joe III – listening to it and gathering together with other Tuktoyaktuk peers in their house to practise.

“One day we were sitting down and we could hear them pretty clear and they sounded real good, so I went to see them,” said Joe.

“They were a little off-beat but they sounded good. From there, it caught my attention again, so I coached them. They did whatever they could to find and learn the songs, and to this day I’m still just coaching them.”

When watching the Saliqmiut group perform, one notices the professionalism. The members strive to faithfully and powerfully carry on their tradition, with none being shy to lend their whole voice or body to the song.

Crisp white is the signature style of most of their clothing, along with a range of colourful amautis or covers. The coastal people take their tradition seriously.

Still, they aren’t afraid to build upon their history. Members outspokenly plan to create new songs and put their own signature on tradition.

As Joe explains, respecting the culture doesn’t mean doing the same thing every time.

Brayden Teddy

I just liked singing and we got together as a group when we were 12 or 13 years old. I like to keep our culture alive and carry on our tradition. I feel happy performing for our people.

Clorese Nogasak

I had peers two years older than me who wanted me to join drum dance, so that’s when I started learning the songs. I was 11 or 12. Now I’m 22 and still going. My great-grandmothers, Sarah Mangelana and Bessie Wolki, were my old generation and now I’m the new. That’s why I wanted to join this, because my grandmothers were drum dancers. Drum dance makes me feel happy. I make the community happy, I make our people happy. That’s the whole reason why I wanted to drum dance.

Chantal Gruben

I started when I was visiting in Paulatuk. I learned a few songs from them and when I came back to Tuk, I decided to continue drum dancing. It’s probably been 10 years now since I’ve been drum dancing. So many of my past generations have been drum dancing. My grandfathers and grandmothers used to dance, so it makes me feel connected to them and have that bond. I feel amazing drum dancing. It’s like you set yourself free and follow the beat of the drum. I want to carry the traditions down onto my daughter and teach her from now until whenever she can start drum dancing. She’s not even a month old yet.

Diane Nasogaluak

Drum dance has always been with me, ever since growing up around my grandparents. I thought I might as well put it into my kids so they can learn the tradition. I have three boys and two girls. When they were growing up, I always made sure I was playing drum dance music so they learned the songs and the wording.

Henson Nasogaluak

It all started in a drum dance workshop here in Tuk not even 12 years ago. A lot of my family members drum dance. It makes me feel happy and takes a lot of weight off my shoulders.

Joe Nasogaluak III

I followed in my brother’s footsteps. We grew up listening to different groups and practised hours a day. I followed my older brother, Larsen. Before him, it was my sister. Drum dance is our culture. People should be proud about it. I’m trying to encourage kids nowadays to drum dance and be proud of your culture and who you are. When I drum dance, I black out. It’s a beautiful feeling.

Joe Nasogaluak

Drum dance is like our language. You hear people saying the same word with different meanings in different places. I don’t want it to be like that. I want it tone-for-tone in the same way it was brought up for all of us.

It instilled on me when my father used to sing in his room. He was always singing when he wakes up, before he sleeps or any time of the day. He was a teacher of drum dance songs and a drummer, my mother too. All our life we grew up with drum dance. That’s why today I’m still involved in it.

When you’re drum dancing, it all comes down to respect. You grab a drum, you put on your atikluq, it’s like a hockey jersey. Our clothing is white, because my father always used white for hunting. My father said you have to create your own identity, and I didn’t know what it meant at the time. But in this area, we’re the Saliqmiut, we’re the coastal people, and that’s what he meant.

Drum dance is like our language. You hear people saying the same word with different meanings in different places. I don’t want it to be like that. I want it tone-for-tone in the same way it was brought up for all of us.

Looking at these young people, you get a warm feeling when they’re dancing and singing. It’s a wonderful feeling, knowing at least for now it’s not finishing.

What we need to do now is have our own songs and carry it on. In all things, you need to move on. Add to what’s there, but at the same time keep the culture and don’t change it.

When we were growing up, women couldn’t grab a drum, but in this day and age we have to move on. We’re all equal. In our group, I have the young girls grab a drum because we’re all equal. We need to move on while keeping the traditions. We need to create our own songs from this area. We can’t always move forward with the same, same, same. It will get stale. We need to add to this. I’m not sure what it is, but we need to add to this.

Karlene Green

I grew up around it since I was a newborn, from my aunts and my parents. For me, it’s special because it’s our culture and I don’t want it to die. I feel alive when I drum dance.

David Lucas

I got started back in school. My teacher Betty Elias taught me how to drum dance and I started learning from our elders, watching them. We have to take over that tradition, that culture. It’s special because of our ancestors. Our tradition here is to drum dance and tell stories about it. All your emotions come out when you start drum dancing.

Larsen Nasogaluak

We were just young boys sitting around at my house and we had this crazy idea to try and start singing a song. We didn’t know how it would be and we were kind of out of tune but after about two weeks we started getting in tune and decided to make this group. It makes me feel proud to dance and show off our culture and traditions. Drum dance makes me feel very happy. Feel sexy even.

Sasha Lucas

I started drum dancing when I was seven or eight in Paulatuk. It’s our traditional ways we learned from our elders. Drum dance is my happy place.

Deedee Nasogaluak

My parents got me into drum dancing when I was about one. It’s been in the family for so long and I just really like it.