First Nations Drum Kits: S.D. 73 has permissions & to teach these Secwépemc songs. They are on a thumbdrive in the kit.
Welcome Song
Salmon Song
Porcupine Song
Honour Song
Boys Song
Original Stick Game Song
Round Dance (Cree and open to public)
Amanda and her family sing and drum traditional songs from the Secwépemc territory. The teachings from the songs and drumming will be shared, as well as the traditions of the Secwépemc people.
Facilitator: Amanda Big Sorrel Horse and family
Secwépemc Honour Song -- Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc
I am a member of the Secwépemc Nation and this song belongs to the people of my nation. I acknowledge all of the Elders and knowledge keepers who continue to share the culture with the younger generation.
-Brenda Celesta
The Salmon Song
Secwépemc Nation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXEkbRmB9CQ&t=6s
Squamish Nation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ91ddxJCbg
SD 73 Teacher Ivy Chelsea
"Round Dance is a healing dance and fosters pride and a sense of community amongst participants, renewing relationships with one another while celebrating First Peoples’ identity. The dancers join hands to form a large circle, symbolically indicating the equality of all people in the circle. The dancers move to their left with a side-shuffle step to reflect the long-short pattern of the drumbeat, bending their knees to emphasize the pattern.
Round dance can be done to the drum beat in a circle and students start with their left foot. I tell my students to step to the drum beat, the first drum beat, you are lifting your left foot. By the second drum beat, you are placing your left foot back on the ground. The silence between the beats is when your right foot follows and you place your right foot closer to your left foot. And repeat...repeat.
Back home at Esk’et, we started the Round Dance when Emma Robbins and her children came from Alberta to share their pow wow lifestyle. As our community was struggling with sobriety, the round dance was a means to create a sense of self identity and community. We learned as teenagers that there was a wholesome way of life that did not involve alcohol. They shared the indigenous knowledge that when we dance, dancing is a form of prayer to our ancestors and the ancestors dance with us. The thought of acknowledging ancestors by dancing was a powerful lesson.
So, when dancing the Round Dance, know that your loved ones in the spirit world are dancing alongside you. Be well and be safe." - Ivy Chelsea
Sllekme'wes (Stick Games) are traditional games of many Aboriginal peoples especially those of the Pacific Northwest. To the audience, stick games may seem like a ‘gambling game,’ however, they are quite often used to raise peoples spirits or as a celebration of a community, family or village, especially after a loss of a loved one. The laughter, the songs, and the drum find a way of creating a celebration of life rather than an atmosphere of gambling. While gambling is a part of Lahal, in many villages and tribes it was a way of settling disputes rather than going to war. They would play Sllekme'wes until a winner was declared. Present times use Sllekme’wes as a reason for a gathering, a celebration, and a chance some to win skalow (money).