CANORA - Thirty-one Grade 1-4 students have become a part of the Canora Junior Elementary School Drumming Group this year. This group meets once a week and is taught by Mr. Robert Severight, Indigenous Cultural Coach with Good Spirit School Division.
Mr. Severight has been a wonderful help and support to CJES students in their learning journey this year. He helped, supported, and taught the students about the cultural process and significance of the drum. He has helped them build the drum from scratch, with a wood base and raw moose hide. He and the students laced the hide onto the wooden base for the drum. A special drum blanket and drumstick bag has been made to properly store the drum at times when it is not in use.
When the drumming group meets, Mr. Severight teaches them the drumming techniques, the different kinds of drumbeats, and the significance of songs that go with the drumbeat. His teachings of the drum are about Mother Earth, respect for the animals of the land, peace and harmony, as these provide a sense of grounding for students.
Mr. Severight has said that “The sound of the drum is the same sound that all people recognize as it was the first sound every single human ever heard... the heartbeat from their mother. The drum is the heartbeat of Mother Earth.”
CJE is very thankful to Mr. Severight for his time, talents, and teachings. Our students are so very lucky to be learning and experiencing Indigenous culture in a very authentic way.
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