VIDEO: Pride week celebrations wrap up with drum circle

By Nick Nielsen

After a full week of events to kick off Pride Month, community members pivoted their plans to gather near the river in Prince Albert and instead went to Studio Q, where they circled up and drummed together. The drum circle has been a part of the Pride celebrations in Prince Albert since 2019.

“It really came out of needing a place to heal within the community because of hearing other people’s beliefs and thoughts around drumming.,: said Lenny.

“Some people are saying that two spirit people can’t drum or Métis people can’t drum, that’s cultural appropriation, or that women shouldn’t drum, and so back in 2019 I had approached Prince Albert Pride and asked about doing a drumming circle as a way to come together and to share medicine together and to heal from that other people’s opinions on what you can and cannot do that is part of your spiritual practice in healing. So we’ve been doing it ever since and it’s been really wonderful.”For those who haven’t participated in a drum circle before, it’s considered a form of spiritual healing across a large number of Indigenous cultures. No matter what a person is going through, the drum circle offers people a sense of community and a shared goal, to enjoy each other’s company and make music together.

For Lenny, that’s why the drum circle is so important to share with the LGBTQ+ community.

“I always find it very healing to be able to come together and to drum. Sometimes it’s the first time people have drummed. Sometimes they felt that they couldn’t, or sometimes just to be able to be around others from the community and just to be able to share together and sing together and come together is always really, really special and healing. It helps us to remember our role and our place within the community.”

The first song that Lenny led the group in was the ‘River Song’, in honour of World Oceans Day, which happened to be on the same day. Not only that, but singing and praying together around the theme of water and how fluid it can be seemed timely considering things going on in the northern parts of the province.

“It’s a fun song. It’s an easy song to learn and it always gets people sort of in a good energy because you’re moving from slow to fast. It’s one of the songs that I do with children’s circles, too, because it’s just easy and fun and they love it. Being that it was World Oceans Day, I thought it would be a good beginning to think about the water and the rains that we’ve had and to pray for that rain and that water to move into the north, where it’s so needed.”

The drum circle was moved into Studio Q thanks to the wind and cooler temperatures down by the river.