TTHENAAGO/NAHANNI BUTTE - The sound of drumming is returning to Nahanni Butte.

Last month the Nahanni Butte Dene Band sponsored a five-day drum making workshop for youth. Five male students made their own drums with the assistance of instructor Michael Cazon of Fort Simpson.

Qualin Konisenta, left, and Josh Bertrand practise on the drums they made during a workshop in Nahanni Butte. - photo courtesy of David Overall

The band wants to revive drumming, a tradition that has all but died out in the community, said Samantha Konisenta, the band's finance clerk.

The workshop is part of a larger initiative to reconnect youth with their culture and traditions, Konisenta said.

Student participants including Qualin Konisenta, Ryley Matou, Nathan Betsaka, Josh Bertrand and Melvin Vital learned about the stages of drum making right from harvesting the wood to lacing on the hide. Cazon and local Raymond Vital harvested birch trees on the morning of April 12. By that afternoon the wood had been through a planer and a table saw and was ready for the steaming process.

"It looked like something you'd buy commercially and that morning they were live trees," said Wayne Ingarfield, a teacher at the Charles Yohin School.

"It was pretty neat."

The wood had to be steamed, bent into a circle around a wooden template and then left to dry, explained Josh Bertrand.

The whole process from making the frames to attaching the hide wasn't as hard as Bertrand, 13, though it would be.

"It was pretty fast and good," he said.

After all five drums were finished, Cazon taught the students three songs that they performed at a community drum dance. It felt good to play in front of people, Bertrand said.

By making a drum Bertrand said he felt like he was taking back a part of his culture.

For Ryley Matou, 12, the experience was also empowering.

No one else in Matou's immediate family drums. Matou said he enjoyed making his drum, learning songs and then playing at the drum dance.

"It was pretty cool," Matou said.

The best part of the process was lacing the hide onto the frame, said Matou. There's a technique to it and it's a bit difficult, he said. Wilbert Antoine donated the caribou skins for the drums.

Both Bertrand and Matou said they are looking forward to learning more drum songs from Cazon. The band plans to host a follow-up workshop with Cazon later this month.

In his 15 years in the community Ingarfield said there haven't been any local drummers. The only drumming done in Nahanni Butte has been by people visiting from other places, he said.