SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Lawrence Nayally splashes water from the sink in a room at Mildred Hall School, wetting the skin of his drum.

The Pehdzeh Ki Dene man repeats the process before he plays in order to get a deeper sound out of the caribou-skin instrument which was passed down to him through several generations.

When his five-year-old son Lawson pestered him to hold a drumming lesson for Courtney Jung's kindergarten class, Nayally said he was happy to pass on what he knows.

"When I was young, elders came into classes and taught about the drums," he said. "I was more than happy to pass on this knowledge. I don't want them to step away from these things."

The kindergarteners learned rules of drum culture, learned about other objects found in nature by the Dene to make instruments, such as turtle shells - used to make rattles - and red willow, which can be smoothed out to make small flutes. He smudged the classroom with dried herbs and explained to the squinting children that it's a technique used to cleanse the room of bad energy. He also taught them that the Dene collect spruce boughs and boil them in water to clear the air and expel dryness from their homes.

Nayally said he hopes to keep sharing what he knows with students.

"Growing up in a traditional home, you share what you know and you share what you have," he said. "Filling the gap between older and younger generations gives me hope that our culture and ways of being won't be lost. Down south, (aboriginal groups) are holding onto the tail-end of their teachings. Up here, it's different."

Just over a month ago, Blake Lyons, the Yellowknife Education District 1(Yk1) board trustee appointed to the aboriginal education committee, told the board that parents, like Nayally, and Dene elders were making visits to classrooms to help put students in touch with Northern culture. In the past, an aboriginal parent group met regularly to help the public district deliver cultural content in the classroom, said Lyons. When membership began to dwindle due to parents feeling constrained with time to attend the meetings, the group dissolved, Lyons said.

Now, with the help of aboriginal education director Scott Willoughby - who reached out to parents and elders willing to revisit the idea of aboriginal guidance for cultural content taught throughout the district - a new approach is being taken.

"There are a number of parents and elders who come into the schools to give lessons," said Willoughby. "They didn't like the format of having board meetings, they're more interested in actually being in the schools."

The lessons include drumming sessions, as delivered by Nayally, animal dissections, often performed by elder and trapper George Tatsiechele, and the aboriginal advisers were consulted for the running of a traditional handgames event held at the school earlier this week, said Willoughby.

"I'm hoping that with Scott's program, if we don't get an (aboriginal parent) committee as such, at least we'll have contact with people who can encourage members of the community to speak," said Lyons. "Hopefully it's a new beginning."

Jacqueline Beland, a kindergarten teacher at J.H. Sissons School - whose students got to witness Tatsiechele skinning a wolverine earlier this year - said students get vital hands-on teaching when they meet elders and aboriginal parents.

"We have a generation of kids who aren't out on the land as much," she said. "The kids get to connect with an elderly person ... When we bring it into a live experience it's a lot more credible. And they learn to respect elders and work with them."

Superintendent Metro Huculak said he's excited to have aboriginal parents in district classrooms.

He said a number of years ago the aboriginal parent committee met about once a month.

"Parents used to come in," he said. "(Willoughby) is trying to resurrect that to get more aboriginal parents involved."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.