A Mother-Son Thing

PASSING ON THE CULTURE

All Inuvialuit drum dance groups show a range of participants, from elders to middle-agers and youth. Some performers bring their toddlers or young children as well, and they are always a hit with the audience.

Dolly Carpenter’s two-year-old son Nelson became a social media star after Tusaayaksat photographed him performing at the celebration for Dawn Anderson’s appointment to the Senate of Canada this spring.

His foot-stomping pictures reached more than 70,000 people on our Facebook page, with many people commenting on the passion the young boy showed.

For Dolly, that attention was shocking.

“It was unexpected,” she said. “It made my heart happy. I told him about it and he got all happy and excited.”

Nelson first showed interest in drum dancing at just eight months old. When he was a year old, he started to dance.

“He gets the hang of it pretty fast,” said Dolly. “He’ll watch the boys and then dance himself.”

It didn’t take much nudging to get him to bang on his drum for photos, while Dolly danced to his beat in the Tuktoyaktuk streets.

Dolly first found drum dancing when she was 13.

“There were younger girls drum dancing, so I tagged along,” she said. “Because my boy is interested too, I’m pushing myself forward to learn more songs and dances.”

The tradition is special to Dolly because of its connections with her family.

“I want to be able to pass it on to my boy,” she said. “I don’t know much about drum dancing. I know a few songs and dances. But I’m going to try to get more into it for my boy. He’s at the age where he wants to be a dancer.”

In Paulatuk, we photographed the young Mitch Furlong with his drum; in Aklavik, it was Ross-Martin Pascal; in Inuvik, Payton and Skyler Inglangasak stole the show; or in Ulukhaktok, Delia Akoaksion couldn’t have looked better in her Mother Hubbard parka.

But not only are the young participants photogenic and cute – they are the future elders. By immersing them into the culture, parents today are ensuring their offspring keep it strong for generations to come.