Tuktoyaktuk Drummers and Dancers

Though the Saliqmiut Drummers and Dancers are prominent at celebrations and public events, they are a younger group than the original Tuktoyaktuk Drummers and Dancers, who have turned mostly dormant as a group in recent years.

The original Tuktoyaktuk group spawned from the dissolution of the Mackenzie Delta Drummers and Dancers, but members found their organization wane in the 2010s after the passing of important elders and group leaders. We talked to a few members of the group about their memories and its current status.

Eunice Nasogaluak, who performs with both groups, became the coordinator of the Tuktoyaktuk group back in 1992. She remembers practices bringing out 20 to 40 youth at Kitti Hall.

“There were quite a few young people learning to dance, and some were learning to sing the songs as well,” she said.

She recalls growing up watching the adults drum dance in Aklavik. At the time, children didn’t tend to dance, but as fewer and fewer adults participated, more young people began joining in.

“It’s always been in our culture since time immemorial,” said Eunice. “Every nationality has their own dance, and ours are drum dance, Eskimo songs, Inupiat songs. It’s the same all over the circumpolar North. They have the same kind of drum; they just sing different songs.”

She loves watching younger people drum dance.

“It makes you happy in your heart,” said Eunice. “You know it’s something they practised and took time to learn. That makes you happy, because not everybody does it.”

Josephine Nasogaluak remembers the Aklavik performers coming to Tuk to put on a show in the early ‘90s.

“From there, I told myself I want to learn the music and the dances,” she said.

Back row, from left are Alex Gordon, Tom Kalinek, Raddi Kuiksak and Felix Nuyaviak. In front are Hope Gordon and Sarah Kalinek. Photo courtesy of Josephine Nasogaluak.

Her grandfather, Felix Nuyaviak, was one of the leaders of the Tuktoyaktuk Drummers and Dancers and passed it on to her uncle Shepherd Felix.

“I’m really proud to be part of that history,” said Josephine.

For her, drum dance is something nobody can take away.

Keith Felix Jr. got into drum dance when he was just six years old on Emmanuel Felix Sr.’s birthday.

“They were singing their daduk William Mangilaluk’s song,” remembers Keith. “Since then I haven’t stopped drumming, singing and dancing.”

It’s special to him because drum dance is the tradition of his ancestors.

“It’s a tradition that I want to carry on to the next generation,” he said. “I myself make traditional drums, and I still sing and drum to this day.”

Left to right are Eunice Nasogaluak, Shepherd Felix, Emma Feichtinger and Josephine Nasogaluak. Photo courtesy of Josephine Nasogaluak.

Kayla Nuyaviak still has her original drum dance parka. She got serious about the tradition when she turned 13.

“(The Tuktoyaktuk Drummers and Dancers) slowed down a lot after our elders … passed on,” said Kayla. “But we still know the songs and I still know how to dance to them. I know it’s going to be with me forever.”

For Josephine, the time to reenergize the group is now.

“We were giving our time to grieve,” she said. “Now it’s time to move on and get things back on the show again. There are a lot of kids who would like to learn. They love the music, the sound of the drum.”

She says the group has to get back up and pick up where it left off.

“We can’t just let it die out or get old and watch life go by.”

Pictured here are members of the group at the Legislative Assembly in Yellowknife. Photo courtesy of Josephine Nasogaluak.