In photos: Langford students craft Coast Salish drums

Students worked on a drum-making project that will be enjoyed for years to come

A long-awaited drum-making project at a Vancouver Island secondary school is teaching students about various aspects of Coast Salish culture through music and art.

Over the course of a few weeks throughout February and March, students at Belmont Secondary School in Langford, B.C., worked with Elders and role models in Sooke School District to create handmade drums.

The Legacy Drum Project has been a vision for the school for the past four years and was finally able to come to fruition this year, says Indigenous literacy teacher Natasha Parrish.

“This has been a really incredible learning opportunity to share cultures and learn from each other,” she says. “In fact, many school districts now have classroom sets of hand drums that students sing and drum with.”

The 30 finished drums will be displayed around the school and in classrooms for everyone to admire. They will also be utilized in music classes in years to come, according to school officials.

Elder Henry Chipps from Beecher Bay First Nation guided the students along as they crafted and painted the drums.

“They have done an amazing job. It shows a lot of respect,” he says. 

“I was glad to participate in most steps of the process.”

Parrish explains that the Belmont Secondary Drum Making project encompasses both First Peoples’ principles of learning and the new B.C. curriculum outcomes for art and music. 

Since the project began, four Indigenous songs have been gifted to the school district by Scia’new First Nation, says Parrish.

Tessa Logan, a Métis Grade 12 student who created a drum for the project, says the project felt like a step in the right direction to see local Indigenous culture reflected more prominently at the school.

“It made me wish I ventured out more in art class over the years to try my hand at Indigenous art,” Logan says. “I’m glad I got the opportunity to learn from knowledge-holders because I didn’t want to paint or represent something in the wrong way.” 

Annilee Guy is a school art teacher who was also involved in the project.

“The most gratifying part of the project was my student’s willingness to want to pass along their art for other students to enjoy,” Guy says. “I am so proud of each of them, for their creativity, effort, and generosity.”

drum-making project
Students begin the project with tanned elk hides, sinew, and drum rings. All photos provided by Belmont Secondary Archives
drum-making project
Grade 9 choir students tie the hide tightly across the frames.

drum-making project
After drying and curing the drums, students sketch out and paint designs by drawing inspiration from the 13 Coast Salish Moons.
drum-making project
Each art student selected a moon that spoke to them and created their masterpiece to reflect a season of the year.
drum-making project
Jeannie Chipps is a grade 12 student from the Scia’new Nation. When asked what the inspiration was for her drum, she says she thought about salmon. “My dad does a lot of salmon fishing and when I think of my culture I think of salmon,” she says. “When I saw a moon with a salmon theme I was drawn to it immediately. I used the red colour to represent a salmon going around the sun, the salmon cycle and the summer season.”
drum-making project
Sooke School District Role Model Jeff Welch helps facilitate the drum making program.
drum-making project
Some of the staff and students from art and music classes who participated in the Belmont Secondary drum-making project. From left to right, back: Cenedra Mutanda, Constantin Richter, Noah Stee, Hayden Tiller, Emma Reid, Maureen Perreno, Kayla Schultz, Erin Macqueen, Tianna Morash, Jess Moore, Ms. Guy. Front: Sydney Coburn, April Nathorst, Livia Van Lierop.
drum-making project
The school’s Learning Commons team holds a “gallery walk” to share the students’ finished drums from the drum-making project.

This site uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. By continuing to use this website, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy.

Scroll to Top