Youth pow-wow drum group in Regina a positive space for students

Mick Favel brings us this week’s edition of Indigenous Circle.

The Buffalo Boys drum group from Mother Teresa Middle School put on a special performance where their members and history were celebrated.

For a decade, the youth pow-wow drum group has been creating and performing music at a variety of events.

As part of Indigenous storytelling month, the group performed at the Mackenzie Art Gallery. Between songs, members were able to share stories about themselves and their experiences with the group.

“We are very humbled to come and do this,” said Evan Whitestar, the drum keeper of the Buffalo Boys.

“For us to showcase what we do in our drum group circle is important to us, because we believe there is a space for everybody in our drum group,” he concluded.

The Buffalo Boys began as an after-school program at MTMS in 2016. It has since gone on to become a flagship program at the school.

The drum group has grown in size, now featuring boys and girls singing in unison. There are over 50 singers in their roster, who switch out at nearly every event they attend.

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Pow-wow song structure is taught and then students are encouraged to create their own works. Songs are then performed together.

Past members have gone on to high school and other ventures, but are always welcome to join in.

“I feel like it’s important to show that our culture is able to come and sort of ground the kids,” said Kadence Whitestar, a Buffalo Boys singer.

Over the years, the group has performed at the school and on the pow-wow trail, as well as at Canadian Western Agribition and during Saskatchewan Roughrider halftime shows.

When the Buffalo Boys first formed, they were not welcomed at various places for a number of reasons, including questions about their intentions.

Founding members who were there then remember those times and how far they have come.

“It’s always fun to go out and just be ourselves on stage. I am just happy to be here and I am sure everyone in our drum group would say the same,” said Kadence Whitestar.

The Buffalo Boys are planning to compete in the drum competition at the First Nations University of Canada Spring Powwow Celebration, April 18-19.