Regina school program uses First Nations drumming to connect kids with culture – CBC

Oct 17, 2023

Mother Teresa Middle School received $20K grant for drums, other resources

When you walk into a Buffalo Boys practice at Mother Teresa Middle School in Regina, the first thing you hear is the pounding of a drum.

You’d see students sitting in a circle, using the drumsticks in their hands to make the rhythmic sound.

The Buffalo Boys is a cultural music program at the school. The students in the program practise on the drums everyday, sometimes two to three times a day. They also get to perform at events in the community and local powwows.

It started seven years ago with only five students. Now there are more than 20 students, so many that the school decided it needed more drums to keep up with the growing demand. On top of that, the drums they had when the program started have got so much use that the strings on one of them broke recently.

The program’s leaders applied for a MusiCounts grant on the recommendation of Rob Todd at Tribal Spirit, a shop the program ordered drums from in the past. Each fall, the MusiCounts Band Aid Program gives out $400,000 to $600,000 to under-resourced schools across Canada for musical education.

Read More: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/regina-school-first-nations-drumming-culture-1.6995352