First Nations Music in Canada

Information

Early explorers and missionaries wrote the early history of Canada when they came to our country. Unfortunately, they wrote very few descriptions of First Nations musical life. The information we have about the history and variety of First Nations musical instruments comes to us from instruments preserved in museums and private collections. The number of instruments is small, consisting of membranophones (which just means drums!) and idiophones (which are noisemakers such as rattles, rasps, and clappers).

Many of us have played with a membranophone, or drum. It may have come from a toy store, or we may have made one from a pot, pan or cardboard box. In this case, our creation would be both a membranophone and an idiophone! Idiophones are instruments made on the spur of the moment out of materials that are easily available. Some of us have made other creative idiophones. An example is creating a "mouth organ" by placing a sheet of thin paper over a clean comb and blowing on the paper to produce distinctive sounds. Finding objects that produce a musical note is fun. We soon learn that holding a piece of grass taut between our thumbs and blowing hard produces a funny sound. Blowing across the top of a bottle creates foghorn sounds. Moistening the edge of a crystal glass then running your finger around it will produce a ringing musical note, and so will strumming or plucking an egg slicer. Several kids together could create a unique kitchen symphony! Can you think of other idiophones?

Traditionally, First Nations people, being resourceful and creative, used the materials at hand to make their instruments. They made gourds and animal horns into rattles; many rattles were elaborately carved and beautifully painted. In woodland areas, they made horns of birchbark and drumsticks of carved antlers and wood. Drums were made of carved wood and animal hides.

Drums and rattles are percussion instruments traditionally used by First Nations people. These musical instruments provide the background for songs, and songs are the background for dances. Many traditional First Nations people consider song and dance to be sacred. For many years after Europeans came to Canada, First Nations people were forbidden to practise their ceremonies. That is one reason why little information about First Nations music and musical instruments is available to us.

Today, a revival of pride in First Nations art and music is taking place. First Nations people are recovering the knowledge, history and beauty of traditional First Nations art, music and musical instruments.

Drums are closely associated with First Nations people. Some people say, "Drumming is the heartbeat of Mother Earth." First Nations made a great variety of drums. Healers sometimes use miniature drums. There are also tambourine-shaped hand drums, war drums, water drums, and very large ceremonial drums. Their size and shape depends on the First Nation's particular culture and what the drummer wants to do with them. Many are beautifully decorated.

In many First Nations cultures, the circle is important. It is the shape of the sun and moon, and of the path they trace across the sky. Many First Nations objects, such as tipis and wigwams, are circular in shape. Traditional villages were often arranged with the dwellings placed in a circle. To this day, many First Nations people hold meetings sitting in a circle. Meetings often begin with a prayer, with the people standing in a circle holding hands.

Hand-carved wooden flutes and whistles are less common than drums, but are also a part of First Nations traditional music. Ojibwe men played flutes to serenade girlfriends and to soothe themselves and others during hard times. The Cree, Iroquois and Maliseet made and used whistles. Archaeologists have found evidence that both wooden whistles and flutes were used by the Beothuk, an extinct tribe who lived in Newfoundland until the early days of European settlement. The human voice, however, is the primary instrument of all First Nations. As it is in most ancient cultures, singing is the heart of First Nations music.

Every song had an original owner. Songs belonged to a society, clan, rite, ceremony or individual. In some cultures, one could buy the right to sing a song owned by an individual. The original owner would then teach the buyer to sing the song. Many traditional songs are still sung by First Nations people who follow traditional ways.

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