MASKED DRUMMER, Kananginak Pootoogook, Kinngait (Cape Dorset), 1989, Stonecut & Stencil, 18 x 20 1/2 in.

If you follow Inuit art you are most certainly familiar with the image of the drum dancer, depicted in sculpture, prints, and drawings since the 1960s. Artists like Aqjangajuk Shaa, Abraham Anghik Ruben and Luke Anguhadluq are renowned for their renditions of the subject, often a dynamic figure bending their entire body to mimic the powerful beat of the drum. Long before its presence in modern Inuit visual art, drum dancing has served as a vibrant and meaningful means of cultural expression across Inuit Nunangat. At one point threatened by cultural assimilation imposed by non-Inuit, the art form today both celebrates and symbolizes Inuit cultural pride and resilience.

What is Drum Dancing?

Drum dancing is an important cultural tradition for Canada’s Inuit as well as Inuit across the world—from Alaska to Greenland. The dance is typically performed to the steady rhythm of a drum, made from animal skin stretched over a wooden frame that often comes from caribou or seal. The deep base of the drum generates an evocative beat that is felt within the body and works to bring dancers and audiences together.

Storytelling is at the heart of drum dancing. Performer Dennis Allen explains that Inuvialuit have traditionally passed down stories through song and dance. “People would gather during the dark period of winter, when the sun would not shine for weeks, to celebrate their survival through yet another perilous year,” he recalls. “Someone would sing about their frightful encounter with a polar bear and act out scenes on the dance floor. The shaman would do his dance to summon the caribou spirits for another good year of hunting…”. [1] Traditionally, drum dances would also function as community celebrations garnished by delicious feasts and an abundance of laughter and joy.

As Christianity and Western culture encroached on Inuit communities in the twentieth century, cultural expressions like drum dancing were under immense threat. Allen notes that by 1961, the fiddle (introduced by Scottish Hudson’s Bay Company Traders) had replaced the drum dance in his home community of Inuvik, NWT. [2] Jerry Laisa, a performer from Pangnirtung, NU, has noted that the thought that Inuit were once told not to drum dance crosses his mind often, but that drum dancing today allows him to connect with his Inuit cultural roots. [3] Despite periods of hardships where the art form was nearly lost, many performers today continue the drum dancing tradition which has come to symbolize resilience, in addition to its grounding in storytelling, celebration, and community.

Drum Dancing Today

Drum dancing groups and events remain active across the Arctic. In the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NWT, the Inuvik Drummers and Dancers group travels across the region and internationally to perform at special functions and events. The group includes multi-generations of dancers, ranging from small children to Elders. In Nain, Nunatsiavut, NL, drum dancing is actively passed down to children—known as the Little Drummers group—through workshops at the local community centre. [4] Designated events like the Katuarpalaaq drum dancing festival that was held in Nuuk, Greenland in 2022, bring Inuit drum dancers together from across the Arctic to celebrate the art form. Some visual artists are also established drum dancers, like Mathew Nugingaq—known for his exquisite metal jewellery and mixed-media sculptural snow goggles—-also a recognized drum dancer who has performed at Feheley Fine Arts multiple times.

As visual artists continue to pay homage to the drum dancer in their work it reminds us of how integral the subject is within Inuit culture, both past and present, and its importance as a powerful expression of cultural pride for Inuit across the Arctic.

To view available artworks depicting drum dancing, click here.

Sources:
[1] Dennis Allen, “The Drum Beats On,” Inuit Art Quarterly Winter 2024 (37.4), 43.
[2] Ibid.
[3] April Hudson, “Inuit from Nunavut share culture at drum dancing festival in Greenland,” CBC News, April 6, 2022, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nuuk-katuarpalaaq-drum-dancing-festival-1.6410671
[4] Heidi Atter, “Passing on the Inuit drumming tradition in Nain,” CBC News, December 1, 2024,  https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/drum-dancing-nain-1.7392897