'This drum has done a lot of good': Lennox Island band marks 25 years

Gilbert Sark's drum-making skills have come a long way since he made his first one 25 years ago, shortly after a drumming group from New Brunswick visited the Lennox Island reserve in P.E.I.

"We started out drumming on cardboard boxes on garbage cans flipped over," said Sark. "It was the first time any of us around here had seen a drum group."

Sarkand his friend Peter Bernard soon learned how to make a real drum, and with the help of friends and family, they formed a local group called the Lone Wolf Singers.

But the group was more than just drummers getting together.

'There's rules that go with the drum'

The Lone Wolf Singers had strict rules against drinking and drugs for permanent band members and for any guests who wanted to occasionally join in.

Sark said that's common among Indigenous drumming groups.

"There's rules that go with the drum four days sober, four days clean before you touch the drum."

But the group noticed a lot of young people were having trouble with that rule.

Indigenous drumming group still going strong after 25 years

8 years ago

Duration 0:59

Indigenous drumming group still going strong after 25 years

"They would wait the four days, but by the fourth day they would end up getting drunk or something again," said Sark.

So he got permission from the elders on the reserve to bend the rules to give the young people a better chance at succeeding.

"Well, instead of the four days and four nights, we would ask them, 'Did you drink last night?' 'No.' 'Then you can sit at this drum.'"

The drum's legacy

Sark said over the years, many young people did come back to the group, and straightened out their lives.

"They have kids and families of their ownand there were some singers that people just gave up on. They would say, 'They're nothing but drunks. They're not going to amount to anything. Why do you allow them to sit at your drum?'"

"You look at them today, they've gone through college, they have their own house, they have kids, they're married," said Sark.

"That's something that this drum that's its legacy."

Drum practice part of healing

Once in a while, a group member may get into trouble, and the drumming group has gone to court to speak on their behalf.

"They actually get it written in their probation order that they must attend drum practice," said Sark. "And then we in turn make sure that they go."

The drum group has gone through a number of name changes over its 25 year history, with about 46 different members through that time. It's now known as Hey Cuzzins and yes, all the current members are related.

18-year-old Logen Lewis is one of the four current members of Hey Cuzzins.

He's been with the group for seven years, as a lead singer and also a dancer.

'Brought me to a better path'

Lewis is not sure where his life would have gone if there hadn't been a drumming group.

"Before I actually joined Hey Cuzzins I used to be getting into a lot of trouble with either cops or my family and it was leading me to a bad road," he said.

"But once I started drumming again, and being more connected to my heritage, that brought me to a better path," said Lewis.

Sark added that the drumming group also ensures members coming to drum practice keep up their school work.

'He's always been there for the young people'

"Someone would be fresh out of school, like off the bus, and then we'd be like 'Okay, let's look over your homework.' So we've tried to fill in any gaps," said Sark.

Sark's work with young people has been noticed by MatildaRamjattan, chief of the Lennox Island First Nation

"He's always been there for the young people in the community," said Ramjattan. "He's an elder because he holds traditional knowledge."

"Learning about their culture, getting back to their roots of who we are as Mi'kmaq people," she said.

Sark's son, 20-year-old Kyler Peters, is the fourth member of the group. He's been singing with Hey Cuzzins since 2001.

'The drum ties with our history'

Peters used to speak the Mi'kmaq language, but like many people on the reserve, he's lost that ability.

"To forget it, it leaves a little bit of emptiness inside you, like you want to have it back," he said.

"Being around the drum ties with our history."

"To be bringing the history into modern day feels pretty good," said Peters.

'This drum has done a lot of good'

Gilbert Sark has made a few drums over the years, but he still keeps that first drum he made 25 years ago, wrapped in a blanket in his closet.

"This drum has done a lot of good for everybody," he said.

"This right here is history. This drum right here is the one that brought this community more alive, like brought it together."

Sark plans to play the old drum once again when the group celebrates its 25th anniversary in June.

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