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Meegwetch

Back row to front; Jeff, Tanya, Jodi, Chad, Shaylea, Sage, Antonietta, Steve, Elexis, Cedar, Madison, Liam, Donte, Glen, Dawson, and Justin.

The Big Drum is known as the heartbeat of Mother Earth.

You’ll see big drums at Pow – Wows throughout the many Nations across Turtle Island. Nothing else (but perhaps food) will bring people together faster than the sound of the Big Drum. It’ll send shiver’s up your spine! Make the back of your hairs stand up! In a word, powerful!

Jodi Johnston, First Nations educator is the recipient of the Big Drum.

“It is truly exciting and a great honour to have won the Big Drum for my Anishnaabe community. I cannot express the feeling I had when I was presented with the Big Drum on Georgina Island or the feeling I had when I first heard it played by our youth. The drum is the heartbeat of the nation and has great meaning. For the Chippewas of Georgina Island this means a sense of pride in our cultural heritage and knowledge. It presents an opportunity to strengthen our cultural identity, find our roots and take pride in our traditional way of life. It will help bring our community together through traditional teachings, instill creativity, equality and a healthy way of life, which in turn will create an empowered community who is culturally aware and proud of who we are today, where we have come from, and where we are heading to in the future.”

One of the highest gifts you can give a First Nation community is the Big Drum. So with that in mind, Little Spirit Bear commissioned Gary Lavigne to make a social Big Drum to give as a gift at the Dec 2007 Canadian Aboriginal Festival , Toronto, Canada. The winner of the Big Drum was Jodi Johnston from Georgina Island, who donated it to her community schools.

Little Spirit Bear, creators of the comic strip/graphic novel, Rabbit and Bear Paws (www.rabbitandbearpaws.com ), and Jeff Burnham, president of
Good Minds.com wanted to show Gratitude to all our people by giving a gift that would mean something. The drum means a lot!

Our next Cover image is…The Flying Canoe!