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The Pride of the Drumbeat

by Sheila Sampson

April 4, 2014

Although I travelled to many pow wows in my early years, I didn’t actually start dancing until my late teens.

I have the honour to be born into the culture of the Nez Perce nation.

I have a Traditional dance outfit which is made of velour material decorated with shells and beads.

My most favourite dance is the Round Dance, as it gives me much pride to be dancing in a circle that many of the women have been doing for years and has been passed on for generations. Seeing the beautiful outfits that were made with love and care become family treasures- it makes my heart swell with pride to see how talented our people are.

While dancing, you stand tall with a straight posture, and your feet automatically move in and up and down to the rhythms of the drum with your shawl over your arm which also sways to the beautiful soft beat.

This sound is the pride of all First Nations people of the world!

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Sheila Sampson
Sheila Sampson
Contributor, Royal BC Museum
Sheila began working for the RBCM in1993, first in the clerical and library areas, then in Public Programs and now as a Collections Assistant in Ethnology. Sheila is a First nation person of Coast Salish and Nez Perce ancestry. She grew up learning about the culture and the traditional ways and has come to appreciate the boundaries between what can be taught publically and what is to remain sacred. Sheila has worked in the Expert In The Gallery program and provided tours to research associates, First Nations groups and treaty groups. She has worked on inventories; ethnology, archaeology, education and non-Aboriginal collections.
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Categorized First Nations, Music

Published April 16, 2014

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Cite “The Pride of the Drumbeat”

Sheila Sampson, “The Pride of the Drumbeat, ” Curious Quarterly Journal 001 (2014), accessed January 18, 2021. https://curious.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/the-pride-of-the-drumbeat/
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