Canadian Geographic Sounds the Beat of Native Drums

Dr. Elaine Keillor, distinguished research professor, School for Studies in Art and Culture (SSAC) and team leader for the production of the Native Drums website, appears in this month’s issue of Canadian Geographic magazine.

A series of articles produced for an in-depth report entitled The Ground of Music quote Keillor and Dr. Paula Conlon, a Carleton alumnus.

The Marrow of Music presents Keillor’s analysis of the “melodic contour” – a theory that the arrangement of musical notes within a composition reflects the geographic region in which it is created.

The report also features a range of instruments presented on the Native Drums interactive website.

Native Drums is the result of a life-long interest in Aboriginal music that was sparked by a childhood encounter with individuals of First Peoples’ background and an exchange between a choir Keillor was involved in with that of a nearby reserve. This interest developed into a career when she had the opportunity to work with Mieczyslaw Kolinski, a professor at the University of Toronto, and Canada’s first ethnomusicologist.

“Professor Kolinski had become interested in the music of the Haudenosaunee,” said Keillor. “I assisted him to a degree and some of his other students in the process of transcription. My subsequent work in this field for over thirty years grew from that encounter.”

When Keillor joined Carleton, she introduced the first course in Canada to focus on the musical expressions of the First Peoples of Canada. As she developed the course, she discovered that little accurate information of the musical traditions existed, in fact, what prevailed were misconceptions.

“The perception of what these musical tractions were was almost completely founded on the very biased representation to be found through Hollywood movies and Western-based television shows,” said Keillor. “Accordingly, I wanted to try to change both of these situations as much as I could.”

These objectives culminated in the creation of the Native Drums website. Native Drums, funded through the Canadian Content Online Program of Canadian Heritage and launched in June 2005, is the result of a partnership among Carleton University, private industry, government, educational and Aboriginal cultural organizations.
The site is segmented to engage scholars, teachers and children in the history, mythology and significance of the drum in traditional Canada’s Eastern Woodland Aboriginal societies. In addition, users are exposed to “Aboriginal musicians, their views on their music, and (do) not have the information filtered through the eyes of teachers and academic of the dominant culture within Canada.”

Just as she was inspired by her work with Kolinski, Keillor has motivated the next generation of ethnomusicologists. One of her students changed the course of his career through a chance encounter with her. Follow that story in Play it Forward.