The beat of the drum resounded throughout the parking lot as the UHNBC Drummers Group sent out their melodic message of love, light and healing to the healthcare staff and patients in hospital Monday, July 22.
The group has never missed a Monday-night drumming session since the beginning of the pandemic and even as members come and go the heartbeat of the drum has remained steadfast and strong.
Longtime drum group member and drum-maker Roland Hillier, 70, has created and gifted countless drums to organizations and community members.
His latest donation took place Monday night after the drumming session at the hospital.
He gifted four drums to the Nechako Youth Treatment Program, which provides inpatient mental health assessment and substance use management, detox and treatment for those who are between 13 and 18 years old. Services within the program include individual, family and group support.
Hillier created the drums using goat hide over a cedar frame for two and bison hide over cedar for the other two.
“We want to share a lot of love with the youth during their journey,” said Wesley Mitchell, founder of the UHNBC Drummers Group, about gifting the drums.
Nechako Youth Treatment Program provides inpatient mental health assessment and substance use management, detox and treatment for those who are between 13 and 18 years old.
“The drumbeat is medicine and we want to bring Indigenous culture, bring love, to these youth,” Mitchell said. “The drum is a connection to the creator and our ancestors and it is very important for our youth to have the opportunity to have a sense of healing and clarity. The feeling of the drumbeat not only vibrates through your body but throughout the space that we share and then we are able to connect with each other.”
Hillier knows that all he had to do was create the drums.
“Then release them with a prayer and spirit will take it and make it happen,” he said.
There’s a reason Hillier wants to gift these drums to the youth who are trying to clean up their lives.
“I made lots of mistakes when I was younger and I see these kids at the treatment centre taking responsibility for their own health and I love that because that’s what I do," Hillier said. "These young people at the treatment centre are my people. I want to encourage people to take responsibility for their own health and my advice is to not give up and keep marching forward. And the drum vibrations do miraculous things.”
The drumbeat is their voice, their prayer, Mitchell added.
“And this is just another form of connection,” Mitchell said. “When the youth come in here their mind is just all over the place and the drumbeat will take them back to their heart. You have to follow your heart always.”
A small group of mental health and addictions healthcare workers came out to meet the group as Hillier presented the four drums to them.
There was only one youth in the treatment centre Monday night and sleep was the priority at that moment.
Adaora Onwuliri, mental health and addictions clinician with Northern Health, was one of the workers who attended the presentation of the drums to the youth treatment centre.
“To think about what the youth are going through getting the treatment and recognizing the fact that they are going through a difficult time right now - this is a huge blessing to the kids,” Onwuliri said. “We don’t have many youth here right now so I was very happy to accept the drums on their behalf. It meant everything to be able to do that and I’m sure the youth will be excited when they see the drums.”
Hillier said he has always felt the pull of the drum and started by playing Middle Eastern drums, then moved to African drums.
“I was experimenting with a lot of different drums, but I couldn’t find the sound I was looking for,” Hillier recalled.
“So that kept me going and that’s when I knew I had to make my own drum. That’s when I started making some bigger drums.”
He was in 100 Mile then and moved to Prince George about 15 years ago.
“I kept making drums, marrying different woods with different hides,” Hillier recalled.
He struck a note on the drum in his hands.
“That’s pretty much the sound I was going for,” Hillier said with a smile about his cowhide-over-cedar-frame drum.
The standing drums he makes for community drumming circles are typically 36 inches wide and stand about 28 inches high.
“Those big drums take me about 100 hours to make,” Hillier said. “One of the nicest ones I’ve made was bison hide on cedar and that’s the nicest sounding drum you’ll ever hear. I give one rap with my finger and I am looking for that deep, heartfelt tone that resonates through everything and everyone. You hear that sound and it’s unique.”
Soon Hillier will create another two big drums. One will be 36 inches and a smaller one, 25 inches across, that is easier to bring along on trips the UHNBC Drummer Group takes across the province as they are invited into communities to spread their message of hope and healing.
“With these drums, even during the pandemic we couldn’t go into the hospital but the vibrations could,” Hillier said. “We are all creatures of vibration – so with these drums we can send those vibrations right through these walls and we ask spirit to take that medicine where it’s needed most.”
The UHNBC Drummers Group continues their sessions at the hospital parking lot every Monday from 6 to 7 p.m. and everyone is welcome to attend.
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