'When we get together, we get dangerous': Meet Paulatuk's Moonlight Drummers and Dancers

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Michael Green, of Paulatuk, N.W.T., learned however to sing, creation and drum from a video cassette erstwhile helium was 9 years old.

Group that started retired with cardboard drums going beardown aft 27 years

Liny Lamberink · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 06, 2025 1:48 PM EST | Last Updated: November 6

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Four men sitting down, singing with accepted drums.

Michael Green, of Paulatuk, N.W.T., learned however to sing, creation and drum from a videocassette erstwhile helium was 9 years old.

It each started for him erstwhile his Inuvialuktun teacher, Liz Kuptana, showed her people a signaling of the Mackenzie Delta drummers and dancers astatine Angik School.

Green asked to get the tape. He liked the moves of 1 dancer successful particular.

"I wanted to creation similar him, truthful that video that I borrowed, kept rewinding, rewinding, rewinding, until I got the nonstop movements of his dance."

Two men successful sweaters and jeans, arms lifted implicit their heads successful dance, with radical drumming successful the background.

Green said a radical of Inuvialuit successful Paulatuk started retired with drums made from cardboard and garbage bags and duct tape. He's been starring the Paulatuk Moonlight Drummers and Dancers ever since.

A young miss dances. She's a spot blurry. The drummers she's facing, successful the back, are successful focus.

Twenty-seven years later, the radical has evolved. Green said they get unneurotic erstwhile a week astatine the younker centre successful Paulatuk to marque definite they're acceptable for performances.

Drummers successful the foreground, looking guardant dancers successful the background.

"An elder told america erstwhile we get together, we get unsafe — and what he's meaning, oregon what helium meant, is that erstwhile we stitchery unneurotic to drum dance, we're powerful. "

"All the communities astir the ISR [Inuvialuit Settlement Region], erstwhile we get drumming successful 1 place, it gets you hyped up."

WATCH | A rehearsal from the Paulatuk Moonlight Drummers and Dancers:

Watch a rehearsal from the Paulatuk Moonlight Drummers and Dancers

The accepted Inuvialuit creation radical gathered astatine Paulatuk's younker centre to practise their singing and dancing. The CBC's Liny Lamberink was invited to ticker earlier this week.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Liny Lamberink is simply a newsman for CBC North. She moved to Yellowknife successful March 2021, aft moving arsenic a newsman and newscaster successful Ontario for 5 years. She is an alumna of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network. You tin scope her astatine [email protected]

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