Mother Nature was in another bad mood at times during Pakallak Tyme in Rankin Inlet this past month, but that didn’t prevent thousands of spectators from enjoying the drum dancers and Ayaya singers at the Drum Dance Festival in Rankin from April 15 to 19.
Festival co-ordinator Paul Pissuk said it was a lot of fun to have the festival held during the Pakallak Tyme celebrations in the community this year.
He said everything went well during the festival, which was attended by large crowds throughout.
“The festival was a lot of fun,” said Pissuk. “It was nice to see so many people come out and watch.
“We worked planning the festival and fundraising for it all winter. We had a lot of people come to Rankin for the festival, but we also had a lot of people who had to turn around and go back home because of bad weather conditions.
“There were so many good dancers here. We had drum dancers from Gjoa Haven, Kugaaruk, Kugluktuk, Cambridge Bay, Naujaat, Chesterfield Inlet, Baker Lake and, of course, Rankin Inlet.
“It was sad to see how many could not make it in and had to go back home, but there’s nothing you can do about bad weather.”
Pissuk said said all the out-of-town performers seemed to have a really good time at the festival.
He said the drum dance committee was aided in its fundraising with support from the Kivalliq Inuit Association and all the out-of-town performers were well taken care of while in Rankin.
“There was so much going on in the community but we still had big crowds come out, so that was really nice to see. It was also nice to see so many younger people show a real interest in the drum dancing and Ayaya singers this year in Rankin.
“I’m happy to see younger people getting involved again. Some people said they never saw that many young people before, in a big group, be so interested and wanting to join. That’s a nice change from a few years back when it didn’t look like the young people had any interest anymore.
“We had some very good Ayaya singers from both the Kitikmeot and Kivalliq and it was nice to see how they’d work together and help each other during the festival. Everyone wanted to see everyone else perform really well.
“Next year it will be in Gjoa Haven, so we’ll have to start fundraising again really soon because that’s an expensive trip from Rankin with an overnight stay in Yellowknife.”