Drum
circle pounds beat of traditional music
By Monica Levette Clark
On-line Forty-Niner
 The
scent of a burning rope permeated the atmosphere
of the Southwest Terrace as drummers prepared
for an American Indian drum circle, an afternoon
event that was held Wednesday, as part of
this weeks multicultural festival at Cal
State Long Beach.
The four drummers played traditional American
Indian songs from the 19th and 20th century
such as “The Departure Song,” “Stars and
Stripes” and “Elks Whistle.”
Composed by Tail-feather Indian women in
the late 1800s, “The Departure Song,” is
traditionally sung in the Dakota Indian
language with a consistent drum rhythm.
Craig Stone, one of the drummers for the
drum circle said that this song is
always performed first to wake up the ears
of the listeners.
“Stars and Stripes,” was a song dedicated
to students who have long since graduated
from CSULB and was composed by Leonard Cossett
Sr. in the early 1990s. Symbolically, the
song celebrates the freedoms graduates have
to use their education as a means to help
their community.
Larry Smith, another drummer, was also a
host of the American Indian Airwaves, a
radio show that is aired on KPFK 90.7 FM
from 3 to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays. Smith urged
everyone to listen to the show, which was
reinstated this year after it went off air
in 1996.
A student organization was so impressed
by the drummers that they were invited to
perform at one of their events. The students
came bearing an offering of tobacco and
the drummers accepted their invitation.
Led by political science major, Nancy Galarza,
a group of CSULB students participated in
a social dance called the two-step, to accompany
a traditional round dance song. Students
formed a small circle and stepped to the
rhythm of a double-drum beat that the drummers
performed with hand drums.
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