BY SALT SPRING ISLAND FARMLAND TRUST
On Sunday, Feb. 7, Beaver Point Hall will be filled with the sound of stories, tools and careful hands as Cowichan and Hawaiian knowledge keeper Hwiemtun (Fred Roland) leads a day-long drum-making workshop hosted by the Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust (SSIFT).
Rather than beginning with materials or technique, Hwiemtun begins with relationship. Participants will be guided through the creation of a traditional hand drum using cedar and elk hide, while also being invited to reflect on where those materials come from, what they ask of us, and how responsibility is woven into Indigenous foodways and cultural practices.
The workshop arrives at a moment when many on Salt Spring are grappling with urgent questions about land use, food security and sustainability. For SSIFT, the course offers a way to broaden those conversations beyond policy and practice, grounding them instead in values, memory and long-standing stewardship traditions.
“Hwiemtun teaches from a place of deep attentiveness,” said SSIFT director Andrea Palframan. “He asks people to slow down and really consider their relationship to land and food — not as resources, but as living systems we are accountable to.”
Drawing on teachings passed down through generations, Hwiemtun’s approach emphasizes listening: to the land, to materials and to the stories that connect people to place. Participants will learn not only how to assemble a drum but also why every part of an animal or tree matters, and how gratitude and restraint are central to sustainable food systems.
“For Indigenous communities, using the whole animal isn’t just practical — it’s ethical,” Palframan explained. “Those teachings align closely with values many people are rediscovering now, like minimizing waste and repairing our relationship with the natural world.”
The Farmland Trust sees the workshop as a natural extension of its work supporting agriculture, food education and land stewardship on the island. While SSIFT is often associated with farming and farmland protection, Palframan notes that cultural learning plays a vital role in shaping how communities care for land over the long term.
“If we want resilient food systems, we also need resilient ways of thinking,” she said. “Indigenous knowledge systems hold lessons that have allowed people to live well within ecological limits for thousands of years.”
Throughout the day, Hwiemtun will weave together hands-on instruction with storytelling and quiet observation. The setting — a fireside room overlooking the water — offers space for reflection as well as conversation among participants, who may include farmers, educators, land stewards, artists and others curious about Indigenous approaches to food and land.
Each participant will leave with a completed drum, but organizers emphasize that the experience is about much more than the finished object. The process itself — working carefully with natural materials, acknowledging their origins, and taking time to reflect — is central to the learning.
As Salt Spring Island faces increasing pressures from climate change, development and rising food costs, SSIFT hopes the workshop will encourage broader thinking about solutions.
“Technical fixes matter,” said Palframan, “but cultural shifts matter just as much. Learning how to be in respectful relationship with land and food is foundational work.”
Registration is open, with limited spaces available. Early registration is encouraged.
Course details and registration information can be found at ssifarmlandtrust.org.