Lakota drum group empowers youth
Delaney Apple (far left) leads the Lakota drum group Stampede Jrs. as they record music for Tanka Fund’s upcoming film project.
As part of celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Tanka Fund, we have been working with a film crew over the past several months documenting our rancher partners all over the nation.
For a project like this, it is an absolute necessity to have authentic and traditional music to help highlight our message and mission for this mini docuseries. We enlisted the help of Delaney Apple, an Oglala Lakota mentor in Rapid City, SD, who formed a youth drum group after his 11-year-old son Wasumaza expressed an interest. Delaney put a call out on social media to find other kids that would like to be part of the group (called Stampede Jrs.). They currently have around 12 members ages 9-12 years old. The group recorded songs for Tanka Fund last month to be used for our future projects.
For Delaney, the drum group was a natural progression of his passion for singing, which sparked when he was 19 years old. He grew up listening to his grandparents speak Lakota, had always admired the “eyapaha” (a Lakota announcer at social events and gatherings), and has several relatives who sang as well.
“I reached out to uncles who had been singing and got lessons and direction on how to learn the songs and the types of songs as well as the respect and responsibility that comes with it,” he said.
Delaney said through his life he’s had many hardships that many Native Americans face, including incarcerations, but it was the songs that “faced” him in a better direction. Over years he went to college, became a chemical dependence mentor, and then a counselor working in children’s mental health and mentorship programs. He eventually went into construction for 16 years and is an asphalt superintendent in Rapid City.
“I do volunteer work now. One of the things that gave me direction was the drum and the songs and the lessons within them. And I can offer that back to younger generations. So, I’ve been working with youth whenever I can,” he said. “I don’t sing professionally or as much as I did when I first started as far as traveling and being a drum keeper. My work is extensive with construction, so a lot of my community service work slowed down.”
Leading the Stampede Jrs. has helped fulfill Delaney’s hope to empower Native youth in his community and he hopes that carries on to other communities. The group has learned prayer and Sundance songs that have a spiritual impact. They are now working on more social and honor songs to sing for the public at events. So far, they have performed the Douglas High School graduation and feather tying as well as at the Dahl Fine Arts Center in Rapid City.
“They really have progressed fast and learned specific songs that I task them with. They are taking direction and showing a lot of growth. I think they are really proud,” Delaney said.
At a recent group meeting, the singers’ parents said they have seen a difference in their children. Some students were withdrawn, isolated, and introverted but have since come out of their shell and happy to regularly see their drum mates. Delaney said when some parents watch their normally quiet children sing, they can see that they have found their voice. Additionally, there was a parent that said they had received calls from the school about their son showing disrespect, but they haven’t gotten a call in a while since being in the group.
“That was part of the goal — to give them the space to find their voice and not just a singing voice, but to express themselves,” Delaney said. “And their families and peers in the future will aways have that gift. They now can provide singing services, which builds self-confidence and self-esteem. That is part of the role of a singer — focus, paying attention, and coordinating your ears and voice.”
As for the future, Delaney said his wife Monique is also a singer and they are thinking of getting young ladies to learn the songs. Their current dilemma is that their home barely fits the 12 kids they have now, but they believe with the right timing, they can figure out a solution when they are ready. Ultimately, Delaney said the he’d like their efforts to encourage other communities to start drum groups and not wait for schools or outside programs to do it first. He stressed the importance of preserving the culture and traditions of the Lakota way of life and that singing revitalizes the language.
“You learn what the song means. They were made by people who didn’t speak English. The thought, wording, and organization comes from a person who only spoke in Lakota with respect to our principles of long ago,” Delaney said. “There is a preserving of the thought and philosophy; without the drums or songs there would be no ceremony. So by learning these songs we are preserving our ceremonies as well.”
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