Rosalie Pissuk says she's volunteered with Western Nunavut's drum dance festival for the past 19 years in an effort to keep the art alive.

Her father-in-law, who was part of the annual Qaggiit drum dance festival, introduced her to the art when she was 33 years old, and she says she was hooked.

"It tells a lot of stories through singing, it relaxes you and it's hardly around now," Pissuk said.

She said when she first became a volunteer in 1999, there were more festival participants, but as elders have died, it's been work to attract young people to drum dancing.

Sometimes, she says, she's the only singer for drum dancing in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, where this year's festival is being held. The festival rotates around communities in the Kivalliq and Kitikmeot regions.

"Western [Nunavut styles] are more physically dancing, imitations and movement, Kitikmeot are more into it, you can feel they're more into drum dancing," Pissuk said.

This year, 40 participants showed up for the week-long festival, which runs until Friday at the community hall.

Part of the struggle is the cost to bring people together, Pissuk said.

She says each of the participant communities hold bingos and 50/50 draws to raise money for the cost of a charter plane and hotels, but she says it's often not enough.

Pissuk wants to see more support for traditional cultural activities from the institutions in the territory.

Lack of support for cultural activities

She said she's contacted the territorial government and the regional Inuit organizations for funding for the festival, but was told there were other priorities. For past festivals, she said participants occasionally received some money, but not enough to cover costs.

In addition to monetary support, she wants to see the government of Nunavut promote the festival and find avenues for elders to apply for funding to participate.

She says awareness is key in avoiding misinformation about drum dancing. When she started drum dancing she says she became aware that some people thought it invoked spirits and Satan, which she says is false.

The art is about storytelling — stories of family history and legends, collected from old radio shows, the library and family members, she said.

"Both songs and drums they really touch you mentally and there's a great feeling about it when you're really there in person. The vibration of the drum — the way the drummer sounds out his or her feelings."

Since this year's festival is in the Kivalliq, next year it will be in the Kitikmeot region.