Beat keeper

Over Father’s Day weekend, the Stewart Indian School in Carson City is home to the annual Father’s Day Powwow.

A highlight of every powwow is traditional competition dancing. Men, women, children and elders will don colorful regalia, dancing in various styles. Leading all of these dances are the drum groups.

“You can’t have a powwow without the drum,” said Martin Montgomery, lead singer of the Red Hoop drum group. “They’re more than just an instrument or a tool. We believe they have a life.” Montgomery explained that respect is shown to the buffalo, elk, horse or moose that gave its hide for the drumhead.

Red Hoop is the host drum of this year’s Father’s Day Powwow. The group of 14 men sits around one drum, beating down in unison with a drumstick each. They set the tempo for the hundreds of songs they sing together with uninhibited energy, giving the dancers tempo and dynamism. The lyrics are in the Cree or Sioux languages, or sometimes a style called “straight songs” that don’t have discernable lyrics at all. The melodies of the voices carry these songs without words.

Montgomery’s father and uncle started Red Hoop in 1993 in their hometown of Gardnerville. They group consisted of brothers and cousins practicing every Monday and Wednesday for a year before playing at their first powwow at the Stewart Indian School. They decided to name themselves after a horse that was recognized by a red ring around its eye.

“[My father and uncle] were not only about the singing, but the teaching behind it,” said Montgomery. Many of the songs contain prayers or stories that are centuries old. For example, a song played for the Grass Dance tells the story of how grass is leveled under the dancers’ feet before setting up a campsite. Dancers glide and step in a way to represent the flattening of the terrain.

According to Montgomery, Red Hoop is nationally recognized. The members hail from Northern Nevada, Sacramento and Oregon. They travel in Montgomery’s van to powwows, performances and events across North America, including Mexico and Canada. They’ve played on the baseball diamond before a San Francisco Giants game in AT&T Park. The group performs more than 32 weekends every year.

“My dad always told us, ’If you take care of the drum, it will always take of you,’” said Montgomery. He said despite some hardships, including a short period of homelessness, the connections he made through the drum always gave him friends, family and a place to go.

Once, as a young man, Montgomery was left at the Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco without enough gas money to make it home. He asked to borrow a microphone from a street performer busking for money. He hoped playing a couple of songs with the drum would earn him a few dollars.

“I just closed my eyes, and I kept singing and singing, and I finally stopped,” he said. “And before I opened my eyes, there were people clapping their hands.” After a few songs, the audience had completely filled a shoebox with money. He had enough to share with the other musicians and artists around him before heading back home. Montgomery said he will always heed his father’s advice—to take care of the drum.