This is not your average band. They don't deal in "gigs" or "performances". They share a Native American heritage and maintain their connection to communites across the country and to the planet.
"We have a cultural responsibility to serve the native people in the area, at pow wows, socials, weddings and funerals," says Paul Levasseur, official "keeper of the drum".
Levasseur, tall and distinguished., especially in native costume, is a retired elementary school teacher who devotes much time and commitment to the group's appearances. More important, he is dedicated to the task of sharing Native American customs and to preserving the things they symbolize.
Mr. Levasseur, also known as "Standing Beaver" in the Missisquoi Abenaki nation, (because he stands instead of sitting when he teaches, and is very industrious), explains that the revered and honorary position of drum keeper is usually held by an elder. At 60, the North Dartmouth, Massachusetts resident talks about his role in strong but humble terms.
"The drum is a rallying point -- the heartbeat of native culture rallies around the drum. It is a religious symbol where we all center," he explains.
He refers to the large Taos pow wow drum, which was specially handcrafted in New Mexico. "It is my job to make sure it is available, in good shape and always there."
A "water drum" is also used in native ceremonies. A lead singer determines how much water is actually placed in the drum. The sound produced by the water drum is lighter and higher, and accompanies songs sung in higher vocal registers. Flutes and rattles are also utilized.
Talking with Mr. Levasseur is like getting a personal Native American history lesson. "The 'host drum' at pow wows has the responsibility of seeing that everything runs right," he says. There is a certain protocol to be followed at the opening of a grand pow wow such as the Michigan one.
"Music, a grand entry and veteran songs, initiate the beginnings of a grand pow wow," he explains. Flags and staffs are symbolically placed, and marches follow. The staffs are dressed in animal fur or bird feathers. Eagle or hawk feathers are highly honored. Symbolically, they represent solemnity, solidarity and the coming together of one people.
"Through the years the Iron River Singers have been honored with eagle feathers," says Mr. Levasseur. Those groups who have received eagle feathers revere this special possession.
"Dancing or singing in the circle is not performing or 'putting on a show,'" stresses Mr. Levasseur. "It is an individual thing. A person can pray as they dance, for the deceased, or with inner thoughts or goals. It is very personal."
Dances are approved by the "host drum" and paid for with gifts of tobacco, sage or sweet grass. "These are used as purification, like incense in church," explains Mr. Levasseur.
The forms of dances vary. The "crow hop" is a dance step done by one person. A square dance two-step is done with a partner, and round dances find a circle of people moving together.
The northeastern regions of the United States that border Canada were home to Missisquoi Abenaki tribes. "Nations" were determined by geography.
"The Abenaki nation speaks an Algonquian language, complicated as any language can be," says Mr. Levasseur. He identifies with the large French-Canadian population in northern Vermont and the Lake Champlain area. When asked how he felt visiting "native roots" in Burlington last summer, Mr. Levasseur quietly answered with two words -- "all tingly."
He sometimes takes schoolchildren on short nature walks, most often on the wooded Dartmouth grounds of the New Bedford Rod and Gun Club, to introduce them to Native American thoughts and customs. "We go out in a primitive way. We (Native Americans), as a people, are never dominant over nature, but are a part of nature," he says.
Mr. Levasseur is modest about the prestige associated with the Iron River Singers serving as "host drum" at the St. Ignace grand pow wow several years ago.
"Well, we caravanned up there ... and we did a fine job," he says. They made a visit to Michilimackinac, a colonial recreation of a Canadian fur-trading village, near Mackinaw City, Mich. "Spiritually, I get a lot of vibes up there -- I know my own people trod the area," he says.
In addition to Mr. Levasseur, the members of the Iron River Singers are his godsons, lead singer Rui Sousa and Nelson Araujo; Steve Ferreira, Chippewa; Jonathan Perry, Wampanoag-Aquinna; Jarod Teixeira and Kenneth Burt, both Missisquoi Abenaki; Joseph Hathaway, Michilimackinac; Jon Lekom, Narragansett; and non-native, Mark DeLima, from the Dighton Youth Council.
In case you're wondering how the Iron River Singers were named, Rui Sousa and Nelson Araujo didn't have to look very far for inspiration. The Copicut River, which runs behind the group's headquarters, holds natural deposits of bog iron, brownish in color. The substance is also known as ocher, which is blended with grease and used for face paint.
When this writer informed Mr. Levasseur that some big cosmetic companies make a glamorous powder or "blusher" that looks and feels like brown dirt, he replied cheerfully, "Come down to the river with me! I'll get you all you want!"
