I Heard The Song of a Mountain
This is a story of PKOLS, a mountain located on the West Coast of Canada, on Vancouver Island in Lekwungen traditional territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt people. A region I have had the privilege of being a guest for the last four years.
I hike the trails of PKOLS often, and there is always a sense of it being a sacred space. On one particular day I kept hearing a song, as if a huge pow wow drum group were singing a few feet off the trail. I kept pulling out my phone and recording what I was hearing. When I got home, I listened to the different parts and realized they were all parts of the same song. The song of the mountain.
Standing Nation is an inter tribal pow wow drum group based out of the First People’s House at the University of Victoria that I’ve been drumming with since moving to the territory. A bunch of us went into the studio to record PKOLS.
PKOLS is available as a free download HERE.
Rik Leaf is the principal songwriter for Tribe of One, an inter tribal collective of indigenous artists from around the world.
