By TERI TIBBETT
FOR THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

Historically, Northwest Coast groups made instruments from the materials found in the dense forests of their homelands.

Frame drums were made from bent wood and stretched deerskin. Wooden box drums were painted with dyes extracted from crushed berries mixed with seal oil. Rattles were carved from wood and filled with pebbles. Eagle bones were carved into whistles. Deer hooves were sewn onto clothing and rattled together when the dancers danced.

"The box drum, in the past, was used both in ceremonies, but also they used them in war," said Rosita Worl, president of Sealaska Heritage Institute. "It was more like psychological warfare, where they were pounding on the drums, you know, just getting people's hearts racing."

Rattles are used in some ceremonies, like the carved wooded Raven rattle, which is a sacred instrument.

"And then of course there's a lot of percussion," Worl said. "There are dance sticks that the men beat on the floor. In particular you'll see the Hoonah folks, where all the men will have these sticks that they'll be beating on the floor."