Dale Kiselyk may be a plumber, but while he is tinkering with pipes he has other things on his mind.
An adventure seeker, drum player, survivalist, and father are just some of the many ways to describe a man with passions that go beyond just the everyday hobby.
Kiselyk grew up in a musical home in Athabasca, with a mother playing in a band, watching backstage was one of the many experiences that helped in planting the passion for music into his veins.
“As a toddler I was able to sit backstage and watch and learn,” Kiselyk said.
Throughout his younger years, Kiselyk took part in all things music, as well as other passions his family shared. Outdoor recreation was another part of growing up in the Kiselyk home, with musical instruments and nature going hand in hand.
Kiselyk used his passion for travelling and creating to lead him into a career that would allow him to do both.
“After high school I went out into the world and spent 12 years building golf courses,” Kiselyk said. “It was kind of neat because the landscape was kind of like a canvas, where you could walk onto a site and turn it into an artistic expression.”
Kiselyk traveled across Canada with his career, and through that he found his love for adventure.
“My eyes were kind of opened up into the world, and I was able to spend a lot of time seeking out adventures by backpacking through New Zealand and the States,” he said.
No matter what country he was in, Kiselyk always sought out a certain kind of experience.
“Outdoor nature experiences. I emerged into that,” he said. “I always had this dream right from a youth to walk out into the woods and live with nothing, and just to take the bare minimum and to have a knowledge of the forest so intimate that I could go out and learn to live.”
Throughout his travels, Kiselyk learned outdoor education and survival skills by reading books and by spending time mountaineering.
“I got into that for a while, where I would put a big backpack on and climb glaciers and mountains,” Kiselyk said.
It was also during this time that he decided to begin seeking out Native culture.
“Anyone who could teach me about the woods and how to live off of the land,” Kiselyk said, adding it was through the Native culture that he began to find a love for drumming.
“There were a lot of North American Natives that used drumming in their ceremonies, and rituals, so I started learning,” he said.
After years of learning their rituals and ceremonies, Kiselyk began to feel the need to connect to the earth.
“Instead of trying to get to the top of the mountain as the goal, I started seeing that all you had to do was walk out the door and you could spend an hour and walk 100 feet and have an adventure,” Kiselyk said. “Suddenly I was opened up to all of the fine details of nature.”
At the age of 30 Kiselyk realized that his career building golf courses was coming to an end.
“It was difficult with a small family,” he said.
Kiselyk was hired to work as the program facilitator for Camp Encounter. Using his skills as an outdoor expert, survivalist, and canoe instructor, Kiselyk taught youth a variety of skills.
“There was rock climbing, canoeing, archery, there was camping, and staying in teepees,” he said, adding there were also nature awareness sessions, music, singing and dancing.
“I was able to facilitate all of this, and I had an open door to create programs,” he said. “I could put myself into it and develop it into whatever.”
It was after taking courses to become a drumming circle facilitator that he was able to bring his knowledge to the youth at the camp.
“I started reaching beyond the camp. I started getting opportunities here in town,” Kiselyk said, adding he is hoping to facilitate drumming circles in the area monthly, and looks to incorporate his abilities in canoeing and outdoor education in the warmer months.
“My hopes and dreams are, at least once a month year round in this community, to see either a drum circle or a nature awareness program,” Kiselyk said.
Sharing the knowledge you have gained over the years is important Kiselyk said, adding he shares his drumming knowledge with a group he meets once a week.
“All my life there have been some God given passions that I have, and I have discovered that through those three areas… I am able to administer and give to the community,” Kiselyk said. “At first it was a bit of a take for myself, but as I got older I realized no,no,no wait a minute this is something you do and get good at, and not many other people do that, and then you give back to the people, and then hopefully they come alive.”
