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Photograph of Queen Elizabeth II in her 89th year

The Northwest Territorial Pipe Band is currently learning a new bagpiping tune Diu Regnare, composed by well-known Scottish piper Stuart Liddell.  

This tune was composed specifically for the platinum anniversary of the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 2, on June 2, 1952 (so the anniversary is a sunset on June 2, 2022). 

The plan is for the Band to play this tune at sunset on June 2, 2022.  

The first link below includes the sheet music and a sound file of the tune on the pipes.  The second link is the tune with a drum score.  The third link is an YouTube video of a practice chanter where the player is playing a version of Diu Regnare, but the endings in the sheet music are not actually played as written (it is for practice value only).

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The Northwest Territorial Pipe Band held its Annual General Meeting on Saturday, October 5, 2021. Members of our executive for the 2020-2021 season are:

Pipe Major/President Lori Clark
Drum Major/Vice President Kelly Fischer
Secretary-Treasurer Ian Rennie
Quartermaster Dawna Stuckless
Public Relations Officer Brad Heath
Pipe Sergeants   Lorie Crawford & Floyd Adlem
   

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NWT Tartan
NWT Tartan

The Northwest Territorial Pipe Band proudly wears the official tartan of the Northwest Territories.

Mrs. Janet Anderson-Thomson first proposed the idea of a tartan for the NWT after attending an RCMP ball in Yellowknife in 1966. The piper for the occasion was dressed in a turtleneck sweater and an old army kilt of the Mackenzie tartan. In notes contained in the NWT Pipe Band’s records, Mrs. Anderson-Thomson described the piper as “a terribly drab figure.”

At this point in the political development of the Northwest Territories, before the advent of responsible government, the affairs of the government were run under the direction of a vice-regal authority, the Commissioner.  He was a senior appointee of the federal government and embodied aspects of the Premier and the Lieutenant Governor. Mrs. Anderson-Thomson turned to him for assistance.

“After the ball,” wrote Mrs. Anderson-Thomson, “I went and talked to Commissioner Hodgson and coaxed and bullied him into getting our piper dressed in the full panoply of piper’s highland dress at considerable expense, for we got the best of regalia.”

Later, at the encouragement of her husband John, a well-known local land surveyor, Mrs. Anderson-Thomson approached Commissioner Hodgson with the idea of developing an official tartan for the Northwest Territories. Commissioner Hodgson enthusiastically supported the idea.

With the nod to go ahead, Mrs. Anderson-Thomson enlisted the aid of Hugh MacPherson (Scotland) Limited of Edinburgh, the world-renowned designer and manufacturer of tartans. Mr. MacPherson designed three patterns, which were considered by a selection committee struck by Commissioner Hodgson. The committee unanimously selected the pattern we know today.

Mrs. Anderson-Thomson chose the colours for the pattern. She wrote that green represents the forests, white for the frozen Arctic Ocean, blue for the Northwest Passage, gold for the mineral wealth of the NWT and the red-orange, which she describes as “autumn colours” represents the barren lands or “Arctic prairies.” The tartan also contains a thin black line representing the northern tree-line. Mrs. Anderson-Thomson was presented with a small bolt of the new tartan in appreciation of her initiative.

The tartan was registered at the Court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms for Scotland, in Edinburgh in 1972. In the Scottish Tartans world register, the tartan is known as the Northwest Territories Canadian District Tartan # WR662.

The NWT Council, the predecessor to today’s Legislative Assembly, officially approved the tartan in its January 1973 Session. The tartan of the Northwest Territories enjoyed its 30th anniversary in January 2003.

On June 15, 2015, the tartan was made the official tartan of the Northwest Territories by a Northwest Territories statute: The Territorial Emblems and Honours Act.

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The NWT Pipe Band poses for a photo following a Canada Day "pop-up performance" just outside Yellowknife City Hall.   Photo by Anson Chappell

NWT Pipe Band is a non-profit society established under the NWT Societies Act. Originally formed in 1969 as the Yellowknife Pipe Band Association, in 1978 it changed its name to the Northwest Territorial Pipe Band, to reflect its wider geographic scope.  

The Band is a Grade 4 (recreational) highland pipes and drums band.  Although we strive to be the best pipe band that we can be -- our emphasis is on having fun! The NWTPB performs at many events during the year including the Canada Day parade, St. Patrick's High School Graduation Mass, Relay for Life and many others.  It also engages in a fundraising event each year - the annual Burns Night dinner and dance in January.  Our most recent Robert Burns Dinner & Dance was held on Saturday, January 25, 2020. Fundraising is necessary in order to purchase and maintain instruments (drums in particular) and to provide for kilts.  Members may perform at other events on request.  

Each fall, the band executive – including the Pipe Major and Drum Major – is elected at the band’s annual general meeting. 

There have been many high points over the course of the past 40 years, such as performing for

The Northwest Territorial Pipe Band plays frequently at community events.  Although a recreational pipe band, it has played in competitions, most recently in Red Deer and Ellersley, AB in June 2003.  Some of its members play in competitions on their own, most recently in Kamloops, British Columbia in 2015.  

The Northwest Territorial Pipe Band offers lessons for beginners in piping and in drumming, starting in September or October each year. and running until the end of June.  We also welcome people who are already pipers and drummers -- even if you are a bit out of practice!

The following is a link to a YouTube documentary on the NWT Pipe Band:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTKU-qAvSHM .

The following is a link to another YouTube documentary: They Pipe Among Us.