Canada's chef de mission Catriona Le May Doan presented First Nations drum to bang in Beijing

The sound of a First Nations drum will again do the work of absent Canadian fans at an Olympic Games.

No international spectators were allowed to travel to Beijing's Winter Olympics because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chef de mission Catriona Le May Doan will make her presence felt at venues where Canadians are competing by banging on a Maskwacis Cree Nation drum given to her by Chief Wilton Littlechild in a Calgary ceremony before Doan's departure for China.

Doan's counterpart Marnie McBean did the same at last summer's Tokyo Olympics with a drum presented to her in a Coast Salish ceremony.

"We were all so inspired by Marnie's initiative last year and I had hoped to have been presented the honour as well," Le May Doan said Wednesday in a statement.

"This drum will be coming with me everywhere in Beijing and will be an inspiration to the athletes as it symbolizes our connection to Indigenous communities. It will truly be the heartbeat of Team Canada and connect us all."

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Littlechild, who was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2018 as a builder for his work in Indigenous sport, is the international chief of Treaties Six, Seven and Eight.

"The drum beat is the heartbeat of Mother Earth and it always brings us together much like the power of sport and the Olympic Games," Littlechild said in the statement.

"Let the heartbeat of Mother Earth inspire all of Team Kakanatak. May our creator, Great Spirit, watch, bless and guide you as you lead our country and thank you for acknowledging this is an act of reconciliation."

Canadian athletes start competing Thursday in mixed doubles curling, moguls and women's hockey ahead of Friday's opening