Tamara Goddard & David Fierro Weave Indigenous Tradition Into the Digital Economy Through 400 Drums

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Tamara Goddard and David Fierro are the co-founders of 400 Drums, an Indigenous Web3 and NFT project based in British Columbia, Canada. Goddard is of the Saulteau First Nation in northeastern BC. Fierro is a culture keeper of the Okanagan Nation West Bank.

Goddard holds a Master’s Degree in Indigenous Business and Leadership from Simon Fraser University and has spent her career building healthy Indigenous economies in British Columbia through Four Our Future, her Indigenous economic development organization. She has practiced fine arts since childhood, mentored by her mother and grandfather, working in ink, fluid acrylics, and watercolor — her subject matters drawn from visions, dreams, and prophecies. Fierro has been building drums for over 20 years, each piece produced over many weeks with smudge burned and prayers said throughout the entire process. His drums are prized by First Nations chiefs and ordered in large quantities for Longhouse ceremonial gatherings, Coast Salish gatherings, and corporate events. He continuously donates pieces to fundraisers supporting the Kidney Foundation, Residential School Survivors, and Cultural Keepers.

400 Drums by Tamara Goddard & David Fierro

The idea for 400 Drums came to Goddard over morning coffee, when she saw the blockchain’s decentralized structure as a mirror of Indigenous economics and the honourable harvest. She brought the vision to Fierro first. He said yes, and built 400 drums in under 12 months — each hand-painted by Goddard in acrylic, incorporating phosphorescence for effects under black light, then transformed into a digital NFT.

The 400 Drums collection weaves digital spaces with physical places, tradition, and culture—each NFT a vessel for Indigenous teachings, oral history, and cultural protocol. The project raises funds for Indigenous artist training, youth digital media programs, cultural crafting workshops, and the development of an AI-powered Indigenous language revitalization platform.

Silver Lining commissioned this work from Tamara Goddard and David Fierro as part of the small.artists Global series, supported by GoDaddy & JPMorgan Chase & Co.