Métis fiddle

Old-time music
Stylistic origins	British folk, African music, minstrel, Tin Pan Alley, gospel, Appalachian music
Cultural origins	English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, African, French, German, Spanish
Typical instruments	Old time fiddle, guitar, banjo
Derivative forms	Bluegrass, country
Other topics
American folk music revival

Métis fiddle is the style with which the Métis of Canada and Métis in the northern parts of the US have developed to play the violin in folk ensemble and solo. It is marked by percussive use of the bow and percussive accompaniment such as spoon percussion. The Meti ( /meɪˈtiː/; Canadian French: [meˈtsɪs]; Michif: [mɪˈtʃɪf]) people themselves blend First Nations, French, Anglo, Celtic and others. Fiddles were "introduced in this area by Scottish and French-Canadian fur traders in the early 1800s".^[1]

Overview

David Chartrand, President of the Manitoba Métis Foundation, is also interviewed in a 2006 documentary by John Barnard documentary and emphasizes that the Metis fiddle tradition is an aural tradition ^[2] which cannot be taught in schools. Meti fiddling has been analyzed by ethnomusicologist Lynn Whidden as featured in the film;^[2] she indicates that meters can vary from measure to measure and is very percussive. Players use their feet and choke up on the bow to enable a very sharp bite. Some players, such as Sierra Noble, also plays fiddle in a modernized or blended Métis style which incorporates Celtic or country-pop influences. She has been known to play Celtic rock fusion, as in the Sierra Noble Trio with Ariel Posen on guitar and Bruce Jacobs on bass. T^[3]

In "A Note on Métis Music", Whidden emphasizes the French chanson and "Indian" derivation of the style and that they overlap and are indistinct.^[4] She demonstrates this theme infusing lyrics as well, as in the song "Redj'Jan's Shoes -White Man's Shoes": I ain't red nor am I white, I've been like this for all of my life. Citing various personal communications, she indicates that virtually everyone in the community played an instrument, and that gathers were usually in homes because of a lack of large built structures, although she also, somewhat paradoxically, refers to "weekly" dances.

Forms

The styles documented are European: polka, waltz, two-step,schottische, and square dance. However, the actual steps intermingle with First Nations means and methods.^[5] The chord progressions use complex harmonic structures and abandon the I-IV-V-I progression of the European derived tunes.^[6] Audience hand clapping, footstomping and dancing create an aural accompaniment as identified in the secondary literature and enthnomusicological clips.^[7]

Repertoire

The central defining tune is Red River Jig, which is not actually a jig but rather a reel. A local anecdote relates that "the way to drive a Metis crazy is to nail his moccasins to the floor and play the Red River Jig ^[8] The dancing involves prominent footwork as in Irish dance and has been brought to a high level of dexterity.^[9] Cory Poitras demonstrates simultaneous fiddle playing and "jigging" at Metis crossing in a 2007 video clip available online.^[10] According to Lederman, this is the same as the "La Grande Gigue Simple" or "La Grandeux" in Québec, which is also found in Cajun playing.^[11] Other repertoire she identifies include "Drops of Brandy" ("Le Brandy" in Québec), and "Devil's Reel" ("Le Reel du Pendu" in Québec).^[11] Other dances include Duck Dance, Square Dance and Drops of Brandy ^[12]

Contemporary Metis Style Fiddle players

• John Arcand

• Sierra Noble

• Calvin Vollrath

• Andy de Jarlis

Background

Main article: Métis

The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed European and First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct indigenous group, with formal recognition equal to that of the Inuit and First Nations. Mothers were often Cree, Ojibway, Algonquin, Saulteaux, Menominee, Mi'kmaq or Maliseet.^[13] At one time there was an important distinction between French Métis born of francophone voyageur fathers, and the Anglo Métis or Countryborn descended from Scottish fathers. Today these two cultures have essentially coalesced into one Métis tradition.^[14][15] Other former names—many of which are now considered to be offensive—include Bois-Brûlés, Mixed-bloods, Half-breeds, Bungi, Black Scots and Jackatars.^[16]

The Métis homeland includes regions scattered across Canada, as well as parts of the northern United States (specifically Montana, North Dakota, and northwest Minnesota).^[17]

Almost 400,000 people self-identify as Métis in Canada. Most Métis people today are not so much the direct result of First Nations and European intermixing any more than English Canadians today are the direct result of intermixing of Saxons and Britons. The majority of Métis who self-identify today are the direct result of Métis intermarrying with other Métis. Over the past century, countless Métis are thought to have been absorbed and assimilated into European-Canadian populations making Métis heritage (and thereby aboriginal ancestry) more common than is generally realized.^[18] Geneticists estimate that 50 percent of today's population in Western Canada have Aboriginal blood,^[19] and therefore would be classified as Métis by any genetic measure.^[19] There is substantial controversy over who qualifies as Métis. Unlike First Nations people, there is no distinction between status and non-status Métis. The legal definition itself is not yet fully developed. S.35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 makes mention of the Métis stating:

Other scholarly references

• 1987 Ledennan. Ann Old Native and Metis Fiddling in Manitoba. Vol. L Toronto: Falcon Productions, 783

A. Queen St W. M6J 101

• Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1991)

Old Indian and Metis Fiddling in Manitoba: Origins, Structure, and Questions of Syncretism

Anne Lederman

• This article was originally published in The Canadian Journal of Native Studies 7.2 (1988): 205-30.

• 1983 Music of the Indians and Metis I & n (Kit). Winnipeg: Manitoba Department of Education and

Training, Media Productions.

• Whidden, Lynn 'How can you dance to Beethoven? Native people and country music,' CUMR, 5, 1984

' Whidden, Lynn Hymn anomalies in traditional Cree song,' Recherches Amérindiennes au Québec, vol 15, no 4, 1984

References

1. ^ ref name= "AL"|Canadian Journal for Traditional Music (1991) Old Indian and Metis Fiddling in Manitba: Origins, Structure, and Questions of Syncretism|Anne Lederman|This article was originally published in The Canadian Journal of Native Studies 7.2 (1988): 205-30.
2. ^ ^{a b} http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGtckNUY7b8
3. ^ ref name="SNT"|Sierra Noble TRIO |DABE (Celtic Fiddle Medley)|cinematographer=not give|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeUF9DP0PMs&NR=1
4. ^ ref name=NMM"|date=Undated latest reference is 1989|http://cfmb.icaap.org/content/24.1/BV24-1art3.pdf
5. ^ NMM
6. ^ NMM|Citing (personal Communication, Brandon, Manitoba, 1989).
7. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5frBdOs-aI&feature=related
8. ^ NMM, personal Communication, Crane River, Manitoba, 1981
9. ^ dancer=Felicia Morrisseau| affiliation= The Asham Stompers| performance= Red River Jig|venue=unknown|link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoXGCmQ7bLg&feature=related
10. ^ This ref needs to be conformed to the citation style we are establishing on this article|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8VYxEZOGRE&NR=1
11. ^ ^{a b} AL
12. ^ ref name=RRJ|souce=Video captions|title=Sierra Noble Red River Jig|location=Riverton,Canada|date=Posted Aug 7, 2008|videographer=battlevan55:youtube registration|production=unknown
13. ^ "First Nations Culture Areas Index". the Canadian Museum of Civilization. http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/tresors/ethno/etb0170e.shtml. 
14. ^ Ethno-Cultural and Aboriginal Groups
15. ^ Rinella, Steven. 2008. American Buffalo: In Search of A Lost Icon. NY: Spiegel and Grau.
16. ^ McNab, David; Lischke, Ute (2005). Walking a Tightrope: Aboriginal People and their Representations. http://books.google.ca/books?id=YMdYqTvG3EgC&pg=PA254&lpg=PA254&dq=jackatar&source=bl&ots=HrRp9CcSTx&sig=N6G2T7IN8pAWsMbB5nlWZ5i8dJc&hl=en&ei=tPeCS6iXO5CYtgfEo53wBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CB0Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=jackatar&f=false. 
17. ^ Howard, James H. 1965. The Plains-Ojibwa or Bungi: hunters and warriors of the Northern Prairies with special reference to the Turtle Mountain band. University of South Dakota Museum Anthropology Papers 1 (Lincoln, Nebraska: J. and L. Reprint Co., Reprints in Anthropology 7, 1977).
18. ^ Barkwell, Lawrence J., Leah Dorion and Darren Préfontaine. Métis Legacy: A Historiography and Annotated Bibliography. Winnipeg: Pemmican Publications Inc. and Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2001. ISBN 1-894717-03-1
19. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named mettis; see Help:Cite errors/Cite error references no text