At about 10:30 a.m. last Wednesday, a long-haired Métis man named Garry Lee settled down in front of St. Albert Place. He pulled out a fiddle, put resin on the bow and started to play.
Moments later, he was joined by a young girl and a boy bearing a guitar and a red fiddle, also playing. A few moments more and a second pair of musicians strolls over, followed by another, and another.
After a few minutes, there was a wide half-circle of 48 young guitar and fiddle players filling the front courtyard of St. Albert Place, all playing through the rolling sounds of Boiling Cabbage. At about 10:35 a.m., the music stops, the kids disperse and the yard is silent once again.
This blink-and-you'll-miss-it concert was one of about 10 flash-mob performances put on by students from Sturgeon County's Camilla School on Wednesday. About 48 grades 4 to 6 students spent the day zipping around Morinville, St. Albert, Edmonton and Alexander First Nation spreading Métis music.
It was a heck of a lot more fun than regular music class, said student Ryan Berglund of Calahoo, as they got to perform instead of taking notes. "And we get to skip school today!" he quipped. "All those other kids were stuck in school and I was freezing my butt off."
Heartbeat of Mother Earth
The students started the day at Alexander's Kipohtakaw Education Centre before touching down at St. Albert Place, the Métis Nation of Alberta building in Edmonton, Grandin Mall, the Enjoy Centre, Poundmaker's Lodge, Morinville public elementary school, the Sturgeon County administrative office, and the Sturgeon School Division board meeting.
Organizing the tour was Leanne McMillan, vice-principal of Camilla School and co-ordinator for the Heartbeat of Mother Earth program — an optional course at the school backed by a grant from Canadian Heritage and the Métis Nation of Alberta that teaches students about aboriginal culture.
McMillan said she started the course about three years ago. The 51 students – about 20 are First Nation, Métis or Inuit – have since built teepees, eaten bannock, learned the medicine wheel and performed round dances. "They're learning a love of culture." Classes in previous years have learned how to make and play hand drums from elders from Alexander.
Students spent this school year taking Métis music lessons from Lee, McMillan said. Wednesday's tour was meant to thank their supporters and give the students a chance to show what they had learned.
Fiddling has long been an integral part of Métis life, said Lee, a musician and instructor, and there are still whole communities up north who will hit the floor for a jig when a player starts up.
"Métis people expect fiddle music to happen," he said.
Métis fiddling is often described as "crooked," Lee said, as it often has 39 or 41 bars per verse instead of the usual 40.
"For people not familiar with Métis music, it might sound like a mistake."
This gives it a randomness not found in other fiddling styles.
Bridge builder
Kipohtakaw principal Ray Soetaert said he was very impressed by the class's performance.
"I thought it was a great idea to have sort of a cross-cultural thing," he said, noting how his school sends drum and dance groups to other schools for similar reasons.
Music knows no boundaries, Soetaert said, and can act as a bridge between cultures.
"The more we can learn about other people's cultures, the more tolerant we become and the more enriched our view of the world is going to be."
The heartbeat program has also helped aboriginal students at Camilla take more pride in their culture, said McMillan. About 40 students there have gone public with their First Nations, Métis or Inuit identities since the program started.
"It makes our entire school population comfortable with each other."
McMillan said she wasn't sure if the program would continue next year since it depends on grants, but hoped it would.
"It's been a huge day," she said of Wednesday's activities. "They performed fabulously."
