TURTLE MOUNTAIN MITCHIF PERFORMERS

American Indian/European Fiddle & Dance
The Turtle Mountain Mitchif Performers from North Dakota provides a fascinating insight into a unique American culture. In the 1700s and 1800s, French, Irish, and Scottish fur traders and trappers married Chippewa and Cree women, and for their children a blending of traditions occurred. The lively fiddle music, jigs, and reels of the fur traders merged with the dramatic drumbeat and traditional dances of the Chippewa and Cree. Today, those descendants are known as the Mitchif, meaning "mixed bloods."
Fiddle player Eddie "King" Johnson, guitar player and singer Lynda Wink, and dancer Sandy Poitra perform the music and dance traditions taught to them by their families and friends during "bush dances" in the forests of the Turtle Mountains. The repertoire of this talented, energetic, and very humorous group includes songs sung in English and French.

Eddie has been playing the fiddle for over 40 years and has played with country greats like George Jones, Tom T. Hall, and Tanya Tucker. Sandy has been performing since the age of 10 and has won many "jigging" contests. She performs traditional Mitchif dances as well as many of the purely Chippewa Indian dances. Lynda Rose Wink is an accomplished guitarist and singer who has won several awards including the Female Vocalist of the Year Award for North Dakota. All members of the group are enrolled members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota.

The Turtle Mountain Mitchif Performers have performed at concerts, festivals, schools, and community events regionally and nationally. Their unique and colorful blend of traditions have taken them five times, as presenters and performers, to the Festival of American Folklife coordinated by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. In 1999, they performed with Grammy Award-winning musician Queen Ida and the Bon Temps Zydeco Band as a cross-cultural exchange. The group also enjoys performing at smaller venues such as educational settings for schools and in nursing homes.