(Joseph) Gaspard Jeannotte
Revision as of 13:24, 26 January 2006 by 129.128.99.45 (talk)
- Métis decent, spoke primarily Michif
- Gaspard’s grandparents came to SK from Dakota in 1905
- grew up at Devils Lake, North Dakota, learned most of his songs from his great-grandfather who died in 1904 at the age of 102 (Clemens album)
- moved to Lebret, Saskatchewan, in the Qu’Appelle Valley (south eastern SK) in 1908 (Clemens)
- Chanson de Riel recorded by Cass-Beggs
- before he sang the song, Cass-Beggs and Jeannotte drank to the memory of Louis Riel
- Jeannotte (and Metis people) believe that this song was written by Riel while in prison
- many of the Métis in the Qu’Appelle Valley are were followers of Riel (Cass-Beggs)
- Linda/Lucinda Clemens collected 10 songs from him, pre-1985, released her own performances of them in 1985 (centenary of 1885 Resistance) – she was a professional singer… “Une chanson de vérité”: Folksongs of the Prairie Métis, Indian Head Saskatchewan, Theother Opera Company, 1985 (includes listener’s guide) – translations considered sketchy – review: http://www.brandonu.ca/Library/CJNS/8.2/tprev81.pdf
