Fiddling and jigging: 2 inseparable Indigenous traditions that run in families

This story is part of Resonate: Songs of Resilience in recognition of National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day. CBC Indigenous with CBC Unreserved celebrates communities and families through music.

When Brianna Lizotte was growing up, she would watch home movies recorded by her grandfather of 1970s kitchen parties. In them, she'd see family members playing the fiddle and guitar and dancing to the music.

"There was a huge era of kitchen parties and music in our family for lots and lots of generations," said Lizotte.

Lizotte is Métis and grew up in Sylvan Lake, Alta., about 140 kilometres south of Edmonton. But the last fiddle player in her family died when she was about 10, and then there was a drift.

"That was like a huge culture shock, I'd say, to not have any music anymore," said Lizotte.

Then Lizotte had a dream where she was playing the fiddle at a kitchen party like the ones she would see in the home movies.

"I woke up the next day and told my mom, 'Hey, can I get a fiddle?'"

Fiddling is synonymous with Métis music, and has been part of Métis, First Nations and Inuit culture since the Europeans brought the instrument to North America. Fiddling and jigging go together, and many people say you can't have one without the other.

"The thing that makes fiddle music in the Métis music world different from bluegrass or Irish or Scottish is that horse gallop rhythm," said Lizotte.

"You could hear that rhythm pretty much in every tune that you play."

She started getting paying gigs at about 13 years old with the Métis Nation of Alberta (now called the Otipemisiwak Métis Government), and by the age of 16 she had won the rising star award from the Alberta Men and Women of Country Music in 2016.

"It just came very naturally," said Lizotte.

"Looking back at it now, it definitely feels like some maybe ancestors and some blood memory kind of flowed in there while I was learning."

Lizotte and her husband teach workshops on Métis music, dance and history and this year, her second album Winston and I was nominated for a Juno award in the traditional Indigenous artist or group of the year category.