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Cree elder has been playing fiddle for 70 years — and opened his grandson's wedding with 1st tune he learned

Last month, 82-year-old Cree elder, Malcolm House, got the chance to play Soldier's Joy, a classic fiddle reel with origins traced back to Scotland, at an important family event in Chisasibi, in northern Quebec.  

Malcolm House, 82, played 'Soldier's Joy' at wedding last month in Chisasibi

Marjorie Kitty, Susan Bell · CBC News ·
A Cree elder plays a fiddle sitting in a chair at a wedding.
Cree elder Malcolm House played the first fiddle song of the evening at his grandson's wedding last month in Chisasibi. (submitted by Lydia House)

Malcolm House was 12 years old when he first started playing the fiddle in northern Quebec Cree territory, back in 1953. 

At the time, he had to go visit a friend and play his fiddle, because House didn't have one of his own.

Seventy years later, House is still fiddling — and last month, he played the first fiddle tune of the evening at an important family event in Chisasibi, in northern Quebec. Playing the first tune, before the dancing starts, is an important Cree custom.

"I played at my grandson's wedding, I played the fiddle at the dance," House said, in Cree. The 82-year-old elder played Soldier's Joy, a classic fiddle reel with origins traced back to Scotland.

Cree elder played the first fiddle tune at his grandson Rusty's wedding in Chisasibi last month.

12 months ago
Duration 1:33
82-year-old Malcolm House got the chance to play Soldier's Joy, a classic fiddle reel with origins traced back to Scotland, at an important family event in Chisasibi, in northern Que.

Soldier's Joy was also the first fiddle tune House learned to play back in 1953. He said fiddle music has long been a standard at Cree weddings. 

A Cree man smiles down while playing the fiddle.
A screenshot of Cree fiddler Ray Spencer from the National Film Board documentary, The Fiddlers of James Bay, by Bob Rodgers. (National Film Board of Canada)

House said he used to play with the late Ray Spencer, a legendary fiddler in James Bay who died in 1982. 

Spencer was featured as part of National Film Board's The Fiddlers of James Bay, a 1980 documentary that traces the history of the fiddle's arrival in Canada with Scottish traders, 300 years ago. 

House and his wife Sarah live a mostly traditional life at their camp, located at Kaa Weeshinaawkimaach — a lake inland from Chisasibi and accessible only by snowmobile or plane.

The couple also has a camp closer to Chisasibi, which is accessible by road. 

"It's for Eeyou Ituun," said Sarah in Cree, which translates into 'Cree knowledge'. 

An old photo of a couple standing in the snow outside a wooden cabin in northern Quebec.
Malcolm House and his wife Sarah Sealhunter-House spent much of their lives at their traditional camp inland from Chisasibi, north of the La Grande 2 hydroelectric installation. (submitted by Lydia House)

Sarah said House often plays the fiddle at their traditional camp, and that she was happy to hear him playing at their grandson's wedding. 

It is customary for couples to have embroidered moose skin hearts made when they get married and the lead fiddle player to drape them on their fiddle. 

Cree elder sits on a bed with fiddle with moosehide embroidered hearts hanging from the neck.
It is customary for couples to have embroidered moose skin hearts made when they get married and the lead fiddle player to drape them on a fiddle. (submitted by Lydia House)

"I used to enjoy listening to him play at our cabin, I used to think how could he play that instrument … I used to see him play at the dance a long time ago. He was a very good fiddler," Sarah said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marjorie Kitty

Marjorie Kitty is Eeyou from the Cree Nation of Chisasibi and is currently working as the host of Eyou Dipajimoon with the CBC North Cree unit in Montreal.

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