Our lives are full of people who have influenced our direction and purpose. Some have been negative, bringing us to forks in the road to decision. Hopefully, most have been positive and have been tremendous agents of change. Once in a while, if you are lucky, you might meet that one person who, for no apparent reason, other than generosity, sees the path you are on and decides to believe in you. For some unknown reason this person decides to invest in your future and make a deposit into your life that will stay with you forever. There is no possibility of any real material gain in return for this investment. He just becomes your friend. So, I sit and scratch my head in wonder and conclude that it is just one of those blessings poured out in my life with unmerited favor.At a late age, I decided on a path that would mark one of those forks in the road. As I contemplate my upcoming retirement from law enforcement, I am impelled to act upon a series of visions for my life that have been imparted over a period of time with growing clarity. I am slowly divorcing myself from the insane involvement with the underbelly of our society, a world of unreal people who commit very real acts of horror, and giving myself over to more life affirming pursuits of creative expression.
My heritage as a Metis’ aboriginal is rich and full with creativity that kept my people living in pace with an ever changing environment and at the same time, helping them to keep balance and harmony with the natural environment for which they were truly created. A vital part of their culture has always been music and the oral tradition of keeping their culture alive. Their music and culture grew to include the fiddle. As strange as that might sound, many a happy Cree women love to hit the dance floor and jig the night away.
Native American culture and fiddle music have both been historically communicated through oral tradition. European culture and music have both been transmitted most usually in writing. However, fiddle music and even American folk culture have been the substance of stories told around the kitchen table, the living room, or the campfire. Anything found in writing was meant primarily for the spectator. Those who lived it never needed books and universities. Their lives were passed on from one generation to the next in the oral tradition.
Nick Hallman is known throughout the central Southeast as an accomplished “Old Time” fiddler. He plays and speaks with a fun loving, down to earth manner, yet with a great expertise that has won him numerous awards and distinctions for his musical gift and storytelling ability. He is a retired English teacher from the public schools with a Master’s Degree from Furman University. However, Nick’s easygoing southern charm and love for the hillbilly belie his academic credentials. He’s just Nick, trying to have a good time and live out the values that are important to him…like investing his time, energy and friendship, while apprenticing me toward the fulfillment of my vision and dreams.
Nick’s investment in me will not bring him money, self-acclaim, will not enhance his position in the community or even make him more talented. He is just one cool dude with a good heart. Because of influences like him in my life and those of Native American friends, I am learning the value of the great “oral tradition. “ Because of these influences, I intend to be one who continues the tradition to help ensure that this culture lives on forever. Yes, I am writing books, but I will spend my share of time in the schools and libraries with young people and old, telling stories and sharing music in a way that I hope will impart life to others. Thank you Nick.
