DESCRIPTION:
By an amazing string of chance events, young Dennis Stroughmatt came upon the descendants of French Midwestern settlers, and he
spent over three years in southeast Missouri learning to speak Illinois French Creole, play the fiddle, and sing many of the traditional songs that have thrived in the region for over three hundred years. He would also go on to live, work and play music in the "Cajun country" of Louisiana, and to study in Quebec, thus completing the circle of French culture in North
America. With the blessing of the Creole people of the Midwest, Dennis Stroughmatt et l'Espirit Creole are its passionate ambassadors, expanding interest and excitement in a region that has been, in many ways, ignored by the history books. As a result, the French music, language, stories, and culture once hidden away in the Missouri Ozarks now has a voice in the wider
world. As they say in the hills: "On est toujours icitte: We are still here!"

For captions, transcript, and more information visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=5739.