Enjoy a glimpse into the folklife – and the heart – of North Dakota!
TellTale: Dakota Folklife and Stories is a collection of narratives describing the shared personal experiences and lore of life on the North Dakota plains.
From stories of blizzards, to the man who climbed atop a windmill to play his accordion, to the fate of Poker Jim, they originate from, and are shaped by, interviews with senior citizens, many of whom are from elder care facilities.
As a special part of the Art for Life Program, which seeks to improve the emotional and physical health of elders through intensive art and artist interaction, these small group interviews take place around shared experiences, culture, and beliefs. The storytelling process of the elders is designed to address loneliness, social isolation, memory loss, and sense of worth.
Other interviews were collected from participants of the agency’s Folk and Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program as well as traditionalists identified through fieldwork. From Germans-from-Russia folk singers, American Indian storytellers and Veteran auto-biographers … Watch for new additions!
TellTale is produced in partnership with Dakota Legacy, elder care and service organizations statewide, and North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA). This effort is supported in part by a grant from NDCA, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.
TellTale Audio Recordings with Synopses
- Poker Jim: Elders in McKenzie County, North Dakota remember regional folk legend “Poker Jim,” an itinerant cowboy and card-playing enthusiast in this dramatic yet humorous story. (5:10)
- Eyes of an Angel: Blizzard stories with their themes of danger and beauty, such as this one experienced around Grassy Butte, North Dakota, are a staple of lore on the Northern Great Plains. (4:25)
- A Line on the Floor: This personal experience narrative describes the memories of a then-3-year-old girl in San Haven Sanitarium near Dunseith, North Dakota. (5:46)
- A God-given Natural Right: Recollections of moonshine and Prohibition are shared by people in southwestern North Dakota. (4:40)
- Small Town Wisdom: Residents and visitors to an elder care facility in New Salem, North Dakota opine about small-town life. (7:48)
- Rattlesnakes: For many people, just the warning sound of a rattlesnake is enough to make one shiver, but for many in western North Dakota these creatures are a part of everyday life. (5:33)
- I Still Have It in My Memory: Folk songs sung in the Germans-from-Russia dialect continues in the heart and mind of traditionalists like 94-year old John Gross, patriarch of the Young German Singers of southcentral North Dakota, and mentor to fellow folk singers Joe Gross, Andy Gross, Joe Johs, and Gaylynn Becker. (5:48)
- Magnetic Personality: Meet Roger, a beloved regional character and jack-of-all-trades whose unique skills are attributed partly to a surprising childhood event in Carson, North Dakota. (5:18)
- Green Drops to Chamomile: Home remedies or folk medicine has been utilized for generations and continues to be used today to treat everything from warts to pneumonia. (7:06)
- Farmers’ Fears: The fears of pioneer farmers in southwestern North Dakota are discussed. (5:54)
- A Change in the Sky: Tornados and bulls do not mix. Tornados are among the elements of nature to be respected on the Northern Great Plains as illustrated by this recollection from a woman who grew up on a farm near Pisek, North Dakota. (5:05)
- I Remember the Grasshoppers: The “Dirty Thirties” brought many challenges, not the least of these were grasshoppers, as elders from North central North Dakota recount. (6:30)
- Staying Warm: Elders from central North Dakota reminisce about staying warm and having fun during the harsh cold winters of their childhoods.
- Juleboking: The Scandinavian masquerading tradition of Juleboking is recounted by a 101-year-old woman who grew up on a farm near the small farming community of Kloten, ND. (4:52)
- Discharged: A man recalls running away as a young farm boy and meeting a very unlikely and surprising person shortly after World War II. (7:11)
- Threshing: A group of elders in Jamestown, North Dakota converse about the joys and dangers of farming, especially the threshing of the fall harvest. (6:00)
- Divination for Graves: Techniques to “divine” or locate water, objects, or treasure using willows or metal is hundreds of years old and is practiced still in North Dakota. (6:37)
- The Florence Tornado of 1944: An elder now living in Fargo, North Dakota bears witness to the dramatic events of a deadly tornado that hit his childhood hometown of Florence, South Dakota. (5:51)
- Polio: Polio was a crippling and deadly infectious disease that ravaged families and communities in the first half of the 20th Century as these first-hand accounts testify. (6:01)
- Mail-Order Bride: Mail-order brides may not always know what they are getting themselves into. (4:47)
- Come to America: The family stories of Germans-from-Russia folk singers Gaylynn Becker, Joe Johs, and John, Joe, and Andy Gross illustrate the tumultuous reasons why their ancestors left Russia and what happened to those who stayed behind. (6:24)
- Groβer Gott: Germans-from-Russia folk singers Joe Gross of Bismarck and 94-year old John Gross of Napoleon, North Dakota recount a family story bearing witness to the power of faith, song, and bravery in the face of extreme danger. (5:55)
- Hiroshima: A North Dakota military veteran provides a stunning first-person account of the aftermath of the World War II atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. (7:08)
- Das Schicksal: Folk singers John and Margaret Gross and Andy Gross of Napoleon, Joe Gross, Joe Johs, and Gaylnn Becker of Bismarck describe the powerfully emotional effect and purpose of singing this traditional Germans-from-Russia Catholic funeral song. (5:21)
These audio files are part of a special thread within the TellTale series that honors veterans and military service. It features memories sparked by the creation of an auto-biographical poem used in the exhibit Poetic Portraits: The Lives of Veterans. *Photos by: Kevin Taylor
- David Daeley, I’m From Grandpa’s Pipe, U.S. Marine Corps (Vietnam War), Lakota, ND: David talks about his love of teaching and PTSD. (7:50)
- Donovan Pic, I’m From Cream and Grain, North Dakota National Guard, Lakota, ND (Episode 1 of 3): Donovan reads an auto-biographical poem that sparks poignant memories. (5:58)
- Raydene Winnegge, I’m From the Queen Mary, WWII War Bride, Lakota, ND (Episode 1 of 2): Raydene reminisces about meeting her husband, a U.S. soldier, during World War II in England and coming to America on the Queen Mary. (6:36)
- Marvin Ewert, I’m From Mom’s Potato Pancakes, U.S. Army (Korean War), Silver Star and Purple Heart Recipient, Lakota, ND (Episode 1 of 3): Marvin relays his experiences during the Korean War. (5:48)
- Donovan Pic, I’m From Cream and Grain, North Dakota National Guard, Lakota, ND (Episode 2 of 3): Donovan talks about his military service. (5:03)
- Bill Prohaska, I’m From Peanut Butter and Jelly Beans, U.S. Air Force, Valley City, ND: We get to know Bill through his auto-biographical poem and how military service has defined his family. (6:32)
- Jennifer Cabezas, Admissions, Sheyenne Care Center Staff, Valley City, ND: The challenge of dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic in an eldercare facility is discussed. (5:05)
- Marvin Ewert, I’m From Mom’s Potato Pancakes, U.S. Army (Korean War), Silver Star and Purple Heart Recipient, Lakota, ND (Episode 2 of 3): This family of veterans includes a father who served under Theodore Roosevelt in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. (5:50)
- Robert Moore, I’m From a Big Oak Tree, U.S. Marine Corps, Valley City, ND: Boot camp is a transformational process in the lives of many who serve in the military. (8:19)
- Donovan Pic, I’m From Cream and Grain, North Dakota National Guard, Lakota, ND (Episode 3 of 3): The love of farming starting at the age of nine-years old is revealed. (6:49)
- Kermit Ueland, I’m From Grandpa’s Made-up Stories, U.S. Air Force (Korean War), Valley City, ND: Three brothers enlisted for the Korean War, saluting General Douglas MacArthur, and the pain of war. (7:31)
- Marvin Ewert, I’m From Mom’s Potato Pancakes, U.S. Army (Korean War), Silver Star and Purple Heart Recipient, Lakota, ND (Episode 3 of 3): Four major campaigns in the Korean War resulted in the awarding of a Purple Heart and a Silver Star for Gallantry in Action. (6:07)
- Raydene Winnegge, I’m From the Queen Mary, WWII War Bride, Lakota, ND (Episode 2 of 2): The experiences of a young girl during the “Plymouth Blitz” in England during WWII and sleeping in air raid shelters. (6:45)
- Eugene Klein, I’m From Beautiful Evergreens, U.S. Army, Valley City, ND: Sheyenne Care Center staff, Jennifer Cabezas, reminisces about Eugene’s auto-biographical poem and the impact it had on him and others during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. (7:04)
- Edward Herda, I’m From My Yorkies, U.S. Marine Corps (Vietnam War), Purple Heart Recipient, Lakota, ND: Experiences of running a convoy to evacuate the wounded and dead in the Vietnam War. (8:11)
- Discovering Densmore: Hear from citizens of the Standing Rock Nation (Kevin Locke, Virgil Taken Alive, Sissy Goodhouse, and Terry Yellowfat) as they share insights on Lakota music and culture as a part of the Densmore Repatriation project. (7:47)
- Religious Freedoms: Kevin Locke and Terry Yellowfat, of the Standing Rock Nation, talk about growing up on the reservation during a time when it was illegal to practice their religion. (7:06)
- The Iron Fist: Terry Yellowfat, Cedric Goodhouse, and Virgil Taken Alive recall religious persecution during their youth and the changes they made to keep their religious traditions alive on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation of North and South Dakota. (6:29)
- Densmore’s Adoption: Famed Lakota flute player Kevin Locke of the Standing Rock Nation explains how and why renown ethnomusicologist Frances Densmore was adopted. (6:28)
- Death of Sitting Bull: Tribal elder John Eagle Shield Sr., of the Standing Rock Nation of North Dakota, shares a story of the legendary Sitting Bull that his grandmother told him during his youth. (5:40)
- Boarding Schools: John Eagle Shield Sr., Virgil Taken Alive, and Mary Louise Defender Wilson share thoughts and experiences of the Indian Boarding Schools on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation of North and South Dakota. (7:02)
- Kenny Rainbow:One hot August day, teenage Chuck Suchy, from rural Mandan, North Dakota, was out driving the family grain truck when he encounters someone walking on the side of the road who would have a long-lasting impact on his life. (6:33)
- How Will I Know Your Heart: Singer/songwriter Chuck Suchy, from rural Mandan, shares his experiences on working with North Dakota elders in the Art for Life Program; the conversations had, and the connections made. (8:18)
- Accordion: Rural Mandan, North Dakota singer/songwriter Chuck Suchy literally feels the beat of music at a young age, leading him to learn a new instrument. (6:30)
- Writing Songs: Rural Mandan, North Dakota singer/songwriter Chuck Suchy loved a certain classroom activity despised by many teenagers. For Chuck, it became a building block for song writing. (6:24)
- Louisiana Purchase: Renown Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author Joseph Ellis explains that we really didn’t know what we were going to get with the Louisiana Purchase, and without the work of Thomas Jefferson, the Dakotas might not be what it is today. (7:30)
- Washington’s Regrets: Renown Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author Joseph Ellis discusses the history and impact of the American Indian Reservation system. (7:19)
- Looking Local: Joseph Ellis, renown Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author, discusses the importance of states rights, the American Civil War, and the and ability of states like North Dakota to govern themselves. (7:17)
- Looking West: Joseph Ellis, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author, discusses how the Founding Fathers viewed and shaped “the largest trust fund that any new nation coming into the world for the first time has ever had.” (8:00)