Willy Mitchell (born Percy Williams; 1953) is a Canadian

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

musician. Mitchell recorded and toured mostly in the 1970s with his Desert River Band. He co-organized the 1980 Sweet Grass festival in

Val-d'Or Val-d'Or (, , ; "Golden Valley" or "Valley of Gold") is a city in Quebec, Canada with a population of 32,752 inhabitants according to the Canada 2021 Census. The city is located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region near La Vérendrye Wildlife ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, which gathered

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

and First Nations musicians from across Canada.

Biography

Mitchell was born Percy Williams in

Malone, New York Malone ( moh, Tekanatà:ronhwe) is a town in Franklin County, New York, United States. The population was 14,545 at the 2010 census. The town contains a village also named Malone. The town is an interior town located in the north-central part ...

, in 1953, after his

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

and

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

parents were turned away from a hospital in

Cornwall, Ontario Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, situated where the provinces of Ontario and Quebec and the state of New York converge. It is the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry and is Ontario's easternmost city ...

. He was raised in Kitigan-Zibi in southern Quebec by his maternal grandmother. His grandmother gave him the nickname "Willy". In 1968, he started touring northern Quebec with his first band, called the Northern Lights Group. In January 1969, Mitchell was shot in the head by a police officer during an altercation over stolen Christmas lights. Mitchell was originally reported dead by the media. He used the money from a settlement resulting from the incident to buy a Fender Telecaster Thinline guitar. After recovering, he formed the Desert River Band, and began touring and recording. Mitchell wrote the song "Big Police Man" about the experience. Mitchell and the Desert River Band performed live for Ottawa's CJOH-TV's program, ''New Faces,'' in 1970, and began touring heavily after that. Mitchell spent four years at the all-First Nations Manitou Community College, in

La Macaza, Quebec La Macaza is a municipality and village in the province of Quebec, Canada. The village is located in the Laurentian Mountains, in the Laurentian region, in Antoine-Labelle Regional County Municipality. Its population was 1094 in the 2021 Canadia ...

, where he studied traditional botany, photography, and film making. In 1980, with Janine Poirier Macdonald, Mitchell organized a festival featuring his contemporaries in the First Nations and Inuit music industry. Called the Sweet Grass Festival, performers included were

Willie Dunn Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...

, Roger House, Willie Thrasher, and Morley Loon, whom Mitchell worked with frequently. The

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

's Northern Service recorded the performances, and released an LP, ''Sweet Grass Music'', in 1982. Mitchell released several privately printed albums in the 1990s, and currently lives in Dolbeau-Mistassini, Quebec.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Willy 1953 births First Nations musicians People from Malone, New York Living people Musicians from Quebec Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters People from Dolbeau-Mistassini