NAYTAHWAUSH, Minn — Enter the White Earth Reservation, listen closely, and you'll hear the gurgling stream that flows past the Littlewolf home.
A cascading body of water that now has melodic competition from inside.
Seated on a piano bench, Jayme Littlewolf plays Beethoven’s "Moonlight Senada."
To hear him play so well, is to wonder how many piano lessons the 12-year-old must have taken.
“None,” his mother, Amy Littlewolf, says.
“That's mostly all him,” Jayme’s father, Justin Littlewolf, adds.
Jayme’s parents have had front row seats to the unimaginable.
It's been just over two years since Jayme went on YouTube and taught himself to play his little sister's toy piano.
It’s been just over one year since Jamie's mom ordered him a basic 61 key electronic keyboard for Christmas.
Jayme was ready.
“I already had a bunch of songs lined up that I wanted to learn,” he says.
Still, the soft-spoken boy so craved the full-sized piano experience, that on family trips he'd Google the locations of pianos he could play along the way.
“Every time there's a piano, I want to play it,” Jayme says. “If I look at it, I want to play it. But if I don't look at it, I still know it's there, and I still want to play it.”
Last fall, the digital baby grand Jayme now plays in his living room arrived with a story all its own.
“I didn't know Jayme; I'd never really seen him before,” Brad Riggle says.
The Ogema man followed the Mahnomen-Waubun Thunderbirds to the Twin Cities last fall for the state high school football tournament.
Jayme's older brother played on the team and they all wound up at the same Minneapolis hotel, which has a piano off the lobby.
“I started playing a little music,” Brad says, “and then, that's when Jayme and his folks walked in, and he sat there patiently in the back watching me play.”
Brad asked Jayme if he'd like to play, imagining not much more than chopsticks, but getting Beethoven.
Unable to play even close to the level he was hearing from Jayme, Brad started recording video.
“And he has no sheet music,” he says. “None.”
Later, Brad couldn't stop thinking about what he'd heard.
“I couldn't walk away from it,” he says. “I saw definitely a kid with true talent.”
Brad posted his video of Jayme to Facebook and quickly racked up 6,000 views.
Then, he asked the White Earth community for help.
Help came quickly, in the form of donations and a digital baby grand piano made available to Brad at a discount.
In November, Brad surprised Jayme with the piano, already delivered and set up at the Littlewolf home.
“We all come together and got you a little something,” Brad told Jayme in a video he shot of the surprise.
“Whoa!” Jayme said, putting his hands to his mouth, as he turned the corner to see the piano standing in his living room.
How did he take to it?
“He's playing before he goes to bed, he plays when he gets home from school,” Jayme’s mother says. “Even this morning, right away, he was up at 8 o’clock this morning playing.”
Still, Jayme hadn't performed a recital until the afternoon of Super Bowl Sunday.
Sanford Health WindSong senior living in Bemidji gave Jayme his debut, as residents gathered to listen to the 12-year-old YouTube-trained piano prodigy.
“I’m probably more nervous than he is, but happy and excited for him,” Amy says.
True to his personality, Jayme didn’t chit-chat between songs.
He did impress his audience with his playing, and then some.
“I thought he was amazing,” Janet Larson, a Windsong resident, says.
Other seniors waited their turn to thank Jayme, some handing him tips.
“Can you slip this in your pocket?” one of them said as she handed Jayme cash.
Jayme was left with more than $100 in his hand.
“Probably buy some LED lights for my piano,” he says.
Back home on the reservation, that stream next to the Littlewolf home is still babbling, while a quiet boy of 12 is stirring conversations with his fingertips.
“Very proud of him,” Jayme’s father says.
Boyd Huppert is always looking for great stories to share in the Land of 10,000 Stories! Send us your suggestions by filling out this form:
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