The Balance of Being Blackfoot

Elder Spike Eaglespeaker shares his life experiences of growing up and growing into traditional teachings and learning the language. Eugene Brave Rock visits Spike, who opens his home and heart to Eugene.

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Transcript

Multiple Speakers [00:00:00] [cheerful electronic music] Sim gigyat, Sigidim Haanak’, K’ubawilxsihlxw. Oki, wishing you good life. Kuei! Kuei! Yo! Wik’sas. Dánet'e, negha dágǫ́ht’e.

Announcer [00:00:14] This is Words and Culture, a series on Indigenous languages funded by SiriusXM through the Community Radio Fund of Canada. [music fades out]

Eugene Brave Rock [00:00:26] Oki, niisto nitahnakok (continues introduces self in Niitsíʼpowahsin)

Welcome to the Blackfoot episodes of Words and Culture. I’m your host. Eugene Brave Rock. Today, I am on the Siksiká Nation, the most northern of the four Nations of the Blackfeet Confederacy. This land stretches across the prairies just east of Calgary, Alberta which we call Mohkinstsis. It’s wide, open, and alive in a way you can feel in your chest.

Out here, the sky doesn’t just sit above you. It surrounds you. The horizon feels endless. The grasses move like waves when the wind comes through. And when there is no wind, there’s a stillness so deep it almost hums. But if you know this place, you know, when wind does arrive you better hang on to something.

The Bull River runs through this territory clear and steady, carrying stories like the people do. I’ve heard it said that this is one of the top places for fly fishing and when you stand near the water, you understand why. There’s a purity here. A quiet strength.

This is not my home reservation, but it is still home. Because as Blackfeet people, we are all connected. Our roots don’t stop at the borders or band lines, they stretch across all four Nations. Siksiká, Káínaa, Piikáni, and Aamsskáápipikani. And being here, I feel the connection deeply, like walking into a place that already knows my name.

Elder Spike Eagle Speaker and his wife Alvine, live here on one of the town sites in Siksiká. Like most Elders, they have stories to share about their lives and while I spent the afternoon with both of them in conversation, in this episode, we’ll spend time with Spike Eagle Speaker.

Spike is someone who I approached with deep intention and respect because he is not just a knowledge holder, he’s a traditional leader. In our way, that carries weight. It means he spent time in ceremony, listening, learning, and living the teachings, not just speaking them. It means the words he shares are guided by experience, responsibility, and connection to the ancestors.

Those are not just opinions, those are lived truths. That’s why it is important for me to sit with him. When I sit with someone like Spike, I don’t come as an expert. I come as a listener, as someone willing to learn, to receive, and to carry those teachings forward in a good way, because voices like his are becoming fewer and the knowledge they carry is sacred.

Speaking with Spike wasn’t just a conversation, it was an opportunity to sit with a man who represents continuity of culture, of language, of spirit.

The husband and wife team have been married for many years. They grew up into their Elder status together but not before they learned together. They taught one another and continue to teach one another about the Blackfoot language, culture, and ceremonies. And what it means to really be a traditional Blackfoot.

On this day, Spike and Alvine are in their home, and while Spike speaks with me, Alvine is busy washing dishes and making lunch. I asked Spike to introduce himself and before I can get another question in, he is off and running. This is Spike Eagle Speaker.

Spike Eagle Speaker [00:04:05] Oki (introduces self in Niitsíʼpowahsin)

My christian name is Spike Eagle Speaker, yeah. There’s a bold difference. One has a meaning, one I don’t know where it came from. Josh Sheldon gave it to me. Yeah.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:04:29] (laughs) Yeah.

Spike Eagle Speaker [00:04:31] You've got to create that balance all the time between a woman and a man. We'll never have knowledge of a woman because we're not women. But it's the men that is usually given the power of the bundle.

What I know about my Indian path, in what my law and knowledge I know, came from Owen Aldous, from the Blood Tribe. And my wife was raised with it. She was a child. She lived that, like, all her life.

I never got into it until I was about 45-40 years old, around there. But before that, I picked up a lot of knowledge from a lot of Elders, because I was a real – we were real mischievous, crazy kids. You know, that's what the Elders, “Áaksosóótokiaawattsa’pssiyi, they’d do anything, you know.”

And that kind of a knowledge, my wife doesn't have it. So when we share it together, her knowledge is almost the same, but it's different because she was raised all her life with that Indian knowledge. Around pipes, around smudges. Whereas me, my smudge is marijuana and all that when I was a young kid. Because I didn't know better, right? I didn't know which way my path was going because I had no balance. 

I had no balance coming from a female. And that's the only place you can get it, is from the female. You can't get it out there because the woman is the one that carries that knowledge.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:06:41] (narrating, laughs) That Elder humour. Some people might get offended by what Spike said about smudging with marijuana. But that’s the truth. That’s his story. And it’s okay to have a sense of humour about the culture and ceremonies.

I wanted to know what Spike thought about language and ceremonies. 

Spike Eagle Speaker [00:06:58] The language – it's embedded right in a culture, eh? It's right in there. So the language – when we talk about the language, the language is something that – I guess you can say, it's the down-to-earth feelings that come from here. Whereas the white man's language have a different meaning because of the language. When they speak their language, it has no meaning to what we speak about. When we speak about our Indian language, especially ceremonies, all we do is speak Blackfoot.

We know we can't get the way it was way back then, but we can try and be close to it. We haven't lost the songs, we haven't lost the stories, we haven't even lost a – everything that goes with it. It's there. It’s still alive. It’s still powerful. 

Eugene Brave Rock [00:08:11] (narrating) I understand what Spike is speaking about because I felt it myself. When I’m in ceremony, in the Blackfoot way, there’s always something that I can’t fully explain in English. It has to be felt.

The songs carry more than melody, they carry memory, spirit, instruction, and when the voices rise together there’s an intuition that takes over. You can feel the power moving through the Lodge, through the circle, through your own body. It’s not just sound, it’s connection. Connection to those beside you and to those who have come long before us.

There are moments in ceremony where time feels different. The stories, the songs, they’re not in the past. They are alive, happening right there with us. And I’m always reminded that despite everything our people have gone through, so much has not been lost. The songs are still here, the stories are here, the ways of gathering and praying and being together are still here. That alone is powerful. And with that comes responsibility to listen, to learn, to carry it forward in a good way.

Spike shares with me that when he was younger and becoming to embrace traditions and learning the language, he faced all kinds of obstacles. 

Spike Eagle Speaker [00:09:29] That's the path that I'm trying to find, like, each and every child was given a path by the Creator (speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin)

They also have a path. But it's the Indian people that we're trying to help to restore a lot of these cultures, that we don't lose them, especially the language. The language is the most powerful thing that we have as Elders, that's how we communicate.

I'm not speaking for (speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin) or any of those other tribes of Indians. I only speak of the tribe that I am and who I am. When I was going to get involved in all that, nobody wanted. Even my cousins, when I'm walking towards the house to go visit, I could just see them shut their curtains. “Close the curtains, here comes Spike. We don't want them here.” (Eugene laughs)

So even that, if you look at the effects of that on the outside, it's a lot. It doesn't seem like much, but the person that is hurt is the one that was walking. And the persons that caused that are the ones that shut their curtains, eh? That has feeling to it. That has feelings where it can be negative and positive. But in this case, it's kind of like a double-negativeness. And [fades out]

Eugene Brave Rock [00:11:25] (narrating) Spike did not let the negativity win on his way to becoming an Elder. 

Spike Eagle Speaker [00:11:31] And it's the positive thoughts that it’s going to help you succeed.

Alvine Eagle Speaker [00:11:35] (speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin)

Spike Eagle Speaker [00:11:37] It's gonna help you succeed in whatever you want to do. So I'm very careful how I (speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin)

We don't have Elders like we have in Blood tribe. Blood tribe – you could walk out of the band office and they're all – they're right there. Even when you go in there to have a cup of coffee, they’re right there. The Elders, the traditional Elders. Traditional Elders are Elders that know the ceremonies, that know the songs, that know how to help people. Áakimaapii’pitsinyi, they become very humble. And that humble goes to the people, and that's what it's for.

They want to maintain a positive attitude to what they're teaching. Because when you maintain a positive attitude, and what you're teaching is just going to balance out. See, again, there's a balance right there, eh? You always kind of gotta watch out for that balance. “Should I use it? Or maybe I shouldn't use it, eh?”

But in all walks of our Indian way, most of it we use. Most of it – everything we pick up out there, whether it's negative or positive, we pick it up, and a traditional Elder knows how to humble-ize that. It's just the way of life, it's natural. Where a lot of that comes from the ceremonies that we do, the commitment that we made with the Creator, and the help that it's always good that it is going to nourish our people in a good way. So I include my wife in everything I do because right there's the balance, woman and man. 

Eugene Brave Rock [00:13:54] (narrating) I understand what Elder Spike Eagle Speaker is speaking about when he talks about the balance between a man and a woman. That sacred harmony between masculine and feminine energy. It’s not about one standing above one another, it’s about walking together.

Like the yin and the yang, light and shadow, strength and softness, the seen and the unseen. There is power in both, there is purpose in both, and when they’re moving in balance, that’s where life flows the way it's meant to.

I’ve come to understand that balance isn’t perfection, it’s awareness. It’s knowing when to be firm and when to be gentle, when to lead and when to listen, when to speak and when to simply be. That teaching isn’t just philosophy, it’s a way of living. A reminder that everything in this world exists in relationship. And when we honour that balance within ourselves, we begin to walk in a better way

I’m going to be speaking with his wife, Alvine, next time. Let’s see what other Elder wisdom Spike has to share.

Spike Eagle Speaker [00:99:99] So when I see that, the Elders that just turned 65, and that’s it. They turn 65 and they get a government check, and that’s it. That’s just a regular Elder.

A traditional Elder is one that performs the ceremonies. It’s the ones that are trying to continue to travel that way of life. And it's always for the good. We try to follow what the Creator done. The Creator always wanted to put – he put things on this Earth for the betterment to help people. He put everything on Earth to be good for the people. 

But the traditional Elder, a real traditional Elder that understands the story on the cosmos, regular life. What a rock is. And every day we wake up and we look to the east or the west. And you just – can you imagine those rocks, that one big rock we call mountains? Those things go through blizzards, the hottest weather, tornadoes. They go through everything, even fire. When you look at those things, those are the four things – elements that we used in us. Water, fire, wind, all these other things, like tobacco, is a part of it. 

So by knowing that kind of knowledge is the kind of knowledge that we give to the people because that's our way and it's different. (speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin) white people will destroy anything that they could understand. And since they came into the country, they've never understood the Indian. That's why they've never succeeded in trying to damage us in any way they could. 

Eugene Brave Rock [00:99:99] (narrating) I’m glad that Spike addressed the issue between an Elder and a traditional Elder, at least for the Blackfoot.  It’s a conversation that is sometimes difficult to navigate but when my Elder says that, well, you have to go with it. And of course, no disrespect to all Elders everywhere. 

It’s really fascinating to sit with Elders and let them have the room to share what they want to share. I was taught to sit and listen and not interrupt when Elders are speaking. Talking with Spike is like listening to his inner thoughts. His conversation is a stream of consciousness and I’m happy to just listen.

Spike Eagle Speaker [00:99:99] When we smudge, we pray with our hands. We cleanse them. Burn that smoke, cleanse our hands, so that for that day only, I don't strike out to hit somebody. Everything I touch is of good for that day. Then you smudge your ears. Everything I hear is of good today. Everything that I speak that day is of humbleness.

And my eyes, my eyes are teaching mechanisms, not my mouth. If you learn how to use your eyes when there's ceremonial going on. It's not the ceremony we got to we're going to digest. It's beyond that. It's the – beyond the mystical ways of the naatowá’pi.

It’s the – that's what's absorbed. But people get mixed up. They think they're absorbing something else, eh? That's why when Elders, when we go to ceremonies (speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin)

They're happy, laughing. No, there's no bad feelings there. Some women, some people even bring food, and we sit around before anything's happening. And, you know, just – that's just their way, especially the Blood tribe. They're ítapióoyiwa, they’re man-eaters. (both laugh) 

They use food for everything, even a sweat, they will have a feast. Big smoke, they have a feast. Sundance, a feast every day, all around the camp. So within that Sundance circle, you've got to be careful. You can't walk through there drunk and raging out, eh.

If somebody in the tribe don't get you and smarten you up, there's spirits in that tribe. Those spirits are the ones, kitáítapióoyiwa. They won't kill you or anything like that, but they'll punish you. And sometimes when we look at some people that are being punished, they don't recognize it as – it's an Indian way of punishment because you broke an Indian law. 

So it's not like, “Stick your nose in a corner for two hours.” It's beyond that, way beyond, eh. The mystical ways are natural. The mystical ways come with the knowledge that the Elders have. (speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin)

You know, they have that pity for them, eh. So the language is power, the language is education, and the language is humbleness. I speak of humbleness all the time because when you get the knowledge of the Indian way of life, there's no way that you're not gonna miss that knowledge. You are gonna become a very humble man.

My knowledge and my way – my true traditional way, keeps me happy, keeps me sober, keeps me from using drugs, and it wants me to help people every day. 

Eugene Brave Rock [00:99:99] (narrating) Thank you Spike. I wanted to share a couple words in Blackfoot with you, in regards to our greetings which is, “Oki.” It relates back to aohkíí, which is water. That that gives life. So oki? It doesn’t mean hello, it means, “Wishing you good life.”

I’m Eugene Brave Rock, these are the Blackfoot episodes of Words and Culture. Next time, I will continue my visit at the Eagle Speaker home and talk with Spike’s wife, Alvine Eagle Speaker. Kitakitamaatsin.

Announcer [00:99:99] [cheerful electronic music] Words and Culture is made possible with funding from SiriusXM, through the Community Radio Fund of Canada. Words and Culture is produced by Kim Wheeler. Kaylen Belair is our audio engineer and editor.

Multiple Speakers [00:99:99]  Hami yaa. Iame! K’achu naohdá nǫ́. Halakas'la. Kitakitamaatsinyo’pau, we’ll see you later. [music fades out]