My First Blackfeet Name

Jesse DesRosier has been a  Blackfeet language teacher at the Piegan Institute's Cuts Wood School in Browning, Montana. He remembers the first name he was given by his grandmother. Jesse shares with host Eugene Brave Rock the importance of learning from Elder language speakers. 

Funded by Sirius XM Canada through the Community Radio Fund of Canada
wordsandculture.ca
crfc-fcrc.ca

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 Píítaapookáá (introduces self in Niitsíʼpowahsin)

My name is Eugene Brave Rock. I’m usually in front of the camera as an actor. You might have seen me in Dark Winds, That Dirty Black Bag, or a demi-god in Wonder Woman. The beauty of that role is that I was able to introduce myself in my Blackfoot language. I thought, if Wonder Woman could be a demi-god, why couldn’t my character?

[clip from Wonder Woman]

“Oki, nitaanikook Napi.”

“And I’m Diana.”

In Blackfoot culture, Napi is our storyteller. He was put here to teach us how to learn what to do, and what not to do.

In this episode of Words and Culture, I’m speaking with Jesse DesRosier. Jesse is a language keeper and a teacher. He introduces himself the Blackfoot way…

Jesse DesRosier [00:01:28] Oki, niisto (introduces self in Niitsíʼpowahsin)

My name is Jesse DesRosier, you know, I'm from Browning, Montana, and that's the proper way I was taught to introduce myself, where I come from. And my english name, Jesse, I was named after my adopted grandpa, Hamlachkiman or Aputzkenaskumapi. His name was Jess Blackweasel.

I guess he was my first connection to stories, to language, Niitsíʼpowahsin. But I was raised in traditional ways. My dad, Mike DesRosier, and my mother, Joycelyn Davis-DesRosier, she's since passed, but they were very connected culturally to Ninam’skaa.

My children, they all have Blackfoot names and speak the language. Jada, the oldest, Offers In The Centering Pole Woman. My oldest daughter, Sienna, her Blackfoot name is Loon Woman. And then my boy's names are Buffalo Child. And then, my youngest boy is Ksaahkomm, the Earth. That's where the last name, ground, comes from.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:04:34] Mmm.

Jesse DesRosier [00:04:35] On my mother's side, my fourth great grandmother, Mary Ground, she lived to be in-between 107 and 112. But when I was three days old, she gave me my first Blackfoot name, Assinaipooyii.

But where I really got connected in the language – I started out in public school in kindergarten, first grade. Well, my mom didn't really want her baby, my younger brother, to go to public school.

And there was a guy in our community, Apinakoipiitaa, Darrell Robes Kipp, who later became one of my mentors. He opened the first immersion school in Browning, and my brother went right into that in first grade, and by third grade I was skipping school so much to go there (Eugene laughs) so I wanted to play basketball. (laughs)

So by fourth grade, I was fully immersed in Cuts Wood School. My first language teacher, she's still alive today, Siksikaaki.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:05:39] Mmm.

Jesse DesRosier [00:05:40] Many other people who came to and taught me a lot through that school, but that really gave me a good base understanding. And being connected to the ceremonial ways – I got to use a lot of the language outside of school because the school was great for a baseline.

But getting out into practical storytelling, speaking, there's ceremonial language, you know, it all comes full circle and having an understanding of kípaitápiiyssinnooni, our way of life, I think is what helped really connect me.

I go back and think, “Well, what's the Blackfoot word for this? Or how would we think about this in Blackfoot thought?” Because it conflicts a lot with this noun-based English.

And after graduating, I went back into Browning and I taught at the immersion school from 2017 to 2025. And I also taught at our community college from 2018 to 2025, so I got experience of both children, K through 8, as well as adult learners. And there's a big difference in learning and understanding.

But I got a bit of experience on the teaching end of it all, too, coming full circle. And currently I'm taking a break. But I’ll – but I'm still connected within the language – language community. You know, it'll always draw me in and I continue to learn. I don't ever claim to be an Elder or an expert, but, you know, by no means am I an expert or an Elder in anything, you know. But I was very fortunate to be around really brilliant Elders, and great people, mentors. So a little bit of knowledge I picked up was credited to them, I would say.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:07:27] Mmm. From growing up and learning the language with – and then now with teaching with the kids, would you say that that – the way you learned is different from the kids that are growing up now?

Jesse DesRosier [00:07:38] I was very fortunate to have a lot more first language speakers around in my generation, you know, throughout my life. I remember one really key thing, my mom always pushed me on Elder speakers. And sometimes I'd stay with them. I was adopted by – my adopted dad is Isam Aahkoyinnimaan, Martin Eagle Child in the Blood.

But my mother would tell me, “This guy's a speaker. Go talk with him, go see him.” You know, some of our Elders who've passed. And as I grew up, it was like I had two groups of friends. You know, one was the Elders who I spoke Blackfoot with, and one was my friends, my age group, you know. And it was completely different, our interactions. But as I started getting into high school and older, a lot of that Elder generation started to pass away.

Canada’s very fortunate because they still have many first language speakers. And what I mean by first language, speakers, I mean, people who grew up with it in their home. And who learned it before English or before puberty. So there's a lot more children speaking language today, in Browning, than there has been in the past hundred years.

But that older generation, because of boarding schools and, you know, wasn't legal in the States until 1978. My parents are products of boarding schools, grandparents.

So, it's up to our children today. They are the real first language speakers, all the graduates from immersion school, and it's to us to really carry it on and to utilize the few Elders that we have in our community, but especially utilize our Elders from Canada, the Blood, Northern Piegan, and Siksika. People like to talk about the differences in dialect, which is common across any language, but ultimately it's the exact same language, exact same history, we're the exact same people just separated by that medicine line.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:09:40] (narrating) Our people had their languages ripped away from them in residential schools in Canada. And in the United States, it was the boarding schools that did the same thing. But we have people who have held onto the language, and taught their children. And now those children have grown up and are teaching the next generation of language speakers.

There's teachings that come through immersion and knowing your language that I don't think you can learn in a classroom or from books. I asked Jesse what his experience is as a teacher and how it shapes the way he teaches kids.

Jesse DesRosier [00:10:17] The children – it's easy, like, that's why I say I never had to really try to learn it. As a kid, just being exposed to it, that's where I got it. And when I teach children, you know, I'll tell them a word, they'll start spitting it out right away and they have no fear of mispronouncing it.

You know, I'll tell them (enthusiastically speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin) you know, they'll just cut it short. It’s, “no no no, slow it down, (repeats in Niitsíʼpowahsin)” But they're áaning and about it. And after two days of saying it, they've got it.

But when you switch to adults there's so much fear, so much hesitation, and the fear of being judged, the fear of making mistakes. And that's something we got to drop right away. We’ve gotta understand, we're all going to make mistakes. Shoot, I've made plenty of mistakes in front of Elders and teachers and people. But adults are so afraid. “Oh, I can't say it. I got a year and a thousand. I can’t say it. Oh, I was corrected once.”

And, you know, a lot of language teachers, they come from residential and boarding schools. So they didn't come from a place where compliments are coming out of them, you know. They come from a place where punishments come out. So they'll tell you right away when you do something wrong. But I can say as a immersion school student, I've never had any of my teachers tell me, “Áa, kitsoksííkí’poyiyááhs’po niitá’piyi, you speak real good, you know.” But – because I never got those compliments – but it wasn't because they didn't feel it or think it, they told other people and the word got back to me. But it was how they grew up in residential and boarding school, that older generation.

And I was corrected a lot by all of them. “So, you didn't say this right, you know. It's not, (speaks incorrect, then correct Niitsíʼpowahsin)” You know, they'll tell you right away. And we gotta forgive some of those teachings because that was something that was put on us.

And so for adults, when I taught them, I was a lot more gentle and I tried to be a lot more comforting. And I told them from day one, we're all gonna make mistakes. I won't make anybody speak out loud, but just know, you're not gonna never make a mistake. Just try it. That's all you have to do is try. Because kids – you don't need to tell kids any of that. They're just hundred percent, you know. Heh.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:12:41] I mean, I think that's the key, that immersion, but also when you go home. I mean I heard stories too, like you have it at school but then you go home and you don't have nobody to talk to.

Jesse DesRosier [00:12:52] And that was something my mom did for us, but as a teacher at Cuts Wood, they – the staff noticed it right away. And so what they would do is they created these homeschool kits where children – and we noticed the kids were playing games on their iPads or whatever.

So we started incorporating – instead of competing against technology or what the kids are doing, we started to bring language in their home and said, “All right, now your parents – teach your parents this. Here's a game you could play with your siblings, you know.” Because it wasn't just the individual who's learning Blackfoot. When we would select students, we would say, “That family has to all support this language.” You know, it can't just be individual.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:13:36] Mmm.

Jesse DesRosier [00:13:37] Because if the language ends at the door, it's not going anywhere, you know, it has to carry into the household, into your way of life – your whole – Niitsitapiisinwa. Our whole way of our life has to be immersed into that, and it takes time, it’s slow. But to truly get a grasp of our identity, I would suggest that's what it takes, is the full understanding. Not just language words. Not just simple phrases, but waking up, “Ah-sin-moi-skha, ah-mi-toh-sin-ma,” you know. Going to bed, “Ah-mah-toos,” you know. So all through the day, you should have reminders around you.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:14:17] Elder Hank Shade, he's from Kainai, he messaged me – called me up and he was telling me something he was saying in the home. That's where it needs to be done. I'm mean, we have to balance that out between English and our own language. But in the home, if we know it in Blackfoot, say it in Blackfoot. Don't ever say it in English. Like what time is it? Ni'tsikopoto. You know, or niistó – kitsiikákomimmo, I love you, or–

Jesse DesRosier [00:14:46] Yeah, and as simple as – I remember when I was a kid and I'd go up and stay with my Blood family, they would – the kids, they'd say, “Kíi, let's go., you go. Kíka, wait.” You know, just simple, short. “Right, mah.”

And I remember my dad said, “Well, when I was a kid, people all said that, you know, it was common.” And a lot of times slang becomes common, but those things should be encouraged, you know.

Why say, “Here,” when you could say, “Mah? Maníít or mantóós,” right? Why say, “Go!” When you can say, “Kakó?” Why say, “Let's go, Kíi?” Just short phrases that everyone can incorporate, everyone can use.

And one time at a conference, this woman, she said, “Well, how did you save our language?” Like, putting it on me or whatever, teachers – I said, “It's up to every one of us. It's up to you, in your home.” I said, “If you know two Blackfoot words, use them.” Try to learn three, try to learn four. Use them. Teach the people in your house those four words. Maybe they know four, you've got eight, you know.

So I said, “It's to all of us. It isn't one person. You can't blame it all on Elders or the children or these people. It's up to all of us every day.”

Eugene Brave Rock [00:16:03] Well, I think that's the difference of – I mean, that's where you got to – where you take that extra step in it, in your own learning. Because right now, even at university level, you're learning numbers, colours, feelings, directions. Or clothing, body parts, but there's another level of putting those all together.

Jesse DesRosier [00:16:29] And that's the thing with a verb language, you know, you're describing action. But for example, numbers, you’re just in a classroom, you'll – you ni’tókskaa, naato’ka, niooska. But when you're counting animate things like ponokáómitaiksi, horses. Tókskaam, naato’kam, niooskam, you know. There's a slight change.

When you’re counting days of the week or days of the month, áatókskaaiooni, áatókiooni, áaooskiooni. Money, you know, ni’tssópoksi, ni’tssópksi, náátsópksi, niitsópksi, you know.

So things change and you gotta understand it's not set in stone. It's not a noun. But you have to understand the story aspect. And that's why I encourage people learning introduction, because there's a flow to it, and learn a prayer. I know we didn't have just simple prayers, but if people memorize it, they get that pitch, that accent. They see how it flows, you know.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:17:28] Hmm.

Jesse DesRosier [00:17:29] And those two things, a prayer and an introduction, can get people – just if they memorize it. You don't gotta know what you're saying if you could memorize it, you can have those things internally. You know, we're all ingrained, like I said, we've spoke Blackfoot for thousands of years. We've only spoken English for a few generations, four tops. So it's easy for us to go back and restore that knowledge. It just takes some work, you know.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:17:57] Were you taught to listen to the language before speaking it? And is there any practices that help you learn that patience?

Jesse DesRosier [00:18:07] Oh, yes. Well, if you've ever been around Blackfoot ceremonies or Blackfoot ceremony people, you learn patience real quick. (both laugh) I got corrected a lot for not sitting still or, you know. (laughs) But another thing that helped me, too, hunting. Being out in the bush, tracking game, and stuff – being quiet, being slow, sitting and waiting, you know, as an adult. And then everything today is instant gratification, you know.

But I remember my grandpa Jess, other people, they'd tell a story for two days, you know. One sitting, they'd go an hour and a half, “Okay, (speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin) Tomorrow evening, I’ll tell you the story.” (laughs)

So, you know, so you have to wait. (Eugene laughs) So it's just the practice of patience. And sometimes the outcome isn't what you expect. You know, you'll hear a whole story and at the end it'll be, “Ah, is this joking,” you know, it'll be a joke or it’s like – but it's all useful though, I just encourage people.

That's a part of it as well, our – there's like our humor. Our humor bleeds through everything. We can't forget that. There's those little things that people try to not include or forget about, but that's all part of it. And yeah, just being patient.

As a learner, I've seen plenty of adults get very frustrated. And one thing I noticed, musicians, people who have an ear for music, whether it's powwow or guitar or western, they seem to have a better grasp of language. But I think it's because they know they have to practice at home. So if someone's playing the guitar, you know, they'll go through an hour-long instruction, but at home they're learning how to pick and how to do the chords.

Someone tell us things, they know they can't just walk up to a drum. If you're fortunate enough to learn a song off of one, that's great, but most people you got to sit at home and really hammer it in. Majority of other people, they don't understand that it takes that practice when nobody's looking. And they assume, “Oh, I'm gonna go in the class, I'm going to hear these words and remember them.”

But, like, there's been studies that show, to learn any new phrase, you know, to learn a new language takes 10,000 hours. To learn a new instrument is like 8,000, hours. A lot of that is done in your own home, by yourself most of the time.

So my teachers would tell us, “If you got nobody to talk to, you know, talk to your dogs. (speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin) Your cats, your dogs, (speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin), your horses. Whatever you've got, any animals at home.”

And I spoke to this one Elder, and he’s – he lived off the reservation for a while. And he said, “When I'd get lonely, I'd go into the trees, I’d talk Blackfoot to myself.” You know, so just getting out and talking, I think is helpful for learners.

You know, whether or not you're going to butcher it or whatever. Just get used to talking, speaking. Because you think about babies, issitsímaan (speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin). When they start talking, they don't come out of the womb, “Hi dad, hi mom, how's it going, you know?” (Eugene laughs)

You know, it takes years, at least my kids didn't, you know, they fumble around now. You know, my boys’ still struggling sometimes with his R sounds or whatever. Knocks for socks, you know. And you don't say, “Oh, dammit, look, and you gotta say!”

No, you just gently, you just keep repeating, and that over time they get it, you know. But think about a baby, how long does it take for a baby to get up and say, “Hello, my name is this, I come from here.” It takes a while.

So patience is really key in all that.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:22:03] I was gonna ask you, what mistakes did you make learning Blackfoot? That you now can help create safer learning spaces for young speakers or new speakers?

Jesse DesRosier [00:22:16] Oh, jeez, it’s – I made a lot of mistakes, but I don't know if – but they're all helpful for me in the end, you know? In a way, I look at it, like I said, the amount of language I know, I could say like, it's coming up. If you ever climbed a miisták or any mountain.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:22:34] Mmm.

Jesse DesRosier [00:22:35] When you get to the top, you get a full 360-degree view of kitáwahsinnooni, our territory.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:22:42] Mmm.

Jesse DesRosier [00:22:43] As a language teacher, my job is a trail guide. You know, I can tell – there's many trails up this mountain. As a teacher, you promote one, find one, you build it up. You tell people, “This is a good trail that I helped build, there's other ones, but I can't carry you up this mountain, you know.”

I encourage people, it's up to you. I could show you the way, and I can you how beautiful the view is up there, matohtóyáapiau. But you have to put in the steps to get there. And regardless if the people choose my trail or another trail, the goal is just to just to check out that view, you know. 

Some people, they need to see the written. They need to write it all out. Some people need pictographs. Some people need to just hear it. 

I'll never say, “This one way is the one that works,” or, “This one don't work.” I'll never run down any programs, any teachers. I encourage all of them, you know, and every year I hear about new methods, new curriculums, new ways and I support them all. I just have encouragement, you know? [solemn flute music]

Eugene Brave Rock [00:23:56] (narrating) Just have encouragement. I like that. I think that goes along with everything in life. To encourage, to motivate, to inspire, to learn, and to grow.

Jesse DesRosier is a language keeper and teacher in Browning, Montana. My name is Eugene Brave Rock, your host for the Blackfoot episodes. 

To hear all of our episodes of Words and Culture, please visit our website at www.wordsandculture.ca. And remember to check us out on socials, just search, “Words and Culture.”

Mmm. Kitakitamaatsin, or kitakitamaatsinyo’pau. We’ll see you later.

[flutes continues playing, echoing in a soft, slow, majestic duet]

Announcer [00:27:03] [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 [00:27:15]  Hami yaa. Iame! K’achu naohdá nǫ́. Halakas'la. Kitakitamaatsinyo’pau, we’ll see you later. [music fades out]