The Laughter of Language

Host Eugene Brave Rock visits with Elder Alvine Eaglespeaker who shares her story of helping her husband, Spike Eaglespeaker, to learn the Blackfoot language. And it might not be what you expect. Many mistakes were made and a lot of laughter is still heard throughout their home. 

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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 [00:00:25] Oki, niisto nitahnakok (continues introducing self in Niitsíʼpowahsin)

Welcome to the Blackfoot episodes of Words and Culture. I’m your host, Eugene Brave Rock. In our Blackfoot way, names are not given lightly. They are either carried forward through lineage, passed down with responsibility and history, or they are earned through experience, spirit, and the path one walks.

My name is Naatoypíítaa, Holy Eagle – was given to me by my grandmother, Rosie Day Rider. It is more important, it is a responsibility, a reminder, and a connection to something greater than myself. There is a story that goes with this name, one that holds meaning, teaching, and spirit. But out of respect for our ways and the sacredness of that knowledge, it is not something I will share here. I carry it with humility. I walk with it in a good way.

Last time on Words and Culture, I spoke with Blackfoot Elder, Spike Eagle Speaker. This time, I’m speaking with his wife, Alvine Eagle Speaker. She, as well, is a traditional leader amongst our people, this is why I wanted to speak with her. I met them in their home on the Siksiká reservation, which is east of Calgary. Leaving Calgary and heading east onto the prairie is a shift you can feel. The land opens up, the wind carries stories, time slows down in a good way.

Arriving in Siksiká, it’s not just a place, it’s a presence. Sitting with Elders there is grounding, humbling, a reminder that knowledge isn’t rushed. It’s shared with intention, with patience, and with heart. I asked Alvine to introduce herself.

Alvine Eagle Speaker [00:02:19] Niisto nitahnakok (continues introduces self in Niitsíʼpowahsin) Mark Wolf Lake Senior (continues in Niitsíʼpowahsin) Waterbird Woman (continues in Niitsíʼpowahsin) Italy, Ortona.

When my father came back from the war on a big ship of the Queen Mary, he was looking – there’s so many soldiers that were sleeping on a dock, on a deck, and everything. My father was looking down in a river, on the water. But because the ship was so high off the ocean, my father started seeing these things coming out of the water, but he couldn't figure out what they were.

So that's where my name came from. Waterbird Woman, because of that story. My English name is Alvine. I was named after Alvine Brave Rock. My father is related to the Brave Rocks, very close. So when I was born, my dad's cousin told my dad, “Call her after me.” So that's where my name – my English name came from, is Alvine.

Kyáammo, my second English name, is Teresa. My mother was Catholic. Catholics have a Patron Saint, they call ‘em. And my mother's Patron Saint was Saint Teresa (speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin) Alvine Teresa. That’s where my name came from. (speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin) I'm still – I haven't given up my seat yet.

(speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin) My husband is a leader. That's where I learned a lot of things. The women I learned from, and the men that I learned from during my time of learning and being active – I had Pete Stand Alone, Bruce Wolf Child, I also had May Tallow, “In-Ack-Oh-Ton,” I always forget her English name. (laughs)

But those were my Elders, those were my professors, so to speak. Those are the people that taught me. And when you get into these ways we pay, we pay for a lot of things. You go as far as paying with horses, money, blankets –

Spike Eagle Speaker [00:05:22] Tipi.

Alvine Eagle Speaker [00:05:23] – whatever, however you feel that that Elder – how – the words they have, they paid their way to learn too. But as a – I speak fluent Blackfoot. I speak a little of the old Blackfoot, the real Blackfoot language.

And I went to university and I became a schoolteacher. But the life I had in a white man's world, as a teacher, it didn't make sense to me. So I went to seek my education through my professors, the Elders of Káínaa, Siksikápi, ki Áamsskáápipikani. I went to learn so I could carry where they end off. We went through a lot of things just to get what we needed. 

Eugene Brave Rock [00:06:18] Mmhm. 

Alvine Eagle Speaker [00:06:19] When I was younger, I was brought up in that kind of life. My father was – my father went to war, and my father came back. Because his late dad had approach (speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin)

My son’s going overseas too. For him to come back complete with all his body parts. When he comes back, he's going to join the society. And that's when my dad came back. That's where his dad had already arranged all that.

And these are the things – well, I grew up in a very traditional world. My father was very strict, my mother especially. And I had five brothers, I have four big brothers and I have a little brother and I had two little sisters. But I grew up in an age where our traditional ways were still very strong, where our Sundances were the way they're supposed to be. 

As I grew up, I started understanding, “What am I worth? What do I do now?” I went to university, I became a school teacher, and – but to me that wasn't enough. That wasn't something that I'm going to be doing all my life. And, somehow, it just seemed it just happened. I'm a Mototiks, Buffalo Society Member, and the teachers that I had, they were very strict. They knew the knowledge of our ways so well.

When I started understanding the real life that I'm supposed to grow up in, mokamo’t Niitapiitsitapii’patapiio’sin. The Real Way of Life as a Blackfoot woman. I started seeking, but I had, I guess, it's a gift. I listen, I'm always listening. But I don't say too much, I don't ask questions. But there's a time when I would ask my father or my mother, “How come this is like this?”

And they’ll tell, but my dad always said, “Go talk to your mom. Go talk to your Aunties. I can't, you know, kitaiki. You're a girl, so you need to go to your Aunts to tell you all that.” So I was fortunate enough to have Aunts, great Aunts that knew about these ways. 

And we – I grew up in a world that is very traditional. I grew up in a world where – I had a lot – there’s still a lot of Elders from Siksiká that I can learn from and go – my dad used to say, “Go to your Aunt so-on-and-so-forth, go spend time with her.”

He didn't say, “Go ask a question.” Just spend time with her. So as I was helping my great Aunt, they were teaching me how to cook, how to do all this and that. And I used to tell my late mother, “I don't know what they were talking about. They were telling me about this and that.” All my mother said to me was, “Just keep listening. Don't ask questions, just listen.”

My grandmothers, they passed away before I was just a little girl. So I don't know how it is to have a real grandmother. But I was told that, “Your Aunts become your mothers and then later on they become your grandmothers.” And that's how it was explained to me. 

But growing up in a – just boys, I did everything the boys – because I, as a girl, I had to be accepted, but I have to do what they do. So I kind of grew up really tough. I had be tough. And that's how I had playmates. But my brothers were all – were very respectful to me. Five brothers. We had a three-bedroom – kind of a three-bedroom in an old house. My brothers, five of them, would all sleep in one bedroom with two beds. I don't know how they fit. But I had a room because I'm the only girl. I had her room all by myself with so much space, and then my mom and dad's room. 

But I was brought up in a world that – my brothers showed me a lot of respect. My brothers protected me. I worked hard because my father was a farmer and a rancher and I worked just as hard as the boys did. I didn't like housework so when my father said, “I need an extra hand.” And he called me by my nickname, my nickname is Girly, and he’d say, “Come. I need you to drive the truck.”

I was so glad to get out of the house because I didn't like cooking or doing woman ways or whatever my mother was teaching me, but I really paid for it when I got married. I didn't really know how to cook. I even burned my water. (both laugh) That’s water.

And I was – I thought to myself, “Shoot, I should have listened to my mom.”

Eugene Brave Rock [00:12:14] (narrating) Listening to Alvine speak, I feel that deep sense of grounding. The kind that comes from lived experience, from walking a life with patience, humility, and understanding of roles within family and community. What she shares isn’t just words, it’s teachings. Teachings about relationship, about respect, about knowing where you stand and how you carry yourself in connection to others.

For me, I was raised by my grandmother, so my world looked a lot different. But in many ways, it was the same at its core. My uncles were there. My uncles, they were like my brothers. They were always there, sometimes to guide me, sometimes to laugh with me, and sometimes to kick me in the ass when I needed it. (laughs)

And I did need it. There wasn’t always a moment where I was formally told, “Go speak with your uncles.” It was just understood. If I was out of line, if I was unsure, if I needed direction, they were there. That’s how I learned, not just through words but through presence, through watching, through being corrected, and through being supported.

And that’s what I hear in Alvine’s voice, that same foundation, that same understanding how families shape you. How roles are lived, not just spoken. Now sitting here in their home, with Alvine and Spike? You can feel that history between them. The way they move around each other, the quiet understanding, the smiles, the pauses.

It’s something you don’t interrupt. You just witness. It’s built over years, over stories, over challenges, over love. And in that space, it feels right to listen a little closer.

Let’s go back to Alvine as she shares the story of how they came together and how that journey began.

Alvine Eagle Speaker [00:14:13] Spike and I got married in an Indian way. We didn't go to a white church to get married because at that time, if I had legally married my husband, I automatically transferred our Blood reserve. I have no say. Today, you can stay in your own band or you can go with your husband's band.

But my mother was Catholic, so my mother was – didn't seem to like it, just us living together, and we're not blessed to be man and a wife. So they invited these Elders, and all the Elders that witnessed our marriage, they're all – they’ve all gone ahead of us. And that's how I – that’s how Spike and I were able to – just to be man and wife, because it was just as – there was not really any difference in a white man's way and all that. 

Eugene Brave Rock [00:15:11] Mmm.

Alvine Eagle Speaker [00:15:12] So over the years, my dad gave my husband a name, Iisápohtomo, Victory Cross. Because he had a name, I guess, when he was little, but he couldn't remember it. 

My husband used to tell me, “When I go powwows, your dad, I drive him over to the States, all over.” He says, “All the way there is talking to me about these things. I don't know what they're all about.”

And I told him, “Well, just listen.” But all this time, he didn't know my dad was teaching him. But he didn't say, my dad never told him, “Well, I'm gonna teach you.”

My dad would just start going. When we became a part of the Society, the Warren Society, he became a leader, and he said, “Alvine, you know what?”

And I thought, “Oh no, what's wrong, is there something wrong?”

He said, “Everything that I'm being taught by the Elders,” he says, “I just knew what the next step was.” He says, “You know, I thought, ‘how do I know that?’”

Then he went back, my father-in-law told me. But at the time, it didn't make sense to me. I just listen. But now I want to take that and put it – and I already know. I know what my job is. 

So I started teaching my husband Blackfoot, because he didn't know we – my family, we sit together, we talk Blackfoot fluently, and he used to say, “What were you guys talking about?”

And I looked at him, I told him, “You don't know?”

He says, “No, well, I kind of know, but not really.”

So I started teaching him. I told, “Just listen.” He was so proud of himself he could speak. 

My mother was cooking. And I don't know what he was trying to tell my mother in Blackfoot. He just told my mom, and he didn't know what he said. (Eugene laughs) My mother was cooking, and the next thing I seen, my mom, you know, going to her bedroom really fast.

And I thought – so I told him, he says, “I don't know what I said to your mom, but I think your mom's real mad at me.” (Eugene laughs)

I said, “What did you say?”

He says, “Oh, I was trying to tell her this.”

And I said, “You know what you told my mom? You told her that, right?”

He says, “Yeah. And then she just took off. I think your mom's crying. Better go check on her.”

I looked at him, I thought, “Gee.” So I went into my mother. I knocked on her door, I said, “Ah.” I told her in Blackfoot, “What's wrong?”

And she kept going like this to me. And I looked at her, I said – I thought to myself, “She's not crying, she's laughing.”

And she got funny, she said, “Yaamo.” She said in Blackfoot – what she said was, “You’re – You are my son-in-law. I was impressed because he could speak – you know, he's starting to learn how to talk Blackfoot. But you know what he asked me?”

I said, “What?”

He asked me, “(speaks Niitsíʼpowahsin) Can I take you out? (everyone laughs) Can I go out with you? Can I go out with you or something?”

And I told him, “This is what you said to my mom.” I says, “Maybe try not to speak too much Blackfoot.” Because that's why my mother – my mother wasn't crying, she was laughing. (both laugh)

Today, to hear my husband speak Blackfoot, especially when we're – being a Society member, the words he used, sometimes I get caught and I'm thinking, “What is he talking about?” I told him, “You know what? Áatsipommo. Sometimes I don't know what you're saying, but it's because how the Elders just taught you.”

Because the women, we just kind of sit back. We don't ask, “What did they say? What do…” We just stay back. That's why we sit behind the men in the lodge and they sit in front of us and – oma paahtsi, the helper. 

So Spike and I learned a lot. And my teachers that I had in Mototiks made tallow. Sophie Tail Feathers, all of them, they're all gone and I don't have somebody to go to and ask, “How do this? How do you do that?”

And when I married my husband, he didn't speak Blackfoot. He used to say things that I – makes me laugh. And he said, “Don't laugh, just tell me what I said.”

I'd tell him – I'd say, “Gee,” you know. But I started teaching him, and I'd tell him, “Just listen, listen to us talking, you know.”

Spike Eagle Speaker [00:19:59] (overlapping) I wish I had something… (laughs)

Alvine Eagle Speaker [00:20:04] But I was – when we became a member of the Society, that's when I noticed that Spike was speaking another language, and that was the real language that goes with this holy life we have entered. 

Eugene Brave Rock [00:20:23] Mmm.

Alvine Eagle Speaker [00:20:25] And the language that we have on the outside is more – just basic. And that's where – I guess that's where we – our lives were separate roads, but this life that we had entered, it was just one road that we walked together. I don't walk behind him. We walk hand in hand, side by side. 

Eugene Brave Rock [00:20:52] Hmm.

Alvine Eagle Speaker [00:20:53] And that's how – that's what we do today. And I taught him Blackfoot. And I told him, “Just listen. Because the Elder, your teachers are going to talk to you, but they talk Blackfoot. Just listen. Really listen. And ask me if something – if I know, I'll let you know.”

My father really worked on him without him knowing. Like, he used to say, “I don't know what your dad's talking about. Talking about this and that, I don't know what he's talking about.”

But when we became Society members he – that – those teachings came, like, just there. And the understanding and everything, he said, “That's what your Dad said. That's why we do it this way.”

So to me, teachers – our teachers, our Elders, they have a mystical way of teaching you. Even if you think you're not listening, or it's too hard to learn, but there's ways that they can teach you.

Eugene Brave Rock [00:21:59] Hmm.

(narrating) That was Alvine Eagle Speaker. She is an Elder from Siksiká. I visited her and her husband Spike in their home.

I want to share this Blackfoot word, “Níkso'kowa.”

“Nit-sou-goh-wa.”

Níkso'kowa. Family.

Thank you for spending this time with me in Blackfoot country. I’m Eugene Brave Rock and this is Words and Culture. For more episodes, visit our website at wordsandculture.ca. And remember to follow us on socials. Just search, “Words and Culture.” 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]