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TEAM CANADA

Dr. Reg Crowshoe – Spiritual-Cultural Advisor

Former Chief of the Piikani Nation, Ceremonial Grandparent

Dr. Reg Crowshoe is also known as Awakaaseena, meaning Deer Chief in the Blackfoot language. This was also his grandfather’s name. His teachings as a Spiritual-Cultural Advisor have been instrumental to cross-cultural learning surrounding Canada’s TRTL.

Reg is from the Piikani Nation in Southern Alberta. As an Elder and a Bundle Keeper, his father Joe Crowshoe’s teachings were instrumental to Piikani cultural preservation. His mother’s side was from the Nez Perce Nation in Idaho. His ancestors were taken in by the Piikani people when they came to Canada, to escape being forced onto a reservation in the southwestern United States.

Reg finds strength in the ceremonies and teachings of his parents and grandparents. They passed on transferred rights, or traditional authorities, that he is responsible for today as a ceremonial Grandparent. He runs ceremonies of the Thunder Pipe, the Sun Dance, and the Brave Dog Society, as a part of his traditional lineage and Blackfoot identity.

For “white man’s knowledge” he was brought to the St. Cypriot Anglican Residential School on the Peigan Reserve. Before he went to school, he spoke the Blackfoot language, and believed in his grandparents’ ways. When he went to residential school, he was lost – the system did not reflect his belief system in any way. Reg does give credit to the value of the education he received through the residential schools, including the ability to read and write.

Reg later attended the University of Calgary, receiving an honorary degree. He joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and worked on several reserves in Saskatchewan before returning to work with the Peigan Band departments, and with the Province of Alberta in developing the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump heritage site. He has also developed cultural courses with the University of Calgary and the University of Lethbridge, and has co-authored numerous works, including Akak-stiman and Science in the Native Community.

Reg enjoys his dream job – of speaking his language, listening to the stories of his people, and extracting the systems and tools we need to give our young people today so that we can carry on our culture. His passion is cultural preservation, cultural protection and cultural renewal of our ways.