Born on April 13, 1929 to Juniper and Molly (Bear Medicine) Old Person on his family land known as Grease Wood in Starr School, Mont., Earl Old Person was born into the last Blackfeet generation to speak Pikuni before English. Growing up, he served as a translator for his elders, learning the traditions and history of the Blackfeet Nation that predated colonization.
He shared that history with the generations that followed him, teaching children traditional songs, giving eulogies and performing naming ceremonies. His nephew Harold Dusty Bull, said that even at 92, the chief could recite your family history, your ancestors, their Indian names, what they did and what societies (ceremony groups within the tribe) they belonged to.
“He was the last one with that depth of knowledge,” Mr. Dusty Bull said.
“Nothing is going to be the same without Earl.”
www.nytimes.com/2021/10/23/us/chief-earl-old-person-blackfeet-nation.html
Obit: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/20/us/earl-old-person-dead.html?referringSource=articleShare
Connect the Dots 101 
Leave a comment