National Indigenous History Month: Voices on the Rise Film Screening

Filmed in the Summer of 2021, Eli Hirtle, host of the documentary series Voices on the Rise, visited the Breaker family in Siksika to learn about a burgeoning grassroots language institute that Stewart, Kathy and Layne Breaker are building with the support of their nephew Curtis Running-Rabbit Lefthand. Followed by a panel discussion and Q&A.

Voices on the Rise Season 2: Indigenous Language Revitalization in Alberta - Episode 1

Eli Hirtle travels to the Blackfoot community of Siksika to meet Stewart and Kathy Breaker. Stewart & Kathy have started a grassroots institute to revitalize language and cultural practices. Through the building of a sweat lodge Eli learns about the connections between the land, ceremony and language.

Panelist Bios

Curtis Running Rabbit-Lefthand is an Indigenous multimedia creative producer, musician, artist, and music executive. He is the founder of Indigenous-lef organization Indigenous Resilience in Music (IRIM) and festival manager for the Wild Rose Hardcore Festival in Calgary, AB. Currently, much of Running Rabbit-Lefthand's focus has been as an artist manager and full service associate for Red Music Rising Inc. and AM Entertainment. Curtis is a proud member of the Blackfoot Confederacy and originates from the Siksika, Amskaapi’piikani and Stoney Nakoda nations.

Aposoyiis (Weasel tail) - Stewart Breaker is a North Blackfoot Siksikaitsitapii (Blackfoot person) from the Siksika Nation, an Southern Alberta Indian reservation. Siksika is located 1 hour east of Moh’kinsstis (Calgary), where he was born and raised.

With encouragement from his partner iitoomowaahkaa - Kathy Breaker and Societal Elders, he has been able to be successful in reaching his educational goals and continually working on a Blackfoot language learning model to help save an endangered language. He recently completed his Master’s Degree in Indigenous Languages and currently serves as an Indigenous Relations Consultant and advisor for the City of Calgary.

Eli Hirtle is a nêhiyaw(Cree)/British/German filmmaker, beadworker, and curator whose practice involves documenting and supporting Indigenous cultural resurgence and revitalization. His current interests are learning how to speak his ancestral language of Nehiyawewin, making films, and mentoring Indigenous youth to express themselves creatively. He strongly believes in the possibilities for art to heal, educate, inform, and instigate critical discussions.

Film projects include: RESIST: The Unistoten’s Call to the Land (2013), Voices on the Rise (2016, 2019, 2021), and Lekwungen: Place to Smoke Herring (2018).

Kathy Breaker, B.Ed, M.A., is from the Piikani First Nation. She is a survivor of the Indian Day School. Kathy has been a Thunder Medicine Pipe holder since 1997 and has cared for two thunder pipes. She has learned many of the traditional ways of the Siksikaitsitapi from several teachers, some who have passed on. All their teachings have helped her in her life of helping others. Kathy has been a teacher for close to 30 years, and is also a Play Therapy Practitioner she uses her skills to, not only educate students but help with healing and self discovery.

In partnership with Telus.

Host or Publisher Calgary Public Library