Maggie Black Kettle (August 20, 1917 – September 14, 2011) was a Canadian community leader in the Siksika Nation. She taught traditional crafts, dance, and the

Blackfoot language The Blackfoot language, also called Siksiká (its denomination in ISO 639-3, ; Siksiká ik͡siká syllabics ), often anglicised as ', is an Algonquian language spoken by the Blackfoot or ''Niitsitapi'' people, who currently live in the nort ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. She was a storyteller, and appeared in film and television programs in her later years.

Early life

Black Kettle was born in the Siksika First Nations Reserve near Gleichen, Alberta. At age 7, she was enrolled at a Catholic boarding school in Cluny, where she was forbidden to speak Blackfoot, her only language as a child.

Career

Black Kettle was considered a matriarch and spiritual leader of the Siksika people. She attended community events, including local ceremonies, large North American powwows, and the Indian Village exhibition at the annual Calgary Stampede. She taught the Blackfoot language and traditional crafts and dances at the Plains Indian Cultural Survival School, and at the Piitoayis Family School, both in Calgary. During the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

in Calgary, Black Kettle shared her weather forecasts for the event. The following year, she cofounded the city's Native Awareness Week. She served on the board of the Calgary Indian Friendship Centre, and assisted First Nations women who were new to the city. She was recognized with a Woman of Distinction Award from the YWCA of Calgary in 1994. She was a member of the Sundance Society Motookiiks, the Buffalo Women's Society, and the Horn Society. Black Kettle was a storyteller in her later years, and appeared in Canadian film and television shows, including roles in ''

North of 60 ''North of 60'' is a 1990s Canadian television drama depicting life in the sub-Arctic northern boreal forest (north of 60° north latitude, hence the title). It first aired on CBC Television in 1992 and was syndicated around the world. It is s ...

'' (1993), ''

Medicine River ''Medicine River'' is a novel written by author Thomas King. It was first published by Viking Canada in 1989. The book was later adapted (1993) into a television movie starring Graham Greene and Tom Jackson. Plot summary Medicine River chronicl ...

'' (1993), '' Wild America'' (1997), and ''Dream Storm'' (2001).

Personal life

When she was 16 years old, she married Nickolas Black Kettle, in an arranged union. They ran a farm together, and had seven children. She also raised some of her many grandchildren. She was widowed when her husband died in 1973, and she died in 2011, aged 94 years, at a hospital in

References

External links

*
Maggie Black Kettle with grandsons, Calgary
(1968), photograph in the collection of Glenbow Museum * Dianne Meili,
Those who Know: Profiles of Alberta's Native Elders
' (NeWest Press 1991); includes a profile of Maggie Black Kettle {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Kettle, Maggie 1917 births 2011 deaths First Nations artists Artists from Alberta Blackfoot people First Nations women