Native Nations

terça-feira, 15 de fevereiro de 2011

Eddie Spears


Actor| keynote speaker| Model
Lakota Nation
this article was written by my dearest friend Tricia Cabtree. I do hope all my readers enjoy it! )

“Believe in yourself, anything is possible no matter who you are, or where you come from. Find your path and stay on it, if you want something bad enough, nothing can stop you.” Eddie Spear’s personal Philosophy .

Indigene clothing line by Virgil Ortiz

Eddie Spears is a Native American Indian Actor and Model. He is one the native celebrities that I would love to meet the most.  I would love to sit down with him and interview him.
Nothing but RESPECT will be showed for this flag here on this blog
But unfortunately, I have not yet met him and I am not sure if I ever will. It would be awesome to meet Eddie Spears. I only can write about the basic information about Eddie Spears that is available online.
Eddie and Michael Spears

                Eddie Spears was born November 29, 1982 in South Dakota. Eddie Spears is of the Lakota Sioux Nation. Eddie is from the Lower Brule reservation in South Dakota.  


Indigene Clothing line by Virgil Ortiz

 He is the younger brother of Michael Spears. From the sources that I found on the web I learned that “he can speak Lakota, but has admitted that he is not fluent. He is an avid outdoorsman with hunting, fishing, archery and rodeo experience.

created by Tricia Cabtree
Eddie can dance both the traditional and grass ceremonies of the Lakota.” In his home state of South Dakota he is a dedicated mentor of the youth and also travels nationally as a Keynote Speaker. Eddie and Michael both work hard to bridge the cultural gap between Natives and None Natives.

Black cloud
 Eddie began acting at age 10. His first role was in the 1993 TNT version of Geronimo. Eddie’s character was Ishkiye. In 2002, Eddie played in a Football Drama called The Slaughter Rule. He played the role of Tracy Two Dogs.


Eddie and Michael Spears on a Pow wow

Tracy Two Dogs is the best friend of the main character (Roy Chutney) played by Ryan Gosling. The Slaughter Rule won Milagro Award and the FIPRESCI Prize in the year 2002. In 2003, he played in a TV movie called Edge of American. It is based on a true story of an African American teacher that was hired to teach on an Indian Reservation.


As tracy two dogs in The Slaughter rule

            My favorite movie of Eddie is the movie Dreamkeeper (2003). His character is Shane Chasing Horse; he is a seventeen year old living in Pine Ridge South Dakota. He got in some trouble with some gang members and owes them some money.


 In order to avoid these dangerous thugs, he agrees to drive his grandfather to New Mexico for the All Nations pow wow. His grandfather is a story teller.

created by White Wolf Native
Throughout, their journey his grandpa tells traditional Indian stories that are about love, friendship and wisdom. Shane grows throughout the journey. He started out as an adolescent teenage boy then he grows a mature young man with a strong sense of traditional values.


As shane in Dreamkeeper
   Another film Eddie is in which is my second favorite is Black Cloud (2004).

** Watch now a video created by Avalon-medieval.blogspot.com -scenes from Black Cloud**




This was the first Eddie Spear’s movie that I saw. He is the lead but there are other great people who play alongside Eddie in the movie Black Cloud.


Black Cloud is a boxer and he is a member of the Navajo nation. Black Cloud is a tough guy who struggles with being of mixed blood. Russell Means plays the role of Black Cloud’s boxing coach and Julia Jones plays the girlfriend.

black cloud

Country singer and song writer Tim McGraw also is in the film. Eddie Spears trained for three months with the famous boxer, Jimmy Gambia. This in my opinion shows a lot of dedication on Eddie’s part. It is not hard to see that this man is very dedicated to his work.


 I found a video clip on YouTube. This video is from the making of Comanche Moon (2007). Eddie plays the part of a major historical figure in Comanche history, Quanah Parker. The series did not do justice for the Comanche’s history. The main focal point in the show was mainly on the Texas Rangers. Eddie had a very small part in the series but he still worked hard.

Eddie and Michael Spears

He did as much research as he could on Quanah Parker. The life of Quanah Parker is very important to history. It was a shame that this show had a very small role for the character of Quanah Parker.


As Quanah Parker in Comanche Moon
 Eddie went beyond for such a small role. He wanted to learn as much as he could about Quanah Parker. This is a very good quality in Eddie Spear’s personality.


Working on Native wind on the reservation.

He was a mentor at the second annual HatcH festival in Bozeman, Montana in October 2005.  Eddie’s father, Patrick Spears, is the president of the Intertribal Council on Utility Policy which is also known as COUP. 



Eddie is an intern for COUP. While the Spears brothers were working on their roles in TNT award winning series Into the West, they collaborated with Pat and TNT to promote Native Wind Energy. Eddie was the in the Native Wind promoting video

As Red lance in Into the West

As I said in the beginning of this article that Eddie’s Personal Belief is, “Believe in yourself, anything is possible no matter who you are, or where you come from. Find your path and stay on it, if you want something bad enough, nothing can stop you.”

Bury my heart at Wounded knee
Even I have never met Eddie Spears in person; I believe that he does live up to his personal beliefs and he is true to his traditional values and culture. My other opinion of him is that he is dedicated and works hard with great passion. He has contributed a lot to his community with his work with the youth, participation in POW wows, and his involvement with COUP and Native Wind Energy.





ttp://eddiespearsactor.com/


4 comentários:

  1. Really cool info. One of the best blogs I have read on Native Actors. Looking forward to your future posts.

    ResponderExcluir
  2. it's so beautiful and great actor =)

    ResponderExcluir
  3. HI! I am a fellow Lakota Native. I like to see pages like this bringing out the best in the our people instead of all the bad. I know that many have earned us a bad rep, but there are many out there that are trying to earn us a good one as well.

    XOXO
    Paula

    ResponderExcluir
  4. when I looked for you, my spirit was with you without knowing it and I was always with you! My spiritual rebellion is like the wind. Always blows to an unknown direction and always comes from an unknown direction. This is the direction of true freedom!

    ResponderExcluir