Eugene Brave Rock

Last updated
Eugene Brave Rock
Born1978 (age 4546)
OccupationActor
Years active2007–present

Eugene Brave Rock is a Canadian Blackfoot [1] actor and stuntman. He is from the Blood Tribe of Siksikasiitapiisahkoi, or Blackfoot Country. Brave Rock started as an actor, before being trained as a stuntman; he later appeared in various minor television roles before landing his first major film role as Chief in Wonder Woman. [2] [3]

Contents

Biography

Brave Rock grew up on the Kainai Nation reserve in Alberta and attended the Plains Indian Cultural Survival School in Calgary, where he landed his first role in a play. [2] He was later trained as a stuntman, and performed for the Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in Disneyland Paris. Upon his return to Calgary, Brave Rock worked on several television productions as a stuntman and actor, taking on minor roles in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee , Heartland, Blackstone, Klondike and Hell on Wheels. [2] When The Revenant began filming in Alberta, Brave Rock and his brother were recruited to train native stuntmen; it was during this time he was contacted by the producers of Wonder Woman, who invited him to audition for a role. Though Brave Rock was not confident of his audition, he was cast in the film a month later. [4] [5]

Brave Rock was honored with a "ceremonial headdress" / war bonnet by Blood Tribe on June 8, 2017, at a ceremony held at the Tatsikiisaapo'p Middle School— a rare, and highest honour given in First Nations culture. [6] [7] [8]

Other work

In 2022 Braverock founded The Oki Language Project. The mission of Oki Language Project is honoring elders and the preservation of languages and culture of Indigenous communities throughout Turtle Island (North America). [9] [10]

His advisory council includes director Chris Eyre, Cheyenne Arapaho, actor Kiowa Gordon - HualapaiCree, actor Zahn McClarnon - Hunkpapa and actor Wes Studi -Cherokee and singer Taboo - Shoshone. [11]

Braverock creates platforms through The Oki Language Project to promote other indigenous artists, like Karen Clarkson - Choctaw, actor/artist Michael Horse -Yaqui, Nicholas Galanin - Cheyenne-Tlingit, Cynthia Pinot - Apache,Tony Abeyta - Navajo, and Dennis Ziemienski. [10] [12]

Brave Rock - Guest speaker at University of Pennsylvania, "Representation, Symbolization and Indigeneity" Slought Foundation, PA, November 15, 2019 [13]

Brave Rock - Guest speaker Princeton University, "The Arts of Anti-Racism and Social Justice" December 15, 2020. [14]

Brave Rock was a guest speaker at the Digital for climate change- Science Summit at the United Nations General Assembly - NYC, SEP 18, 2023 [15]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleDirectorNotes
2015 The Revenant Alejandro G. Iñárritu stunts
2017 Wonder Woman Chief Napi Patty Jenkins
2020 The Corruption of Divine Providence Chief BirdJeremy Torrie
2021 Montana Story Mukki Scott McGehee and David Siegel
2023 The Oath CohorDarin Scott

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2007 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
2016 Hell on Wheels Ute Indian1 episode
2017 Jamestown [2]
2021–present Resident Alien Shane
2022–present Dark Winds Frank Nakai
2022–present That Dirty Black Bag The Stranger
2023 Spirit Rangers CraneVoice
Episode: "Slow and Steady Eddy/Salmon Where Are You?" [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piegan Blackfeet</span> Native American tribe

The Piegan are an Algonquian-speaking people from the North American Great Plains. They are the largest of three Blackfoot-speaking groups that make up the Blackfoot Confederacy; the Siksika and Kainai are the others. The Piegan dominated much of the northern Great Plains during the nineteenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackfoot Confederacy</span> A name used for a group of Native Americans

The Blackfoot Confederacy, Niitsitapi, or Siksikaitsitapi, is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Blackfeet people: the Siksika ("Blackfoot"), the Kainai or Blood, and two sections of the Peigan or Piikani – the Northern Piikani (Aapátohsipikáni) and the Southern Piikani. Broader definitions include groups such as the Tsúùtínà (Sarcee) and A'aninin who spoke quite different languages but allied with or joined the Blackfoot Confederacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kainai Nation</span> First Nation in Alberta, Canada

The Kainai Nation is a First Nations band government in southern Alberta, Canada, with a population of 12,965 members in 2024, up from 11,791 in December 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackfoot language</span> Algoquian language spoken in North America

The Blackfoot language, also called Siksiká is an Algonquian language spoken by the Blackfoot or Niitsitapi people, who currently live in the northwestern plains of North America. There are four dialects, three of which are spoken in Alberta, Canada, and one of which is spoken in the United States: Siksiká / ᓱᖽᐧᖿ (Blackfoot), to the southeast of Calgary, Alberta; Kainai / ᖿᐟᖻ, spoken in Alberta between Cardston and Lethbridge; Aapátohsipikani / ᖳᑫᒪᐦᓱᑯᖿᖹ, to the west of Fort MacLeod which is Brocket (Piikani) and Aamsskáápipikani / ᖳᐢᔈᖿᑯᑯᖿᖹ, in northwestern Montana. The name Blackfoot probably comes from the blackened soles of the leather shoes that the people wore.

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References

  1. "Eugene Brave Rock: Actor & Storyteller". May 2, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Eric Volmers, Calgary Herald (2016-08-06). "Eugene Brave Rock, actor from Kainai First Nation, to appear in DC's Wonder Woman". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  3. Vincent Schilling (2016-08-02). "Mystery Native Superhero in DC's 'Wonder Woman' is Eugene Brave Rock". Indian Country Media Network. Archived from the original on 2017-06-24. Retrieved 2017-05-27.
  4. Friend, David (2017-06-08). "Blood Tribe actor from Alberta on bringing his language to 'Wonder Woman'". Canada's National Observer. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  5. Volmers, Eric (2017-06-02). "How a First Nations First World War hero from Alberta helped Eugene Brave Rock find his character in blockbuster, Wonder Woman". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  6. https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/behind-first-nations-headdresses-1.3506224
  7. "Wonder Woman actor Eugene Brave Rock honoured by Blood Tribe with headdress". Yahoo News. June 9, 2017.
  8. https://ictnews.org/archive/native-actor-eugene-brave-rock-talks-role-wonder-woman#:~:text=Eugene%20Brave%20Rock%20received%20a,dancing%2C%20singing%20or%20riding%20horses.
  9. "Oki Language Project". A+C Foundation.
  10. 1 2 Schulman, Sandra Hale (October 13, 2023). "INDIGENOUS A&E: Artists, snakes and Native 'Power Builders'". ICT News.
  11. "Oki Language Council". Oki Language Project.
  12. "Artist Cynthia Pinot Will Present Her Artworks At The Oki Language Project Auction". PRLog.
  13. "Representation, Symbolization, and Indigeneity - Programs – Slought". slought.org.
  14. "The Art of Anti-Racism and Social Justice: A Conversation with Academy Award Winner Mo'Nique, NY Black Lives Matter's Hawk Newsome, and Indigenous Superhero Eugene Brave Rock". Lewis Center for the Arts.
  15. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://voteearthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Digital-Democracy-for-Climate-Action-september-5vii.pdf
  16. Joey Clift [@joeytainment] (May 3, 2023). "Spirit Rangers Season 2 comes out May 8th and we just announced a bunch of our voice cast!! It was so fun working with all of these Native and Indigenous superstars and I can't wait for ya'll to hear them in the new episodes! #SpiritRangers" (Tweet). Retrieved September 16, 2023 via Twitter.