Old Person,
Earl,1929-2021, leader of the Blackfeet Nation, b. outside
Browning, Mt., Blackfeet names Stu Sapoo ("Cold Wind") and
Ahka Pa Ka Pee ("Changing Home"). Earl's parents were
ranchers and he was raised on the reservation. After completing high school,
he worked as an interpreter in the local land office and then ran for a seat
on the tribal council, serving from 1954-2016 (except for two brief
hiatuses). He was elected the council's chair in 1964, holding that title
for 16 out of the 22 subsequent two-year terms until 2008. On his
retirement, he was the longest serving elected tribal official in the
country. He was given the hnorary title of Chief of the Blackfeet Nation in
1978, and served as president of the National Congress of American Indians
(1969-71). He was an important spokesperson for his own tribe and other
Native Americans in negotiating with the U.S. government for better services
and to protect tribal lands. He was an advocate for business investment on
the reservation, supporting the opening of a local bank and encouraging
outside investments in tribal businesses, and was a prime force behind the
establishment of the Blackfeet Community College in 1974. Earl was a
talented musician and dancer as well as a storehouse of Blackfeet culture
and language. Among his awards and honors included an honorary doctorate in
Humane Letters from the Univ. of Montana (1994), the Jeannette Rankin Civil
Liberties Award by the ACLU of Montana (1998), and induction into the
Montana Indian Hall of Fame (2007).
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