Go go go, shawty, it’s my birthday! We’re gonna party like it’s my birthday. Sippin’ on some Mint tea ‘cause it’s my birthday … or however it goes (lol).
Every year on this special day there is an event like no other. Much more than just my lowly birthday - check this out - January 28th is actually three birthdays:
The birth of my son, Shiloh Furius, now 9 (wow!)
The birth of EagleSpeaker Publishing, now 15 (wow!)
The birth of me, O’mahk’siik’iimi, now 50 (wow!)
50 years ago today, fresh out the womb, an old soul with a new attitude, my great-grandparents named me O’mahk’siik’iimi (also known by my colonial name, Jason Eaglespeaker). Right then and there, in a sterile Seattle University hospital room, they held ceremony and bestowed a powerful Blackfoot honor upon my newborn self - the role of “Piipiitakii” of my generation. From day one, I was raised traditionally by my grandparents (Leona & Glen Eaglespeaker) who taught me the immense power, and responsibility, of storytelling. They showed me how to harness the power of hundreds of timeless NAPI stories (a Blackfoot trickster figure) - to make sense of the world, empower my community, and achieve success in life.
15 years ago today, I looked excitedly at the original coil-ring version of my very first book, UNeducation Vol 1: A Residential School Graphic Novel. A single copy handcrafted by me and my family a mere month before, it has since gone on to sell well over 250,000 copies worldwide (wow!). The chronicles of my mother and her 8 siblings’ mandatory attendance in the notorious St. Paul’s Residential School (in Southern Alberta) is now read by people all over the world. Recently, I followed it up with UNeducation Vol 2: The Side of Society You Don’t See On TV - about the intergenerational impacts of residential schools, as seen through my own dysfunction. It was on this day, January 28th, I decided to become a Book Publisher. To help other Indigenous people experience the same freedom, outlets and reach I have. It was on this day, Eaglespeaker Publishing came to be.
9 years ago today, I became a dad for the third time. Yep, Shiloh was born on my birthday! I was right there in the delivery room that day, making sure not to peek around the curtain (lol). There’s something about having a kid when you’re in your 40’s, it’s like I was given another chance to do the best I can. I am now a lone Blackfoot in unceded M’ikmaq territory (a.k.a. Nova Scotia). So very far from my homelands, so very close to my sons. When their mother and I divorced, in Calgary, it was a no-brainer for me to move cross-country to her homelands and raise my sons around her and her amazing (huge!) family.