Calvin Tatsey
I am the father of four and the grandfather of eight. I am an enrolled member of The Blackfeet Nation, of Montana. I have resided on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation throughout my entire life, with migrations to attend school, training, work and to experience different cultures, people and places.
I have experienced every Blackfeet ceremony, except for The Sundance; however, I have assisted with the preparations of and observed several throughout their durations.
I have worked at several occupations, e.g., cowboy, farm-worker, tree planter and thinner, logger, lifeguard, store clerk, police dispatcher, police officer, jailer, correctional officer, casino surveillance, heavy equipment operator, building constructions, chemical dependency sounselor, etc.
I have a degree-in Human Services and Chemical Dependency Counseling and have graduated from two Law Enforcement Academies: the Montana Law Enforcement Academy and Corrections Corporation of America.
My life-and-work experiences are vast and many; my cultural experiences are the same. My writing will involve and draw from both, but will only be related and apply to Native American issues, news and first-hand stories pertaining to culture, ceremonies, language and Blackfeet life; some will be short and some will be long, but I think that they will all be interesting and entertaining.
I have experienced every Blackfeet ceremony, except for The Sundance; however, I have assisted with the preparations of and observed several throughout their durations.
I have worked at several occupations, e.g., cowboy, farm-worker, tree planter and thinner, logger, lifeguard, store clerk, police dispatcher, police officer, jailer, correctional officer, casino surveillance, heavy equipment operator, building constructions, chemical dependency sounselor, etc.
I have a degree-in Human Services and Chemical Dependency Counseling and have graduated from two Law Enforcement Academies: the Montana Law Enforcement Academy and Corrections Corporation of America.
My life-and-work experiences are vast and many; my cultural experiences are the same. My writing will involve and draw from both, but will only be related and apply to Native American issues, news and first-hand stories pertaining to culture, ceremonies, language and Blackfeet life; some will be short and some will be long, but I think that they will all be interesting and entertaining.
Articles by Calvin Tatsey
April 08, 2008
The sky has begun to lighten and Natosi´s [The Sun] reconnaissance has turned its Eastern edge into a metallic blue, still animated by twinkling stars. Somewhere a siren sounds, oppressing the morning´s tranquility. In a small rundown house, a man shudders as the intrusion resonates wi...
March 26, 2008
One of the long time street people, "wino" to the older generation, before the euphemisms all became politically correct, is shuffling along, following a well fed, another euphemism, gentleman down the street. He´s shuffling along, off the edge of the sidewalk, as if he believes that he doesn&...
March 11, 2008
The late-afternoon Sun bathes the snow covered road, the fences running parallel to it, and the lonely, snow-spotted fields that eternally flow into the nearby foothills, with brightness…
An old man stands upon the road, alone, coatless, and apparently distressed; his long-White-hair hanging in t...
March 10, 2008
1:00 am on a night following a day filled with domestic-disillusionment and boredom: Sonny, a Native American man in his early twenties, is about to go to bed, when a knock sounds at the door of his one room shack. He quickly looks at the single bed near the table to see if the knock had disturbed...
November 21, 2006
Here are a couple of pictures from this morning’s hunt. The first picture is of my son (Greg) and my nephew (Mike). We were scoping-out a small herd of elk we’d spotted after walking a few miles, just below Looking Glass. Greg had a 338 Winchester and Mike had a 300, both Magnums. The elk were a...
November 10, 2006
A Holy-Blackfeet Bundle, the Natoas (Sundance Bundle), a.k.a. the Many White Horses Bundle, which hasn’t been used for a Sundance for seventy-seven years, was used during this past June, of 2006. The last time that a Sundance was held under the authority of this bundle, was in 1929.
There are o...
October 31, 2006
I have a friend who evidently has a hard time at making up his mind on who he is, a Blackfeet, or a Cree, and his dilemma serves to confirm some superficial-doctrine within my consciousness that was instilled long ago by my early tribal influences.
Besides non-Indian teachers and celebrated peopl...
October 30, 2006
Saturday, January 7, 2006 began as the day before that and the day before that, except for one thing: a powerful sense of angst, or excitement, I couldn’t decide which one, overwhelmed my personal psyche from the second I’d gotten out of bed, causing me to believe that something serious was about to...