The Bearclaw Gallery is pleased to welcome our newest artist
Eugene Alexis is a Stoney Nakoda from Alexis #133 Indian Reserve, located in Treaty No. 6 Territory. He lives on the shores of Wakamne (God’ s Lake), also known as Lac Ste Anne. Eugene is a fluent speaker, translator, transcriber and curriculum developer of the Alexis Stoney Nakoda Language. He has been teaching Stoney Nakoda over 25 years and gives thanks to the Creator for his Identity, language and culture.
In 1990, Eugene started working as a Teacher Assistant at the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation elementary school. Throughout his career, he worked with the Director of Education, community elders, political and cultural leaders documenting and preserving their Stoney Nakoda language. Eugene also received his Linguistics training at the University of Alberta In 2016, he received accreditation from the Cwiadian Indigenous Language and Literacy Development Institute and is a certified Stoney Nakoda Language Expert. Over his 25 year career, as a Stoney Nakoda Language Teacher, Eugene helped his community develop a Stoney Language Dictionary, and the Stoney Language Curriculum (Secondary: K-12) and Post-Secondary Level 1.In 2018, Eugene was moved from the School and Into the Alexis Heritage & Language Department with a mandate to expand the Stoney Language program into the Nation. Eugene works as a Director of Language. He continues to work with Alexis Elders, Political and Cultural leaders to protect and maintain his Stoney Nakoda Language.Eugene was traditionally named after his late grandfather, Chief Joseph Alexis and his late great-great grandfather Aranazhi, Chief Alexis who signed Treaty for the Alexis Tribe and was also known by the Cree as Klskiyciciy or Nabe Gduzahan in Stoney Nakoda Language.
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