By Tyrone Sitting Eagle
Trinity Pretty Young Man is a young Blackfoot woman aspiring and striving towards a lot of good things in the community. She is a grade 12-17-year-old student who attends Strathmore High School. She comes from the Pretty Young Man and Water Chief Family, and her traditional Blackfoot name is Anataki, meaning “pretty girl.” This was given to her by her great-grandmother, Reverent Margeret Water Chief. Trinity is many things and has many various achievements and skills she has; she is an athlete, actor, director, and filmmaker. Those are just a few to mention as she is also the Strathmore High School Princess, and Chief.
Currently, Trinity is a part of a production that is called “New Blood.” It is a theatre production that blends Blackfoot culture, dance, and history with western poetry, music, and contemporary. The production covers the story of Chief Vincent Yellow Old Women and works to bring Truth and Reconciliation. Trinity played the role of several people in this production, such as Vincent himself, her parents, grandparents, and children who did not make it home. With the play being for high school students, Trinity started as a background dancer in grade 9. The following year, she was then asked to play the lead role, with that being “The Child.” She had to read and memorize a 6-minute poem during the summer going into her grade 10 year. In turn, this allowed Trinity to travel all over, bringing her and the production to Saskatoon, Winnipeg, and across Alberta. With the success of the “New Blood” dance production, a documentary was asked to be filmed with CBC Gem, in which Trinity was a part of and helped film, it is also already set to release. They have begun filming in February of this year and are going to be coming out on November 22nd of this year on CBC Gem. This was directed by Adam Solway and Austin Ladouceur.
Trinity also expressed how much she learned from the production in an interview, explaining how it has affected her in a way where it brought a lot of understanding of what happened during the time when residential schools were still very common.
“It showed me how to deal with my own personal healing and reconciliation,” said Trinity in an interview with Siksika Media.
Trinity is also a big advocate for Truth and Reconciliation. Even when she was in the fourth grade, she was pushing for and speaking about it at non-native schools. With the help of New Blood, it is also helping her get a voice and to show people who go and watch the play what Truth and Reconciliation is about. It is not about trying to prove people wrong; it’s about educating and showing what has happened to Native people in the past and building relationships. She also spoke about how the production changed not only herself but others around her about Truth and Reconciliation.
“I’ve been across Alberta with the play, and I’ve gone to a lot of schools. Teachers at these schools get it; they get it when they see the play. It’s not about just the kids getting it; it’s about the adults getting it as well,” said Trinity in an interview.
In turn, Trinity is a very good role model for young aspiring Blackfoot women in the community. She has many achievements and strives towards doing good things for herself and Siksika. She is an athlete, actor, director, and filmmaker. Trinity has also left closing remarks for young people in Siksika.
“You need to go and talk to your grandparents; you need to go and learn from them because they love you. Some grandparents don’t say that they love you because they got lost coming from residential schools; they got abused; they lost that love, but your grandparents are the ones that loved you before you were born. To the Blackfoot youth out there, talk to your grandparents,” said Trinity.
