Eugene Brave Rock facts for kids

Eugene Brave Rock is a Canadian Blackfoot actor and stuntman. He is from the Blood Tribe of Siksikasiitapiisahkoi, or Blackfoot Country. Brave Rock started as an actor, before being trained as a stuntman; he later appeared in various minor television roles before landing his first major film role as Chief in Wonder Woman.

Biography

Brave Rock grew up on the Kainai Nation reserve in Alberta and attended the Plains Indian Cultural Survival School in Calgary, where he landed his first role in a play. He was later trained as a stuntman, and performed for the Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in Disneyland Paris. Upon his return to Calgary, Brave Rock worked on several television productions as a stuntman and actor, taking on minor roles in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Heartland, Blackstone, Klondike and Hell on Wheels. When The Revenant began filming in Alberta, Brave Rock and his brother were recruited to train native stuntmen; it was during this time he was contacted by the producers of Wonder Woman, who invited him to audition for a role. Though Brave Rock was not confident of his audition, he was cast in the film a month later.

Brave Rock was honored with a "ceremonial headdress" / war bonnet by Blood Tribe on June 8, 2017, at a ceremony held at the Tatsikiisaapo'p Middle School— a rare, and highest honour given in First Nations culture.

Other work

In 2022 Braverock founded The Oki Language Project. The mission of Oki Language Project is honoring elders and the preservation of languages and culture of Indigenous communities throughout Turtle Island (North America).

His advisory council includes director Chris Eyre, Cheyenne Arapaho, actor Kiowa Gordon - Hualapai – Cree, actor Zahn McClarnon - Hunkpapa and actor Wes Studi -Cherokee and singer Taboo - Shoshone.

Braverock creates platforms through The Oki Language Project to promote other indigenous artists, like Karen Clarkson - Choctaw, actor/artist Michael Horse -Yaqui, Nicholas Galanin - Cheyenne-Tlingit, Cynthia Pinot - Apache,Tony Abeyta - Navajo, and Dennis Ziemienski.

Brave Rock - Guest speaker at University of Pennsylvania, "Representation, Symbolization and Indigeneity" Slought Foundation, PA, November 15, 2019

Brave Rock - Guest speaker Princeton University, "The Arts of Anti-Racism and Social Justice" December 15, 2020.

Brave Rock - Guest speaker at the Digital for climate change- Science Summit at the United Nations General Assembly - NYC, SEP 18, 2023

Filmography

Film

Television