Ivan Eagletail

Ivan Eagletail

Tsuut’ina Educator • Artist • Community Leader • Cultural Advocate

Ivan Eagletail is a member of the Tsuut’ina Nation whose life and work have crossed the worlds of education, Indigenous arts and culture, community leadership and economic opportunity.

Education has played a significant role in Ivan’s journey. His graduate studies took him to the University of New Mexico, where he was involved with the Society of Native American Graduate Students, worked as a teaching assistant in Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies, and pursued his work as an artist. He later undertook doctoral studies in Art Education at the University of British Columbia.

In 1999, Ivan was contracted by the Surrey Art Gallery to help develop Indigenous contemporary art educational programming. His work included interviews and studio visits with prominent Indigenous artists, helping lay the foundation for an educational program that continues to introduce students to Indigenous artists, perspectives and art practices more than two decades later.

Ivan has also served his community through elected leadership as a Tsuut’ina councillor, or minor chief. That experience gave him another perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing Indigenous communities and on the importance of community members having a voice in decisions affecting their future.

Art and culture remain important threads running through Ivan’s life. A visual artist as well as a cultural performer, he has shared Indigenous culture with wider audiences through music, including traditional flute and drum performances. In 2022, he performed flute during the opening of Calgary's The Land is Home, an exhibition bringing together artists from the Blackfoot, Tsuut’ina and Stoney Nakoda Nations and exploring Indigenous relationships with land and nature.

More recently, Ivan has been involved in initiatives connecting Tsuut’ina citizens with employment, training and trade opportunities, continuing a career that has repeatedly brought education, culture and community development together.

Through conversations on CFTR The Rogue, Ivan brings listeners a perspective shaped by education, public service, Indigenous culture and decades of lived experience.

His appearances provide an opportunity to talk not only about Tsuut’ina culture and history, but about the people, ideas, challenges and opportunities shaping Indigenous communities today and the relationships being built between Indigenous and neighbouring communities across southern Alberta.