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New stamp honours First Nations Elder and Knowledge Keeper Bruce Starlight (CNW Group/Canada Post)
A gathering was held in Tsúut’ínà Nation near Calgary, Alberta, as Canada Post celebrated the stamp featuring Bruce Starlight.
Known as Dit’óní Didlishí (Spotted Eagle), Starlight is an Elder and Knowledge Keeper who has spent more than five decades advocating to save his language and culture from extinction.
This stamp is one of three Indigenous Leaders stamps that will be issued today June 20th – the day before National Indigenous Peoples Day. The set is the fourth in Canada Post’s multi-year Indigenous Leaders series.
Starlight’s life and legacy
Born in 1947 on the Tsúut’ínà Nation, Starlight is the son of the late Chief James “Jim” Starlight, who served as chief of the First Nations community for more than a decade during the 1950s and early 60s. Although he had to leave high school to help support his family after his father died, Starlight went on to study linguistics at the University of Calgary later in life. Frustrated by a lack of support for the teaching of Tsúut’ínà, he began to document its alphabet, words and phrases.
In the 1970s, Starlight served as a councillor on the Tsúut’ínà Chief and Council and assisted Elder George Heavenfire in teaching participants about Tsúut’ínà history during the Sarcee Cultural Survival Camp. In 1992, he became the first elected Indigenous director on the Calgary Stampede Board of Directors, after serving as the first chairman of the First Nations Events Committee.
One of the last fluent speakers of the Tsúut’ínà language, in 2008 Starlight was among the founders of the Tsúut’ínà Gunáhà Násʔághà – an institute dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of his mother tongue. An accomplished teacher and speaker, he has developed extensive materials for Tsúut’ínà instruction, including dictionaries and recordings. Although he retired as language commissioner for the Tsúut’ínà Nation in 2022, Starlight continues to serve as a speaker and advisor on Indigenous issues. He recently collaborated on a collection of traditional narratives and historical accounts in Tsúut’ínà and a Tsúut’ínà-to-English glossary. In 2023, Starlight received an honorary doctorate from Mount Royal University.
About the stamp
The stamp features a photograph of Starlight wearing a headdress that identifies him as an elected official. He bears a medallion presented to the leaders of Treaty First Nations commemorating the 125th anniversary of the signing of Treaty 7; it was presented to him by the president of the Navajo Nation. Starlight also wears a Hudson’s Bay blanket coat. A trade item between the Indigenous Peoples and the settlers, the Hudson’s Bay blanket can symbolize entering and leaving the world wrapped in a blanket. The stamp is designed by Andrew Perro, featuring photography by Richard Anseeuw and background imagery from iStock. It is printed by Lowe-Martin. The issue includes a booklet of six Permanent™ stamps, an Official First Day Cover and a souvenir sheet.
The cancellation site is Calgary (near Starlight’s birthplace) and the cancellation mark bears an image of an eagle.
About the Indigenous Leaders stamp series
The Indigenous Leaders series was launched in 2022 and highlights the contributions of First Nations, Métis and Inuit leaders who dedicated their lives to preserving their culture and improving the quality of life of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
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