As part of Project NOWE's Leadership Labs we have been fortunate to be students of Elder Tom Crane Bear on several occasions. Mr. Crane Bear is frequently referred to as a “walking library,” as one of the few elders in Blackfoot country who is knowledgeable in all areas of his tradition. He provided spiritual services in Alberta and Ontario prisons and worked for Aboriginal counselling services, applying his experience and spiritual knowledge to the benefit of Aboriginal youth.
In the 1990’s, Mr. Crane Bear served as an elder advisor for the Siksika Land Claims, Siksika Justice and Aboriginal Justice Learning Networks in Ottawa. As a spiritual elder for the Banff Centre’s Aboriginal programs, Mr. Crane Bear worked with a small group of elders to transfer a painted Blackfoot tipi as a ceremonial place of significance on Buffalo Mountain, as a teaching place for all nations. In 1993, Mr. Crane Bear was inducted into the Indigenous Elder’s Circle at the People’s Conference in New Zealand and given the title “Honourable Elder”. In 1982, he took training as a Life Skill’s Coach and taught for two years in human behaviour in Edmonton. The pipe was transferred to Mr. Crane Bear in a ceremony conducted by the Peigan elders, led by the late Joe Crowshoe.
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