Benedict Pipestem, Storyteller and Musician
Benedict Pipestem is a Tsuut’ina language teacher, storyteller, performer, musician, and writer. His path began on stage, where he discovered a love of performance while working with his aunt, Aroha Crowchild. By eighteen, he was acting in the play Indian Interrupted alongside Michelle Thrush.
At twenty-one, Benedict moved from the stage to the classroom. Since then, he has taught the Tsuut’ina language in Tsuut’ina schools, from kindergarten through Grade 12, as well as to adult learners. He sees language and storytelling as inseparable, and believes that language carries the knowledge and worldview of a people.
Benedict’s creative work is rooted in the land, including Kootsisáw, the Elbow River, which he understands as a living spirit and as part of Tsuut’ina and Blackfoot stories. Through teaching, music, and story, he hopes to help bring that way of seeing the world back into everyday life, and he welcomes questions from anyone who wants to learn.