| Amethyst First Rider A Brief Biography |
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Amethyst First Rider is a member of the Blood Tribe of the Blackfoot Confederacy, born and raised in the City of Calgary Alberta. She graduated from Ernest Manning High School in Calgary, Alberta in 1974 and went on to study at the University of Lethbridge, receiving her B>A> in 1980 with a major in Native American Studies. In 1988, she attended the Banff School of Fine Arts summer course in stagecraft. Amethyst earned a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Calgary in 1994 with a focus on Native theatre.
Her theatre
experience includes production and direction of plays such as "Twin
Sinks of Allen Sammy," "Body Indian", "Dance Me Born,"
and "Sweet Grass Visions." Also produced Dance productions "
Star Woman". Amethyst's non-theatre experience includes working for
Parks Canada and the Calgary Native Friendship Centre, Native Liaison
Officer for the Lethbridge Public and Separate School Districts and a
Researcher for the Blood Tribe also the Aboriginal Arts Program in Banff
as a cultural consultant.
In 1995, she acted as a consultant to the Centre for Particle Astrophysics=Lawrence
Hall of Science at the University of California) Berkeley) for a planetarium
show revolving around Native cosmology and "Dark Matter" utilizing
the Trickster figure. Also narrated and was the assistant to the Director
in the National Film Board Documentary "Kainayssini imanistaisiwa"
the people go on written and directed by Loretta Todd.
Amethyst's research interests include the study of traditional knowledge of territorial landscapes contained in traditional stories of the Blackfoot confederacy.
Amethyst is a sessional lecturer in Native Literature and Native Drama in the Native American Studies Department at the university of Lethbridge.