Michael Spears


Michael Spears is an American actor. He is a member of the Kul Wicasa Oyate Lakota Lower Brulé Tribe of South Dakota.

Early life

Michael Spears was born in Chamberlain, South Dakota on the Lower Brulé Lakota Sioux Reservation to Native American parents and lived there until he was in fifth grade. After that, his family moved to Pierre, South Dakota. Later, his family moved to Aberdeen, South Dakota where he grew up and graduated Simmons Middle School then Aberdeen Central High School, graduating in 1995.
A member of the Sicangu Lakota Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, he has six siblings. A younger brother, Eddie, is also an actor, with both movie and TV credits.

Career

Film/television

Spears's film credits include a major role as the character Dog Star in the 2005 Steven Spielberg-produced cable mini-series, Into the West, which aired on TNT.
His debut role as the child character Otter, in the Academy-Award-winning 1990 film Dances with Wolves, also earned him national notice at thirteen years old. By the age of seventeen, Spears had acted in both TV and film with other actors, including Kevin Costner, Jimmy Smits and Kim Delaney.
In 2014, for his role as Tenkill in Angels in Stardust, Spears received critical acclaim in The New York Times.
His most recent film role was as an outlaw, "Biscuit," alongside Bill Pullman in the Western, The Ballad of Lefty Brown.

Other work

In 2005, Michael and Eddie Spears modeled for Cochiti Pueblo fashion designer Virgil Ortiz for his "Indigene" clothing line, and were featured on the cover of the August 2005 issue of New Mexico Magazine.
He has hosted and co-hosted the American Indian Film Institute Awards, the latest being the 38th Annual American Indian Film Institute Awards in 2013.
In 2014 and 2015, Spears played a recurrent role as Savanukah, a member of the 1777 Cherokee Delegation, in Colonial Williamsburg's open-air stage production of The Beloved Women of Chota: War Women of the Cherokee.

Filmography

Awards

Spears is an accomplished hand drum player and singer, often performing at Native American powwows and in non-tribal venues. Michael often travels to deliver speeches, concentrating on inspirational and educational topics including sustainable energy, and mentors youth in South Dakota.
He worked with his late father, Patrick Spears, and his brother Eddie on COUP's Native Energy and Native Wind as part of the Inter-Tribal Group, whose goal is to encourage creation of "natural" sustainable energy sources. Formed in 1994, COUP provides a forum for utility issues discussion from regulatory and economic perspectives.
He can speak some Lakota. Michael first learned from his father and grandfather, and is continuing to learn. During the filming of Into the West, he had lessons from linguist, Charlie White Buffalo.
Traditional Lakota ways and ceremonies are also a priority for Spears, as he often attends spiritual and cultural events across the country.