Greg Spottedbird-Lamebull
Cheyenne

BOARD CHAIR

Greg Spottedbird-Lamebull is a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and comes from Suhtai descendance of Montana.  He is a ceremonial Priest and Indigenous Studies teacher at the Sovereign Community School in Oklahoma City.  He is also an educator and spiritual leader and has served as the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Culture and Heritage Program representative, Tradition Not Addiction program organizer, Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual Healing Run coordinator, and Outreach Specialist for the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. 

Lamebull was born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma and raised in a traditional Cheyenne home west of the town of Kingfisher on the Lamebull allotment, by his grandparents, Gilbert and Lula Lamebull, and his mother Ella Lamebull, who was also a protector of lands and active in the American Indian Movement in the 1960’s and 70’s.  Shortly after the death of his father, Lamebull’s grandparents took him in and raised him in the traditional ways of the Cheyenne through language, ceremony and tribal customs.  During his time with the elders, he attended Cheyenne and Suhtai’o ceremonies, eventually entering the ceremonial way of life and becoming a ceremonial priest within the tribe.  

Lamebull also became a member of the Cheyenne Dog Soldier Warrior Society and was appointed the rank of headman within the clan.  As a leader and warrior of his tribe, Lamebull understands the importance of defending the sacred ways and lives of his people and lives the life of a modern-day warrior looking after and taking care of the needs of the Cheyenne and Suhtai’o. Climbing his way through the ranks and becoming a headsman, he earned the name of his great, great grandfather, Hodiwuh’vea, or Lamebull, which comes from the Suhtai medicine man Lamebull who was born in Montana in the early 1800’s who also served as a prominent Dog Soldier warrior, artist and known medicine man among the Suhtai’o, and was one of few sacred bundle keepers of his people. 

Now Lamebull is the Indigenous Studies teacher in the Sovereign Community School in Edmond, Oklahoma and serves as the Dean of Students.  He also works outside the school and spends much of his time with Cheyenne and Arapaho youth and youth throughout Indian country, teaching traditional skills, traditions, tribal art, and conducting ceremonial sweat lodges for students and parents.  He has one very important quote he gives to his students in the classroom: “Make good ancestors”. 

Lamebull has attended many protests throughout the country and has organized many marches and memorials to events like the Sand Creek Massacre and the Washita Massacre. He spent a great deal of time at the Standing Rock NO DAPL protest in North Dakota, doing his part and taking a stand against the government and the greed of dominant society.  

His strict Cheyenne upbringing has given him strong beliefs, and he now serves his people as a tribal historian and instructor in ceremonial lodges, both Oklahoma and Montana, carrying on the teachings of several respected mentors, and strives to pass on those ways to the generations that follow. 

The needs of the indigenous are the sole purpose of his life and he strives every day to reconnect the lost generations to their cultures and traditions. He is a proud member of the movement and serves as a spokesman of the LANDBACK MVMT.  He stands for the those who cannot fight and for those who have lost their way. He stands for all that is sacred and will live the life of a warrior until the day he walks with the old ones, until he is here no more.  

Photo: Benjamin Levi West, Cheyenne