13 Facts About Michael Spears

Michael Spears was born on December 28,1977 and is an Indigenous American actor.

Michael Spears is a member of the Kul Wicasa Lakota from the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.

Michael Spears was born in Chamberlain, South Dakota near the Lower Brule Indian Reservation to Sicangu Lakota parents and lived there until he was in fifth grade.

Michael Spears's younger brother, Eddie, is an actor with film and television credits.

In 2014, for his role as Tenkill in Angels in Stardust, Michael Spears received critical acclaim in The New York Times.

In 2014 and 2015, Michael 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.

Michael Spears has served as a musical contributor to other stage productions and media festivals such as the Bozeman Ice Festival and the Billings Symphony Orchestra.

In 2021, Michael Spears performed alongside other acclaimed Indigenous performers in the Billings Symphony Orchestra's symphonic production "Buffalo Crossing," which integrated the traditional music and dance of Plains tribes with orchestral music.

Michael Spears is an accomplished hand drum player and singer, often performing at powwows and other venues.

Michael Spears was the opening act for Rita Coolidge at her 2005 concert in Great Falls, Montana.

Michael Spears worked with his late father, Patrick Spears, and his brother Eddie on ICOUP's Native Energy and Native Wind whose goal was to encourage creation of sustainable energy sources.

Michael Spears can speak some Lakota, which he first learned from his father and grandfather, and is continuing to learn.

Michael Spears has engaged in activism for the Indigenous community, making appearances at environmental and MMIW, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, demonstrations and voicing his concerns about the misappropriation of Native culture through sports iconography.