Tribal Member of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, Central Oregon, USA, Honorary Member of the Piegan Blackfeet
Band Reserve, Brocket, Alberta, Canada.

                    

One thousand square miles of echoing canyons, mountains, and rivers, swift and deep... This is where Littleleaf was born ... Surrounded by nature so enchanting, and land so untouched, that wild horses ran free through the desert. Littleleaf could not help but absorb this beauty, to soak it into his being and make it a part of himself, his thinking, his dreams ... and especially into his music.

"We are gifted from our Creator only a small number of heartbeats in this lifetime. If they can beat in happiness, then we are truly living..." -C. Littleleaf, Cowboys & Indians Magazine.

Water was an integral part of life on the Warm Springs Reservation. There were the springs themselves bubbling up out of the earth, and rivers: the Deschutes, Shetike, and the Warm Springs River, all flowing through. It seems right that Littleleaf owes his beginning to water. During salmon season Jack Littleleaf, of the Piegan Blackfeet Band, left Brocket, Alberta Canada and traveled to the ancient fishing grounds at Celilo Falls, Oregon. There, this champion traditional dancer and expert horseman, met and wooed Charles's mother, Lolita Greeley, tribal member and resident of the Warm Springs Tribes. Their marriage resulted in two children. But Littleleaf never knew his father, until nineteen years later. Jack had spent many years in Canada preparing to become chief to his people and, before Littleleaf's first birthday, Jack returned to Alberta, while his wife and sons stayed behind in Warm Springs, Oregon.

If Littleleaf had not lived on the reservation, he might have greatly missed the presence of his father, but reservation life was rich in family. Everyone had many grandmothers, aunts, uncles and cousins. Littleleaf grew up surrounded by family, by elders and traditional people rich in knowledge, wisdom and culture. He listened, watched and learned from them all. But there was one in particular who influenced Littleleaf, one who loved, guided and nurtured him, and with whom he developed a deep and lasting bond.

His great-great grandmother, Sally, was a medicine woman, a powerful force, who is remembered even today as one of the founders of the Seven Drum religion. Sally plied her healing across the three tribes of the Warm Springs nation, and further, even into Canada. Up to her old age she spent weeks at a time in the mountains gathering berries, roots and herbs. At the time of Littleleafs' birth, she lived in a tipi along the banks of Shetike Creek with a community of other tipi people and it was the poles of Sally's tipi that formed Littleleafs' first visual memory.

Littleleaf and his siblings lived their early days in Sally's tipi where she taught them the intricacies of traditional Warm Springs and Wasco's culture. They learned reverence for all living things. Many times, wild black bears came to their camp where Sally treated them as friends. She spoke to them in her native language. The bears ate the mountain huckleberries around her camp and trusted in her completely. She allowed them to eat what was theirs, then shooed them away when she was ready to retire for the evening.

Sally loved Littleleaf and he spent more time with her than any other family member. He spent hours of his young life sitting with his great-great grandmother under her apple tree while she sang spiritual Indian songs. These were the greatest times of Littleleaf's childhood, and ones he will never forget. He remembers some of these songs, which have significantly influenced his music style today.

Sally died when Littleleaf was still very young. Indians know, often better than others, that death is not the end of life, but rather a great part of life... a new beginning. Still, to his young mind, existence was only the here and now. Littleleaf could not comprehend Sally's passing. He felt that she had simply vanished. As Littleleaf grew older, he would always look toward that apple tree and feel a sense of peace and love. And, during his transition of growing up to a young adult, he began to understand the meaning of her absence, which led to his awareness of her spiritual presence guiding him throughout the rest of his life.

As Littleleaf grew to adulthood, he sought the peace and solitude of nature and traditional lore. Increasingly, he was drawn to the mountains where he spent time traveling on horseback hunting for deer and elk to help feed his relatives. But these days eventually came to a temporary standstill. Littleleaf moved to Portland, Oregon, because he became curious about life off the reservation... to live in the city. Once relocated, he worked as a designing engineer at a prestigious transportation corporation in Portland, while indulging himself in the makings of traditional crafts off hours.

Though he prospered in his work over the years, he found that his emotional and spiritual life slightly suffered. He was a man caught between two cultures. Life off the reservation bore little resemblance to the traditional ways he had once been taught. In an effort to form a meaningful link to his culture, in his spare time he began to visit schools, telling stories of his growth as an American Indian born and raised on a reservation, thus teaching traditional lore, and eventually became recognized as an advisor in Native Spirituality.

Once discovering another way to feel and express, Littleleaf took up the Native American flute and had found, through this instrument, an emotional release of healing qualities and something else he could share with all people and, especially, with people in need. He, first, began making excursions at Warm Springs to play his music there at the home of his ancestor, in this beautiful and familiar place. Thus, the first samples of Littleleafs' spiritual and heartfelt music developed.

In 1992, Littleleaf received a flute from well-known Native American flutist, R.Carlos Nakai. Nakai's gift was intended to encourage Littleleaf to play. Later, Nakai held one of the first Native American flute workshops at Feathered Pipe Ranch in Helena, Montana. The workshop lasted two weeks and, it was here amidst players much more technically versed in music, that Littleleaf learned one of the best lessons of the traditional flute ... that playing from the heart and spirit, as well as trusting in his inner-self, is what worked well for him and for his listeners..

It has been several years now since Littleleaf received his first flute. What began as a personal spiritual journey has blossomed into a spiritual journey of a greater scope. Now, in sharing his music with the world, this Award-Winning Native American flutist also shares the healing power of the music. Like his great-great grandmother, Sally, Littleleaf is a musical healer. He doesn't heal with roots and herbs but with his living, cleansing music. Littleleaf feels great compassion and oneness with all living things and, through his music, he promotes this belief around the globe.

Littleleaf is truly remarkable and his music is his gift to the world by the grace of our Creator.