In this episode, I sit in powerful conversation with Stephanie Big Eagle—traditional handpoke tattoo artist, cultural bearer, and author of Thunderbird Rising. Of Lakota and Dakota ancestry on her father’s side, and Nordic and Haudenosaunee lineage on her mother’s, Stephanie walks the path of remembrance, revival, and reclamation.

Together, we explore the sacred role of tattooing within the Native American Nations—an ancient tradition largely disrupted by colonisation, but now rising once more through the hands of those called to remember. Stephanie shares her journey of reconnecting with these ceremonial markings, and the deep spiritual resonance they carry.

We speak on the ancestral significance of the designs, the power of the handpoke method, and the return of tattooing as an embodied prayer, a rite of passage, and a symbol of cultural survival. This is more than ink—it is the language of memory, land, and identity inscribed back into the skin.

This episode is a reverent and stirring exchange for all those drawn to the resurgence of Indigenous tattooing, and to the healing power of cultural reconnection.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephbigeagle/

Website: https://www.stephbigeagle.com www.thunderbirdrising919.com

Book: Thunderbird Rising: https://www.amazon.com/Thunderbird-Rising-Reconnection-Resilience-Empowerment/dp/1737512211/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=thunderbird+rising&qid=1635197592&qsid=141-0253157-8127214&sr=8-1&sres=1737512211%2CB098LQWS8R%2CB097CGVXGZ%2C0913056049%2CB08ZQ8K6KH%2CB07M8P5VF2%2CB098DR4V76%2CB07QCQNKG7%2CB06WVFMYWT%2CB00SARHPKS%2CB084PV952N%2CB08D1XX766%2CB000OOKJ58%2CB00DOTL5EE%2CB08L6W3W63%2CB094SYV22L

Contact Shane... shanetattooer@gmail.com

Website: ancestortattoo.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shanetattooer/

Title music: Ngā Tai Tawhito, Kiki Pounamu https://smarturl.it/kikipounamu