After making history last season with the first Indigenous language broadcast in CFL history, the Edmonton Elks and Windspeaker Media are once again teaming up to bring gridiron action to fans — this time in both Cree and Blackfoot.
The Elks vs. Calgary Stampeders game on Saturday, September 9 at Commonwealth Stadium will be broadcast in Cree and Blackfoot across the province, with both CFWE in Edmonton (98.5 FM) and CJWE in Calgary (88.1 FM) carrying the game live.
Wayne Jackson, who was part of last year’s historic broadcast, will call the game in Cree, while Francis ‘Butch’ Wolfleg will handle commentary duties in Blackfoot. The broadcast will rotate between the two languages, with Jacob LeBlanc handling hosting duties in English.
Last season, the Elks partnered on the first Indigenous language broadcast in CFL history when they faced Winnipeg Blue Bombers on July 22, 2022. Now, the Elks and Windspeaker are bringing the game to even more fans.
“We are excited to once again partner with our friends at the Edmonton Elks to bring this historic CFL broadcast in Cree and Blackfoot to our listeners in Alberta. This is going to be a fun night with Wayne and Butch.” – Windspeaker Media.
Wayne Jackson is originally from the Goodfish Lake First Nation in northeastern Alberta.
Raised in a nêhiyaw (Cree) speaking family, Wayne’s first language was nêhiyawêwin & later learned English when he attended school and began to use more English with others his own age after television came to the community.
Wayne has been a Cree language teacher and a language advocate of nêhiyawêwin for over 20 years and was part of last year’s historic Elks vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers game in Cree.
Francis ‘Butch’ Wolfleg of Siksika Nation in Southern Alberta is an avid sports fan and is fluent in Blackfoot with three years of play-by-play experience under his belt.
Butch is known for his play-by-play skills of the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen’s Every Child Matters games, but is very excited to bring his skills to call a CFL game in the Blackfoot language.
A great resource to the Blackfoot community, Butch will bring you all the action and lots of laughs.