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Professional wrestling icon Bret (The Hitman) Hart was honoured by Siksika Elder Miiksika’am with a Blackfoot name meaning Courageous Chief during a smudging ceremony and face painting Thursday.

Members of a drum group played their drums while singing a traditional song by a teepee at Mount Royal University, as Elder Miiksika’am, or Clarence Wolfleg Senior, offered Hart an eagle feather and his chosen name, Iyiikitapinna.

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“I think it’s a great name,” said Hart. “It might be too bold a name for me . . . It’s a huge honour for me. Growing up here all my life, being from Calgary, there’s a strong sensitivity to the struggles” of Indigenous people.

Miiksika’am said he seeks the guidance of old warriors when selecting a name for someone. He said the names often come to him in a dream or vision.

“The name that I chose for Bret goes back to an old warrior whose name was Iron Shield, not because he had a shield of iron but his spirit was like iron,” saidMiiksika’am. “I chose that reference because he was surrounded in battle. . . So, I honour that great warrior, but I will seek an appropriate name just as powerful for Bret, Iyiikitapinna.”