Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
ST. GEORGE — This narrator's voice was almost silenced as a child. Now, he'll be featured in the new "National Parks: USA" TV series, which explores a well-known Southern Utah park — Zion National Park.
Michael Spears' voice will be heard in this National Geographic project. Spears, an actor and member of the Kul Wičaša Lakota Tribe from the Lower Brulé Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, said in an email to St. George News that he had a severely damaged voice until he reached first grade.
"When I spoke, it was extremely hoarse and gravelly," he said. "My parents took me to a doctor, who told them that my vocal cords were like those of an old man. The only solution would be an intensive, high-risk surgery that could leave me mute. Instead, they took me to my grandpa Noah Grassrope, a Kul Wičaša medicine man. He took me into ceremony and prayed over me."
When Spears emerged from the ceremony, he said his vocal cords were healed, and he could speak clearly for the first time. Throughout Spears' life, his grandfather advised him to "use this gift the Wakanpi — the sacred ones — gave me wisely, to use it for good."
