memorials

Mr. Junior “Squirrel” Dunham, 60, a member of the Red Nation of the Cherokee, a friend of Dr. Bison and a person who will be missed in the Indian Community. Junior was a friend of Cherokee River Indian Community a supporter and tireless advocate for persons with mental illness in Alabama. Junior passed in December 2004

 

Kent Ware Sr.

Age 81 Left us Aug 13, 2004

Kiowa Elder,  Kiowa Black Legs, WWII Veteran, Founder of the Phoenix Indian Center, Phoenix Indian Medical Center Aux., Phoenix Indian Senior Center, Founder of the Arizona Territory Gourd Society and the American Indian Veterans Memorial Organization (AIVMO)

Ken Childers

Age 64 Left us Feb 4, 2005

Muskogee Creek Nation of Oklahoma, Navy Veteran, 5 times Speaker of the House of the Creek Nation, Rodeo Cowboy, Bull Rider, Director of Indian Education for Coweda Oklahoma Schools for 27 years, Elected as Councilman for the District of OK, TX, LA & AR for Cherokee River Indian Community, friend to all he met and enemy to few

Mr. Ernest Childers a Muskogee of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Ken Childers Uncle and the first American Indian Medal of Honor recipient of WWII. Mr. Childers was a friend of Cherokee River Indian Community and became a community member at his own request in 2003

Mr. Dan French, 84, a Maricopa Indian Elder and friend of Vice-chairman Steve Bison a WWII Veteran and founding member of the Pee-Posh Veterans Association in District 7, Gila River Indian Community.

Served with the 158th Bushmasters and the 45th Division Passed 2003

Mr. Ralph Cameron, a Maricopa Indian (Pee-Posh) 85,passed away in the Gila River Care Home summer 2004. Ralph was a friend of Steve Bison and Vernon Jay. Ralph Cameron a Maricopa Elder, taught Maricopa history and language classes to children and was a WWII veteran serving with the 158th Bushmasters and the 45th Division. Ralph was a founding member of the Pee-Posh Veterans Association. Ralph’s son Leroy who passed before his father donated six recordings of his fathers teachings and stories to the Labriola National American Indian Data Center at Arizona State University in Tempe.

Mr. Frank Bell, 56,a Choctaw Indian born in McAllister, Oklahoma. Frank was a friend of Steve Bison and Vernon Jay. He served his country as a Marine in Viet Nam and returned home to live in Gila River Indian Community, Arizona.  Frank was a founding member of the Pee-Posh Veterans Association and a member of the Arizona Territory Gourd Society.  Frank passed in 2002

Vine Victor Deloria Jr., 1933-2005

 

Standing Rock Sioux Champion of Indian Rights and one of the most outspoken figures in promoting Indian cultural nationalism crossed over on Sunday November 20, 2005 at the age of 72.

 

The following is a list of the books that Professor Vine Deloria Jr. wrote.  Each and every one is a jewel that should be cherished by every Native American Indian who loves his family and his heritage.

 

Aggressions of civilization : federal Indian policy since the 1880s

American Indian policy in the twentieth century

American Indians, American justice

Behind the Trail of Broken Treaties : an Indian declaration of independence

A Better Day for Indians

A brief history of the Federal responsibility to the American Indian

Custer died for your sins : an Indian manifesto

For this land : writings on religion in America

Frank Waters : man and mystic

God is red : a native view of religion

The Indian affair

Indians of the Pacific Northwest

The metaphysics of modern existence

The nations within : the past and future of American Indian sovereignty

Of utmost good faith

Red earth, white lies : Native Americans and the myth of scientific fact

The red man in the new world drama ; a politico-legal study with a pageantry of American Indian history

Reminiscences of Vine V. Deloria, Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota

The right to know : a paper

A sender of words : essays in memory of John G. Neihardt

Singing for a spirit : a portrait of the Dakota Sioux

Spirit and reason : the Vine Deloria, Jr., reader

Wilkins, David E.. Tribes, treaties, and constitutional tribulations

We talk, you listen; new tribes, new turf

 

Kenny Yakatonapah passed in 2003 he was an Army then Marine Corps Veteran and highly decorated for his wartime service.  Kenny was a commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Tempe Arizona and an honored Elder of the Comanche Tribe of Oklahoma. 

I, Steven Bison, can truly say that Kenny was one of the few persons on this earth I would trust with my life and he will be missed by many.

Don Christy

 

The president of the Hogohegee Consumer Wellness Center passed away on December 26, 2006 at the age of 61.

Born Oct 7, 1944, Don is an Air Force Veteran who served in Viet Nam and spent his lifetime defending other veterans who suffered, as he did, from the effects of war.

Don loved his Cherokee heritage and spent nearly every waking hour either working on his poetry or with his grandchildren teaching them to laugh and enjoy the gift of life.

 

Don had a big smile for everyone he met and even when he was angry it was difficult not to love this man.   One of my Elders taught me that one of the greatest honors one can give to another is to tell them they have been missed.

Don, WE WILL MISS YOU!