Michael Anthony Oman “Brother Bear”

Michael Anthony Oman “Brother Bear”, born April 24, 1990 in Arlington, Washington, passed away July 24, 2013.

Michael enjoyed his music and loved spending time with his children and family.

He leaves behind his mother, Audrey Beck; step mother, Laura Candey-Walker; sisters, Samantha Craig, and Misty Craig; step siblings, Kelly Candey, Clifford Candey; his children, who were his Pride and Joy, Kioni Oman and Chloe Oman.

He was preceded in death by his father, Donny Oman; grandmothers. and Barbera Craig and Shirley A. Munger.

Michael was loved by many and will truly be missed by all.

A visitation will be held Monday, July 29, 2013, 1 p.m., at Schaefer-Shipman with an interfaith service following at the Tulalip Tribal Center at 6 p.m. Funeral Services will be held Tuesday July 30, 2013 at 10 a.m., Tulalip Tribal Gym with burial following at Mission Beach Cemetery.

Daniel Michael Michell

Daniel MichellDaniel Michael Michell “Sun-Son” passed away on July 16, 2013 surrounded by his loving family and friends.

Sun-Son enjoyed making dream catchers and eagle feather arts. He also loved drawing native art designs. He worked at the Marina, enjoyed fishing, cooking and listening to ACDC and Metallica Music. He babysat his nieces and nephew and was a great Father and Grandpa. He will be missed by many family and friends and most especially The Brew Crew.
Sun-Son leaves behind his son, Sandy Waters; daughter-in-law, Panko; and grandson, Wyatt. He also leaves behind his father, Louie; step-mother, Denise Michell; sisters, Trudy (Alex), Sherry Poo (Mark); brothers, Billy Bear (Theresa) and Nate Nate; grandparents, Louie and Mabel Michell, Vincent and Mary Agnes; and numerous nieces, nephew, uncles and aunts.
He now joins his mother Emily Michell (March 20, 2012); and sister, Patricia Michell (March 7, 1968)
Visitation was held on Monday July 22, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. and service at 10:00 a.m. at Schaefer-Shipman Funeral Home 804 State Ave Marysville, WA.
Special Thanks goes to his cousin Sid Alex for helping out with all the arrangements.

Myron Astsosie Begay Sr.

Myron-Begay

Myron Astsosie Begay Sr.
Born November 16, 1960
Died July 16, 2013

Myron was an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and grew up in New Mexico, attended Haskell Indian College where he met Jo Ann Patrick, after college they married and started a family; they were married for 26 years.

Myron worked in the Tulalip Poker room for many years.
Myron passed away unexpectedly at his Tulalip home, he leaves behind his wife, Jo Ann; two aunts, Leta and Mary; brothers, Anthony Smith, Mike Smith, Robin Smith, Bernie Williams III and Francis Williams, Sr.; two sisters, Debbie and Carmelita; and his sons, Myron Begay, Jr., Nathan Begay, Daniel Begay, Sundance Begay, Eagle Begay. Myron and JoAnn opened their home to many of their sons’ friends, many they considered their kids as well.

Myron and JoAnn have two granddaughters, Dorothy Williams and Patricia Alice Begay Contraro.

Services will be held at Schaefer Shipman funeral home. A Viewing will be held Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 6 p.m. with Services on Friday, July 19, 2013 at 8 a.m. Final resting place at Tulalip cemetery.

 

Eric Eugene Lindhorst

Eric-Lindhorst

Eric Eugene Lindhorst was born on November 21, 1969 in Santa Barbara, California and went home to be with his Lord on June 22, 2013. Eric was a loving and caring man remembered for his quick wit and sense of humor. He was most always found with a fishing pole in his hand or on the back of a dirt bike.
Eric leaves behind his mother and father, Carrol and Wayne Lindhorst; his daughter, Makena “Alexxus” Compoc; his sons, Andrew, Eric and Christian Lindhorst and Anthony Fryberg. He leaves behind his sister, Niki Lindhorst; and brothers, Tony Perry (Lori) and Shawn (Noelle) and Britt (Jeannie) Lindhorst. He also leaves behind to mourn his passing, Leonie Lindhorst, Karri Curtis and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.
He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Ross and Margaret Lindhorst and Clarence and Evelyn Moser.
Services were held at Tulalip Church of God (Little Red Church) on Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at 10 a.m.
Services entrusted by Schaefer-Shipman Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the Tulalip Cedar Taskforce in memory of Erik Lindhorst, 6406 Marine Dr., Tulalip, WA 98271.

Joseph Aleck Sr.

Joseph AleckJoseph Aleck Sr. was born October 30, 1953 in Snoqualmie, WA to Margaret and Levi Aleck. He passed away at home surrounded by his loving family on June 19, 2013.
He leaves behind his loving wife of 38 years, Leah; children, Heather, Raymona, Joseph Jr., James, Kenneth; grandchildren, Jerry, Leah, Michael, Madeline, Tyrel, Mikylia, Santyna, Kenneth Jr., Juneen; parents,
Margaret and Levi; siblings, Tony, Bev, Christine, Mary and Levi Jr.; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by grandchildren, Markel and Vincent.
Joseph was a loving husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, uncle, and he will be missed by many.
A visitation will be held Monday, June 24, 2013, 1 p.m., at Schaefer-Shipman with an interfaith service following at the Tulalip Tribal Center at 6 p.m. Funeral Services will be held Tuesday June 25, 2013 at 10 a.m., Tulalip Tribal Gym with burial following at Fall City Cemetery.

Kathleen “Kaye Kathy” Queen

Kathleen-QueenKathleen “Kaye Kathy” Queen

Kathy Queen was born July 26, 1941 to Eugene and Alice (Brown) Joseph. She passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her
loving family on June 6, 2013.
Some of the things she loved were camping, traveling to Reno, working her fireworks and concession stands, working for Tulalip building maintenance ,raising her grandchildren and spending time with family.
She leaves behind her loving husband of 46 years, Troy; children, Mike Johnson, David (Darlene) Johnson, Donna Chambers,
Daniel “Sauki” Queen; sisters, Mary Fryberg, Faye (Ed) Cox; and several grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
A visitation will be held Monday, June 10, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. at Schaefer-Shipman with an interfaith service following at the Tulalip Tribal Center at 6:00 p.m. Funeral Services will be held Tuesday June 11, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. at the Tulalip Tribal Gym with burial following at Mission Beach Cemetery.

Wayne Harold Craig

0001819861-01-1_20130509Wayne Harold Craig of Tulalip, WA passed away on May 5, 2013. He graduated from Marysville High School in 1967.
Wayne is survived by his partner of 30 years, Clarice Moses; brother, Terry Craig; sister, Sally Gibbons; daughter, Rachel; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death byhis parents, Clarence and Norah Craig; and brothers, Tom and Tim.
Funeral service will be held May 10, 2013 10:00 a.m. at Schaefer-Shipman Funeral Home 804 State Ave. Marysville, WA. 98270. Burial will follow at Mission Beach Cemetery.

Lummi Master Weaver Fran James Walks On

By Richard Walker,  Indian Country Today Media Network

Love was the common thread in everything Fran James did, whether serving her faith, hosting an unexpected guest, passing on a teaching, or weaving a basket, hat, robe or shawl.

She loved God and worshipped regularly at St. Joachim’s Church, where her passing was mourned May 2. She loved her Coast Salish culture, and taught countless others how to weave using cedar fiber, bear grass, or mountain goat wool. She shared her life and knowledge with everyone and taught all that wanted to learn, family members said. And she loved the company of others; her home was constantly abuzz with visitors.

“You have to ask why she always had so many people around her, what’s the magic,” said Darrell Hillaire, former chairman of the Lummi Nation. “The magic was ordinary love.”

Her view of how to live was simple: Love God. Love others. Don’t gossip. Keep your hands busy. Do your best.

“Her passing has left a void. The fabric that joins us together has weakened,” said Richard Jefferson, a nephew. “But because of all who learned from her, the fabric will grow strong again.”

James, who was known by her Lummi name, Che top ie, and by most people as Auntie Fran, walked on April 28 after surgery for a blocked artery. She was 88.

On May 2, a procession escorted her body six miles from Moles Funeral Home in Ferndale, Washington to St. Joachim’s Church on the Lummi reservation. Pallbearers carried her coffin up the flower-lined steps of the 1861 church, led by drummers and singers. Overflow seating was provided outside, with the funeral Mass shown on two screens.

After Mass, the funeral moved on to the Lummi Nation Cemetery. One by one, mourners dropped handfuls of dirt into the grave and offered hugs and words of comfort to the family. There was a mix of Native songs and Christian hymns, a melding of her faith and her culture. A priest said James had long prayed for the canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha, saying, “She was not only a devout Catholic, she was a devout Native American and wanted to see those two things together.”

The family hosted lunch at the Wexliem Community Building. Love offerings were made to the family, and the family gave gifts to all guests; among the gifts were art prints, beaded necklaces, and bundles of James’s fabric tied with a strand of spun wool—a reference to James’s favorite saying, “Weaving together the fabric of our lives.”

She was born Frances Gladys Lane on May 20, 1925 on Portage Island, Washington. She was raised by her grandmother there, where they raised 500 head of sheep. Her grandmother knitted and sold socks for about 25 cents a pair. Fran learned to spin and knit from her grandmother at the age of 9. She also learned to gather traditional materials and became a master weaver. Her work included twill-plaited cedar and cherry fiber bags; cedar and bear grass baskets of all shapes and uses; cedar hats; split and braided mats of cattail or cedar; elegant blankets and robes of handspun, twill-woven mountain goat or sheep wool.

She taught basketry and weaving at Northwest Indian College. She was a guest artist and instructor until her passing; events and venues included the annual Gathering of Native Artists at the Skagit County Historical Museum, the Northwest Native American Basketweavers Association, and the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, which houses a collection of her work. Her work is shown in major Northwest galleries, among them Stonington Gallery in Seattle and Arctic Raven Gallery in the San Juan Islands.

Today, James and her son, Bill—a well-known artist and hereditary chief of the Lummi Nation—are credited with reviving and continuing the traditional weaving skills of the Lummi people. In 1990, the Washington State Historical Society presented Fran and Bill James with the Peace and Freedom Award for “[advancing] public understanding of the cultural diversity of the peoples of Washington state.” In 2002, Fran James was inducted into the Northwest Women’s Hall of Fame as “a nationally recognized Native American artist.”

Theresa Parker, Makah/Lummi, a niece, told of learning how to weave from her Aunt Fran.

“I used to love watching her weave with wool,” Parker said. “I told her, ‘We only have two or three wool weavers down here [at Makah]. That’s something we’re lacking.’ She said, ‘You can come up here anytime.’ ”

During one visit, James had acquired wool from 28 shears, each weighing 5 to 8 pounds. “We washed the wool and laid it out to dry in the back yard. It was such a sight, I’ll never forget that,” Parker said.

One of the sheep that had been sheared was named Henry; he was considered spoiled because his owner allowed him to wander wherever he pleased. As a result, his wool often had burrs that had to be removed.

Midway into removing the troublesome burrs, James told her niece, “Whenever you’re having a rough day, just remember Henry and you’ll get through it.”

In his eulogy at St. Joachim’s Church, Jefferson said his aunt’s work ethic made an indelible impression. He told of a time he and his sons took a load of wood to Aunt Fran’s home. She pointed to the place where she wanted it unloaded, and told them she’d stack it later.

“I was amazed. She was in her 80s then, but that’s how she was,” he said. “She wasn’t afraid of hard work. She was strong, confident and proud.”

Amid that indefatigable energy was humility. The Rev. Khanh Nguyen, pastor of St. Joachim’s Church, said James “put a lot of time and energy into the church. But she didn’t tell you about it. She never said, ‘I did this.’ ”

Throughout the day, people shared with each other what they learned from Aunt Fran, how her legacy will live on through those who follow her example and teachings.

Hillaire said James was not one for idle time or gossip. She only had good things to say about others, and would always end a thought about someone else with “God bless their heart.”

“Her legacy will live on through us and the lives we lead,” she said.

Addressing the vast crowd that gathered graveside to honor his aunt, Jefferson spoke of the importance of spending time and sharing love with others, as his Aunt Fran did. “Don’t let them be alone, go share a meal with them,” he said. “You have those teachings. Follow through.”

Fran James is survived by her son; sisters, Ernestine Gensaw, Rena Ballew, and Beverly Cagey; and numerous nieces and nephews. Her memorial program said she was also “culturally survived by many sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, grandkids, and great-grandkids.”

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/05/06/lummi-master-weaver-fran-james-walks-149230

Native American activist Horse Capture dies

Native American activist, curator and professor George Horse Capture has died in Great Falls. He was 75.

The Associated Press

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Native American activist, curator and professor George Horse Capture has died in Great Falls. He was 75.

Horse Capture, a member of the Gros Ventre tribe, died April 16 of kidney failure, his family said.

Horse Capture was an author, archivist and curator at the Plains Indian Museum at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo. He served as assistant professor at Montana State University, taught at the College of Great Falls and worked for the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian.

But his foremost passion was for the Gros Ventre – also known as the A’ani, or White Clay People.

“What he did in his life, he did for his tribe,” Kay Karol said of her husband. “He wasn’t looking for fame or fortune. He was looking for a positive response for Indian people in a white world that still can be pretty discriminating.”

Horse Capture was one of hundreds of protesters who filled the abandoned prison grounds of Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay in 1969, while 14 Native American protesters occupied the prison itself, the Great Falls Tribune reported (http://gftrib.com/18cwBXt).

The protesters demanded the U.S. government’s acknowledgement of its broken promises to Native Americans.

“I had to be part of it,” Horse Capture later told his friend Herman Viola. “I realized that history was being made. This was the first time tribes from across the country had gotten together for a cause – our cause.”

Horse Capture was born in 1937 and spent his early childhood in poverty on Montana’s Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. He moved to Butte as a teenager to live with his mother.

After graduating from high school, Horse Capture enlisted in the Navy. He later moved to Los Angeles, got married, began raising a family and was hired as state steel inspector for California’s Department of Water Resources.

Then the Alcatraz Island protest happened. Horse Capture wasn’t there for the entire 19 months the prison was occupied, but he said the experience still changed his life.

Horse Capture resigned from his job and enrolled in the Indian Studies program at University of California-Berkley. He became an intern at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., which was then working to develop its tribal archives.

Horse Capture went on to receive his master’s degree at Montana State University. In 1979, he was hired as the first curator of the Plains Indian Museum.

His passion was tracking down the lost artifacts of the Gros Ventre that museums and private collectors had snapped up. He located and cataloged as many of those artifacts as he could.

In 1994, Horse Capture was selected as deputy assistant director for cultural resources at the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian, where he was determined to make it a museum for Native peoples, not just about them.

“He was really putting this out for Indian people to take pride in the beauty and richness of their culture and traditions,” said Viola, now curator emeritus for the museum.

As he got older, diabetes and a weak heart began to slow Horse Capture down. But he finished his A’ani Tribal Archive Project, a massive digital collection of words, photographs and audio recordings.

In early February, at the age of 75, Horse Capture presented his work for and to the A’ani people, as well as to various institutions of higher learning across the United States.

He died two months later and was buried April 21 at Fort Belknap.

Information from: Great Falls Tribune, http://www.greatfallstribune.com

Lummi Nation mourns Fran James, elder and weaver

Published: April 30, 2013

 By JOHN STARK — THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

 

LUMMI RESERVATION — Those who knew Fran James well used the same word to describe her: humble.

James, a renowned weaver who shared her skills with her Lummi Nation community and many others, died April 28 at 88. She was widely known as “Auntie Fran.”

“She definitely gave more than she received,” said Darrell Hillaire, a former chairman of the Lummi Indian Business Council. “She definitely decided to share her life with the world, and through her weaving she was able to do that. … She thought that was representative of weaving our lives together.”

Hillaire and others said James taught a lot more than weaving. Her life itself was an example — a life that Hillaire described as “pure, simple, hard-working and generous.”

“She did those first things in order to be the last thing,” Hillaire said. “She gave everything, most importantly her time. She treated everyone with respect. … She always said that people should keep their hands busy. It kept them out of mischief.”

James’ weavings have appeared at the Seattle Art Museum, and are for sale at the Stonington Gallery in Seattle. She and her son Bill James, traditional hereditary chief of the Lummi people, have played an important role in keeping weaving and other traditional practices alive.

Makah Nation weaver Carl Irving credited Fran James with inspiring new generations to carry on the weaving tradition. Tribal communities from Alaska to California are mourning her passing, he said.

“It is because of her encouragement that I became the weaver I am,” Irving said. “She is the one who told me, ‘You keep going! You keep going!’ There are numerous lives she has touched — uncountable. … It’s like losing the Queen of England to the British people, that’s how big of a loss it is to us. They don’t make them like that anymore.”

Lummi Nation member Freddy Lane said he made a point of dropping by James’ home to share his catch every time he went clamming.

“She’d shake my hand and give me a little bit of gas money,” Lane said. “Every year we would have a clambake for her.”

Once, Lane said, Auntie Fran told an acquaintance that he had been doing his clambakes wrong.

“She said, ‘You’re using the wrong kind of seaweed. You’ve got to use the lettuce, the really light green seaweed.'”

As Lane explained it, a traditional clambake on the beach uses rocks in a pit, heated with a wood fire. The big horse clams are piled in first, with smaller butter and steamer clams on top. Then the whole thing is covered with seaweed while the clams cook.”

The different seaweed has a different taste and it salts them differently,” Lane said, adding that the first time he tried it Auntie Fran’s way, “The clams were exquisite.”

Shirley Bob, a niece, said she never knew her Auntie Fran to hold a grudge against anyone.

“She taught me a lot, just the way she carried herself, being humble and kind to everybody,” Bob said. “She showed me how to knit. She showed me how to do baskets. She would say, ‘Love love!’ That meant she loved us. I’m going to miss that.”