Had a bueatiful dream about my father last night. He was in the prime of his life. He smiled, looked deeply into my eyes, and said, " Son, go with it!" Then I woke up, and it was 4 AM. I will share this so those relatives who did not meet him can understand, a little bit, who he is.
My father was very, very tough in his discipline as I was growing up. It took me awhile, but I understand and am thankful today. He toughened me up for what I needed to face in my life. He loved to box, with over 250 Amatuer and Professional fights. He was also a street fighter, as I was in my youth.
I remember one of our trips back to Standing Rock when his Tahansi Sam Claymore told him that these three white guys had beaten up Uncle Sam. Without a pause, he left the Sherwood Ranch with Uncle Sam and Uncle Bob to the Silver Dolar Salon in Mobridge. Those three white guys were extremely sorry they ever ganged up on my Uncle Sam. My father did not like bullies!
I will never forget, not long before he died, he said," Son, if I had my life to live over again, I would never participate in any sport whose purpose was to hurt another human being. I realize it is time to leave behind the old warrior and street fighter and do my best to become a wise elder, but I still have some healing.
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Remembering beloved husband, father, grandfather, uncle, brother, and friend, PHILIP NATHAN LANE, SR. Mato Gi, Brown Bear 1/11/15 - 3/29/04
After 89 well-lived winters, Mato Gi (Brown Bear), Philip N. Lane, Sr., passed into the spiritual world on the beautiful spring morning of March 29, 2004. After joking, laughing, and eating a plate of his favorite pancakes made by his daughter Deloria, Brown Bear sat peacefully in his favorite chair and looked out over his beloved Mill Creek and the Blue Mountains.
Then in a moment, he was gone, his absence only noted by the tilt of his head. Last fall, he told his good friend, Father Steve Woolley, when he discussed his Dakota-Christian funeral celebration... "I will die in March!" In the winter of his life, he left in the new spring, as promised, leaving his relatives to cherish the life he lived so well.
Born to a long lineage of hereditary chiefs and spiritual leaders of the Magaska Ptesan Wicoti, White Swan People, Ihanktonwan Oyate, Yankton Sioux Tribe, Brown Bear was born on January 11, 1915, on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. His parents were Lyma Deloria and Fred Lane. He was raised mainly by his grandfather, Philip Deloria (Tipi Sapa). The latter was the first American Indian to become an ordained Episcopalian minister and remained chief of his Dakota people until he died in 1936. A Tipi Sapa statue was enshrined on the High Altar of the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. as one of the Hundred Saints of the Ages.
Brown Bear never lost his deep connection with his many cherished relatives in the Dakotas and made many visits with his family back to his beloved homeland throughout his lifetime. He always profoundly treasured and faithfully practiced his traditional Dakota cultural and spiritual traditions and values even as he gently and quietly drew his last breath.
He started his education at St. Elizabeth Mission School in Wakpala, SD. He then went to Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, KS, to finish his high school education. In 1994, he was given the Haskell Outstanding Alumni Award.
At Haskell, Phil met Lena Rose "Bow" Vale, a 13-year-old Chickasaw from Oklahoma who later became his wife. He always liked to tell about their meeting . . . he was 17, she was 13. Ten years after they met, he came to Oklahoma with $2,000 and a marriage proposal . . . coming to "claim what's mine," he'd say. If you spent any time with Phil, you'd know that his life revolved around his family, especially his sweetheart of 70 years, Bow.
Phil learned to box at Haskell and met his lifelong friend Boots LaCourse from the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Phil accompanied Boots home in 1934 after graduation. He stayed in the Pacific Northwest primarily due to the generous and warm-hearted hospitality of the Umatilla and Warm Springs people. Coming from a buffalo culture himself, he appreciated the central role he saw the salmon playing in the lives of Plateau people.
He went to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation from Pendleton, where he was employed with a Bureau of Indian Affairs survey crew. His supervisor Charlie Chester suggested he go to Oregon State, a boxer on the varsity team for 4 years. He graduated in 1941 with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry. Phil was honored by Oregon State University (OSU) with the E.B. Lemon Distinguished Alumni Award in 1992, the OSU Alumni Association's highest award, and the Forestry Alumni Association's Individual Achievement Award.
During World War II, he was recruited to work on the Third Locks Project in the Panama Canal. He served on active duty from October 30, 1943, to April 23, 1946, with the Naval Air Corps and the Seabees. In 1948, he transferred with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to McNary, Oregon. He worked in structural design on Columbia River dams and retired after 30 years in 1971. His innovative design for fish ladders led to saving migrating salmon, and his design of vertical locks merited two Presidential Citations from Lyndon B. Johnson.
Phil raised and trained quarter horses. Phil had "horse medicine." His exceptional understanding of his horses enabled him to win Sixth in the world in cow cutting in 1982 on Bold Mount, one of his many championship horses. In 1990 he won the open championship for Area 1 National Cutting Horse Association with Tivios Hired Hand.
Phil had over 250 amateur and professional fights spanning 18 years. He was the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Lightweight Boxing Championship runner-up at Oregon State. In 1947 he was the All-Service Lightweight Boxing Champion, Caribbean and Panama Canal Division. He fought professional fights under Billy Sunshine, Flash Gordon, Pug Lane, and the Kansas Express when money was scarce.
He always reminded us that we needed to "slow down." He cherished a real "Indian visit," telling the story about his grandfather Low Dog, a Custer battle veteran, who came to visit and stayed for six months.
Phil demonstrated the respect principle he inherited from his beloved old people through the way he cared for and took care of everything in his life. How he groomed his horses, kept up his machinery, tended his relationships, oiled his tack, and even swept his driveway was evidence of his respect for all living things.
He was completely enamored of children of all sizes and shapes. He insisted they all call him Lala (grandpa). He could play "make-believe" with the best of them. If you knew him, you heard him exclaim, "My friend," each time he ran into someone he knew.
One of Phil's very favorite sayings was, "Aren't we all the Children of One Father (the Creator) and one mother (the Earth)?" That sacred teaching guided him during a long career of volunteering. In 1946 he served on the Umatilla School Board and was Chairman from 1953-54.
In 1969 Phil Sr. and Phil Jr. established the first-ever Native American prison group in North America with brothers at the Washington State Penitentiary. Phil cherished this service and continued to be in close contact with the many brothers he worked with, who are now enjoying their freedom due to Phil's loving and wise influence. In 1984, he received the Governor's Distinguished Volunteer Award and the State of Washington Certificate of Appreciation for this effort.
In 1975 Phil received the Baha'i Human Rights Award. In 1982 he was a founding member of the Four Worlds International Elders Council. He received the Eli S. Parker Award from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) in 1987 and served on its Council of Elders until going to the spiritual world.
Every year he looked forward with great anticipation to attending the annual conference so he could share all his energy with students and old friends. Each one received a full measure of his love, attention, and encouragement.
Phil is lovingly remembered by his wife, Bow, at home, son Philip N. Lane, Jr. (Suthida), of Lethbridge, AB, daughter Deloria Bighorn (Jacob), of Duncan, BC, and son Michael Finnegan (Denise) of Snohomish, WA, Sister Jean Wallace (Norman), grandchildren Shannon Lane Seaver (Rick), Gina Hensley (Joey), Joslynn Santa Cruz (Kris), Deloria Lane-Many Grey Horses, Philip N. Lane, III, Dale Henderson (Nicole), Jordan Bighorn, Jelana Bighorn, Kai Bighorn, Tahirih Varner, Bahie Rassekh, Margo Hill (Tim), Regan Vaughn, Mikala Finnegan, Perry Tonasket, Lyda Nicholai, Brett Parker, and Amber Parker, 9 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews and their families. Phil joins his sister Elizabeth and his brother Wilfred at the Other Side Camp. Also, his adopted brothers Ben Pease Sr., Lionel Kinunwa, Bill Minthorn, and Winnie Loves War.
Pallbearers: Jordan Bighorn, Kai Bighorn, Dale Henderson, Kris Santa Cruz, Rick Seaver, Vic Johns, Michael Finnegan, Randy Scott, Steve Old Coyote, Darrell Wallace, Rob Wallace, Jacob Bighorn, Greg Mulhair, and Phil Lane, Jr.
Honorary Pallbearers: Vine Deloria Jr., Sam Deloria, Jiggs Johnson, Hap Johnson, Bob Barker, Bob Sherwood, Oliver Eagleman, Vernon Iron Cloud, Norm Wallace, Harold Belmont, Lee Brown, Ben Pease III, Bill Burke, Jim Roanhorse, James Vale, John Vale, Jack Hansen, Leon Kinunwa, Phil Lucas, Louis Parker, Antone Minthorn, Douglas Minthorn, Coop Cooper, Burt Hoare, Gary Zukov, Norbert Hill, Bob Whitman, Vince Two Eagles, Norman Conner, Bill Klein, Ken Frazier, Dave Grieb, Chuck Keeler, Dick Livingston, Phil LaCourse, Ken McCann.
We cannot list all of Phil's beloved friends–please know you are forever appreciated and remembered in his heart.
Wake - Friday, April 2 from 7-9pm Herring Funeral Home
315 W. Alder Walla Walla
Funeral - Saturday, April 3 at 2 pm St. Paul's Episcopal Church 323 Catherine St., Walla Walla
Burial - Milton Freewater Cemetery Cemetery Road
Dinner to follow
Instead of flowers, donations may be made to:
American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES)
c/o Herring Funeral Home 315 W. Alder • Walla Walla, Wa. 9936
Remembering beloved husband, father, grandfather, uncle, brother, and friend, PHILIP NATHAN LANE, SR. Mato Gi, Brown Bear 1/11/15 - 3/29/04
After 89 well-lived winters, Mato Gi (Brown Bear), Philip N. Lane, Sr., passed into the spiritual world on the beautiful spring morning of March 29, 2004. After joking, laughing, and eating a plate of his favorite pancakes made by his daughter Deloria, Brown Bear sat peacefully in his favorite chair and looked out over his beloved Mill Creek and the Blue Mountains.
Then in a moment, he was gone, his absence only noted by the tilt of his head. Last fall, he told his good friend, Father Steve Woolley, when he discussed his Dakota-Christian funeral celebration... "I will die in March!" In the winter of his life, he left in the new spring, as promised, leaving his relatives to cherish the life he lived so well.
Born to a long lineage of hereditary chiefs and spiritual leaders of the Magaska Ptesan Wicoti, White Swan People, Ihanktonwan Oyate, Yankton Sioux Tribe, Brown Bear was born on January 11, 1915, on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. His parents were Lyma Deloria and Fred Lane. He was raised mainly by his grandfather, Philip Deloria (Tipi Sapa). The latter was the first American Indian to become an ordained Episcopalian minister and remained chief of his Dakota people until he died in 1936. A Tipi Sapa statue was enshrined on the High Altar of the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. as one of the Hundred Saints of the Ages.
Brown Bear never lost his deep connection with his many cherished relatives in the Dakotas and made many visits with his family back to his beloved homeland throughout his lifetime. He always profoundly treasured and faithfully practiced his traditional Dakota cultural and spiritual traditions and values even as he gently and quietly drew his last breath.
He started his education at St. Elizabeth Mission School in Wakpala, SD. He then went to Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, KS, to finish his high school education. In 1994, he was given the Haskell Outstanding Alumni Award.
At Haskell, Phil met Lena Rose "Bow" Vale, a 13-year-old Chickasaw from Oklahoma who later became his wife. He always liked to tell about their meeting . . . he was 17, she was 13. Ten years after they met, he came to Oklahoma with $2,000 and a marriage proposal . . . coming to "claim what's mine," he'd say. If you spent any time with Phil, you'd know that his life revolved around his family, especially his sweetheart of 70 years, Bow.
Phil learned to box at Haskell and met his lifelong friend Boots LaCourse from the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Phil accompanied Boots home in 1934 after graduation. He stayed in the Pacific Northwest primarily due to the generous and warm-hearted hospitality of the Umatilla and Warm Springs people. Coming from a buffalo culture himself, he appreciated the central role he saw the salmon playing in the lives of Plateau people.
He went to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation from Pendleton, where he was employed with a Bureau of Indian Affairs survey crew. His supervisor Charlie Chester suggested he go to Oregon State, a boxer on the varsity team for 4 years. He graduated in 1941 with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry. Phil was honored by Oregon State University (OSU) with the E.B. Lemon Distinguished Alumni Award in 1992, the OSU Alumni Association's highest award, and the Forestry Alumni Association's Individual Achievement Award.
During World War II, he was recruited to work on the Third Locks Project in the Panama Canal. He served on active duty from October 30, 1943, to April 23, 1946, with the Naval Air Corps and the Seabees. In 1948, he transferred with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to McNary, Oregon. He worked in structural design on Columbia River dams and retired after 30 years in 1971. His innovative design for fish ladders led to saving migrating salmon, and his design of vertical locks merited two Presidential Citations from Lyndon B. Johnson.
Phil raised and trained quarter horses. Phil had "horse medicine." His exceptional understanding of his horses enabled him to win Sixth in the world in cow cutting in 1982 on Bold Mount, one of his many championship horses. In 1990 he won the open championship for Area 1 National Cutting Horse Association with Tivios Hired Hand.
Phil had over 250 amateur and professional fights spanning 18 years. He was the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Lightweight Boxing Championship runner-up at Oregon State. In 1947 he was the All-Service Lightweight Boxing Champion, Caribbean and Panama Canal Division. He fought professional fights under Billy Sunshine, Flash Gordon, Pug Lane, and the Kansas Express when money was scarce.
He always reminded us that we needed to "slow down." He cherished a real "Indian visit," telling the story about his grandfather Low Dog, a Custer battle veteran, who came to visit and stayed for six months.
Phil demonstrated the respect principle he inherited from his beloved old people through the way he cared for and took care of everything in his life. How he groomed his horses, kept up his machinery, tended his relationships, oiled his tack, and even swept his driveway was evidence of his respect for all living things.
He was completely enamored of children of all sizes and shapes. He insisted they all call him Lala (grandpa). He could play "make-believe" with the best of them. If you knew him, you heard him exclaim, "My friend," each time he ran into someone he knew.
One of Phil's very favorite sayings was, "Aren't we all the Children of One Father (the Creator) and one mother (the Earth)?" That sacred teaching guided him during a long career of volunteering. In 1946 he served on the Umatilla School Board and was Chairman from 1953-54.
In 1969 Phil Sr. and Phil Jr. established the first-ever Native American prison group in North America with brothers at the Washington State Penitentiary. Phil cherished this service and continued to be in close contact with the many brothers he worked with, who are now enjoying their freedom due to Phil's loving and wise influence. In 1984, he received the Governor's Distinguished Volunteer Award and the State of Washington Certificate of Appreciation for this effort.
In 1975 Phil received the Baha'i Human Rights Award. In 1982 he was a founding member of the Four Worlds International Elders Council. He received the Eli S. Parker Award from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) in 1987 and served on its Council of Elders until going to the spiritual world.
Every year he looked forward with great anticipation to attending the annual AISES conference so he could share all his energy with students and old friends. Each one received a full measure of his love, attention, and encouragement.
Phil is lovingly remembered by his wife, Bow, at home, son Philip N. Lane, Jr. (Suthida), of Lethbridge, AB, daughter Deloria Bighorn (Jacob), of Duncan, BC, and son Michael Finnegan (Denise) of Snohomish, WA, Sister Jean Wallace (Norman), grandchildren Shannon Lane Seaver (Rick), Gina Hensley (Joey), Joslynn Santa Cruz (Kris), Deloria Lane-Many Grey Horses, Philip N. Lane, III, Dale Henderson (Nicole), Jordan Bighorn, Jelana Bighorn, Kai Bighorn, Tahirih Varner, Bahie Rassekh, Margo Hill (Tim), Regan Vaughn, Mikala Finnegan, Perry Tonasket, Lyda Nicholai, Brett Parker, and Amber Parker, 9 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews and their families. Phil joins his sister Elizabeth and his brother Wilfred at the Other Side Camp. Also, his adopted brothers Ben Pease Sr., Lionel Kinunwa, Bill Minthorn, and Winnie Loves War.
Pallbearers: Jordan Bighorn, Kai Bighorn, Dale Henderson, Kris Santa Cruz, Rick Seaver, Vic Johns, Michael Finnegan, Randy Scott, Steve Old Coyote, Darrell Wallace, Rob Wallace, Jacob Bighorn, Greg Mulhair, and Phil Lane, Jr.
Honorary Pallbearers: Vine Deloria Jr., Sam Deloria, Jiggs Johnson, Hap Johnson, Bob Barker, Bob Sherwood, Oliver Eagleman, Vernon Iron Cloud, Norm Wallace, Harold Belmont, Lee Brown, Ben Pease III, Bill Burke, Jim Roanhorse, James Vale, John Vale, Jack Hansen, Leon Kinunwa, Phil Lucas, Louis Parker, Antone Minthorn, Douglas Minthorn, Coop Cooper, Burt Hoare, Gary Zukov, Norbert Hill, Bob Whitman, Vince Two Eagles, Norman Conner, Bill Klein, Ken Frazier, Dave Grieb, Chuck Keeler, Dick Livingston, Phil LaCourse, Ken McCann. We are truly unable to list all of Phil's beloved friends–please know you are forever appreciated and remembered in his heart.
Wake - Friday, April 2 from 7-9pm Herring Funeral Home
315 W. Alder Walla Walla
Funeral - Saturday, April 3 at 2 pm St. Paul's Episcopal Church 323 Catherine St., Walla Walla
Burial - Milton Freewater Cemetery Cemetery Road
Dinner to follow
Instead of flowers, donations may be made to:
American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES)
c/o Herring Funeral Home 315 W. Alder • Walla Walla, Wa. 9936
