For the Friends and Relatives of Phil Lane Sr ~Born in Wakpala, SD, January 11, 1915
Today was a tear-filled day for me. Unexpectedly, in a spiritual way, my beloved father came to spend the day with me on his 102nd Birthday. His spirit is still very close to me as I prepare to sleep.
He shared many memories with me and asked me to call some of his old Tahansi's and other relatives, who I had not spoken to for many years. He assured me that he, my beloved mother and other relatives and friends would greet me when I arrive at the Other Side Camp. He told me to make the last part of my journey in this physical world, the very best I could. He apologized again to me for being very tough on me, at times, when I was growing up and for the mistakes he made as my father.
He expressed his undying love to all his beloved friends, relatives and especially his grandchildren and beyond. Therefore I openly share this with his friends and relatives with the understanding that some may read this, who do not know or love him or myself may think I am crazy or this is an illusion, but my father has demonstrated to me today, without question, that there is an "Other Side Camp" and that the Spiritual World and our Ancestors are closer than our closest vein.
I do not apologize for remembering my father with so much love and passion and for holding him up as my role model. If I can achieve just a small measure of the way he lived and died, I will leave this world with heartfelt thanksgiving.
I thank my sister Deloria and our dear sister Bobbi Connors for writing this obituary during the tear-filled days of my beloved father's passing to the Other Side Camp.
Thank you, Dad, for being with me today and touching me so deeply with your spirit!
Mato Gi, Brown Bear, Philip Nathan Lane, Sr. 1/11/15 - 3/29/04
After 89 well-lived winters, Mato Gi (Brown Bear), Philip N. Lane, Sr. passed to 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, Mato Gi 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.
Mato Gi told his good friend, Father Steve Woolley last fall 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, in Wakpala, on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. His parents were
Lyma Deloria and Fred Lane.
Mato Gi was raised by his grandfather, Philip Deloria (Tipi Sapa) after his mother died of tuberculosis when he was five and his father, shortly after, was murdered. In 1890, Tipi Sapa was the first Native American to become an ordained Episcopalian minister. As well, Tipi Sapa remained as a Chief of his Dakota Oyate until his death in 1936.
He served the people of Standing Rock for 40 years. Due to miraculous acts and long dedicated service to the People, Tipi Sapa's statue is enshrined on the High Alter of the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., as one of the Saints of the Ages.
Mato Gi 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 deeply treasured and faithfully practiced his traditional Dakota cultural and spiritual traditions and values even as he gently and quietly drew his last breath.
Mato Gi started his education at St. Elizabeth Mission School in Wakpala, SD. He then went on to Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, KS to finish his high school education. In 1994, Mato Gi received the Haskell Outstanding Alumni Award.
It was at Haskell where 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. He always said, " As soon as I saw her, I said that is the woman I am going to marry. True to his world, ten years after they met, he came to Oklahoma with his "horses," $2,000, a Degree in Forestry and a marriage proposal, coming to "claim what’s mine" he’d say. If you spent any time at all with Phil, you’d know that his life revolved around his family and most especially his sweetheart of 70 years, Bow.
At Haskell, Phil learned to box and fought his first fight, at 14, against a boxer from the Kansas City Athletic Club who was 31. At Haskell, he met his lifelong friend, Boots LaCourse, from the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Phil accompanied Boots home in 1934 after graduating from Haskell.
Mato Gi stayed in the Pacific Northwest, primarily due to the generous and warmhearted hospitality of the Umatilla and Warm Springs peoples. Coming from a buffalo culture himself, he appreciated the central role he saw the salmon playing in the lives of the Plateau people.
From Pendleton, he went to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. There he was employed with a Bureau of Indian Affairs survey crew during the "Indian Conservation Corp" era. His supervisor, Charlie Chester, suggested he go to Oregon State where he was a boxer on the varsity team for four 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, after graduating, Mato Gi served in the US Navy. He was eventually recruited to work on the Third Locks Project in the Panama Canal. He served on active duty in Panama from October 30, 1943, to April 23, 1946, with the Naval Air Corps and the SeaBees.
In 1948, he transferred to 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. He had "horse medicine." With his amazing understanding of horses, he won 5th in the world in Cow Cutting in 1982, on Bold Mount, one of his many championship horses. In 1990, at 75, he won the open championship, Area I National Cutting Horse Association, with his horse, Tivios Hired Hand.
Phil had over 250 amateur and professional fights spanning 18 years. At Oregon State, he was the runner-up of the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Lightweight Boxing Championship. In 1947, Phil won the All-Service Lightweight Boxing Champion, Panama, and Carribean Division. During the years when money was scarce, he fought professional fights under the names Billy Sunshine, Flash Gordon, Pug Lane, and the Kansas Express.
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 his Grandfather, at Standing Rock, in October and stayed until April.
The way Phil demonstrated the respect principle he inherited from his beloved old people was the way he cared for and took care of everything in his life. The way 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.
Mato Gi 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)?" This 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 the brothers at the Washington State Penitentiary. Phil cherished this service and still 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. For this effort, in 1984 he received the Governor’s Distinguished Volunteer Award and the State of Washington Certificate of Appreciation.
In 1975 Phil received the Baha’i Human Rights Award. In 1982 he was a founding member of the Four Worlds International Elders Council. In 1987 Phil received the Eli S. Parker Award from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). He and his beloved wife served on founding AISES Council of Elders until going to the spiritual world. Every year he looked forward, with great anticipation, to attending the AISES 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.
Mato Gi is lovingly remembered by his wife, Bow, his son Phil Jr. (Suthida), of Lethbridge, AB, daughter Deloria Bighorn (Jacob), of Duncan, BC, his son Michael Finnegan (Denise) of Snohomish, WA, and his Sister Jean Wallace (Norman). Phil deeply cherished his nineteen grandchildren, Shannon Lane, Lisa Brown Jordan, Gina Hensley , Joslynn Santa Cruz Deloria Lane-Many Grey Horses, Philip N. Lane, III, Dale Henderson (Nicole), Jordan Bighorn, Jelena Bighorn, Kai Bighorn, Tahirih Varner, Bahie Rassekh, Margo Hill (Tim), Regan Vaughn, Mikala Finnegan, Perry Tonasket, Lyda Nicholai, Brett Parker, and Amber Parker, his nine great-grandchildren, numerous cousins, nieces and nephews and their families.
In the Other Side, Camp Phil joins his sister Elizabeth and his brother Wilfred. Also his Koda's 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, Henry Spotted Eagle, 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, and Ken McCann.
We are unable to list all of Phil’s beloved friends–please know you are forever appreciated and remembered in his heart.
Wake - Friday, April 2nd from 7-10 PM
Herring Funeral Home
315 W. Alder
Walla Walla
Funeral - Saturday, April 3rd 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 the
American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES)
c/o Herring Funeral Home
315 W. Alder • Walla Walla, Wa. 99362
