REMEMBERING THE LIFE OF MATO GI, BROWN BEAR, PHILIP NATHAN LANE SR.
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, 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. He told his good friend, Father Steve Woolley last fall, when he discussed his Dakota-Christian funeral celebration... "I will die in the Spring, 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, Ihanktowan Oyate, Yankton Sioux Tribe, Brown Bear was born on January 11, 1915 on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. His parents were Lima Deloria and Fred Lane.
He was largely raised by his grandfather, Philip Deloria (Tipi Sapa), who was the first American Indian to become an ordained Episcopalian minister as well as remained as one of Hereditary Chiefs of his Dakota people until his death in 1936. A statue of Tipi Sapa was enshrined on the High Alter 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 deeply 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 on to Haskell Indian School in Lawrence, KS, 1927 to finish his high school education. In 1994, he was given 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.
"The moment I saw Bow, I said to myself that is the woman I am going to marry!
Ten years after they met, true to his words, he came to Oklahoma with $2,000, a hard earned University 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 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, largely due to 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 Plateau peoples.
From Pendleton he went to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, where he was employed with a Bureau of Indian Affairs survey crew. His supervisor Charlie Chester suggested he go to Oregon State where he was 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." He had such an amazing understanding with his horses, which 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 I National Cutting Horse Association with 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 he was the All-Service Lightweight Boxing Champion, Panama Canal and Division and Caribbean Command. 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 Deloria and stayed for 6 months.He had many stories to tell of those two old men, as it was his role was to stay up with them, every night, as they visited,preparing the tobacco and pipe for smoking, when requested.
The way Phil demonstrated the respect principle he inherited from his beloved old people was through 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. 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 1948, he was elected to serve 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. 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 familes. At the other side camp Phil joins his sister Elizabeth, his brother Wilfred and his Tahanshi Henry Spotted Eagle. Also his adopted brothers Ben Pease Sr., Lionel Kinunwa, Bill Minthorn, and Winnie Loves War.
Pallbearers: Jordan Bighorn , Kai Lane Bighorn , Dale R. Henderson , Kris Santa Cruz, Rick Seaver, Vic Johns, Michael Finnegan, Randy Scott, Steve Old Coyote, Darrell Wallace, John Harrington, Rob Wallace, Jacob Bighorn, Lee Brown, 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, Tommy Wallace, Harold Belmont, 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 Hill, Bob Whitman, Vince Two Eagles, Norman Conner, Bill Klein, Ken Frazier, David 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 2nd from 7-9pm
Herring Funeral Home
315 W. Alder
Walla Walla
Funeral - Saturday, April 3rd at 2pm
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
323 Catherine St.
Walla Walla
Burial - Milton Freewater Cemetery
Cemetery Road
Dinner to follow
In lieu of flowers, donations maybe made to:
American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES)
c/o Herring Funeral Home
315 W. Alder • Walla Walla, Wa. 99362
