In Mourning and Gratitude, the Blackfeet Nation Says Farewell to Its Leader
The New York Times
Over four days in Montana, members honored Chief Earl Old Person, who led the tribe and preserved its history for more than 60 years.
Throughout his life, Chief Earl Old Person of the Blackfeet Nation could be found in the Browning High School gym, always seated in the northwest corner of the bleachers and always in his blue, long-sleeved, buttoned shirt, cheering for his alma mater. But for his final trip into the gym, he was not in the stands. Instead, his coffin was placed directly on the court as mourners came to say goodbye.
Chief Old Person, the longest-serving tribally elected official in the United States, died on Oct. 13 at 92 after a long battle with cancer.
On Tuesday, the chief returned to the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana — home to nearly 10,000 tribal members — from a funeral home 160 miles south, beginning a four-day mourning period that closed the small northern town of Browning for three processions: when the chief was brought to the tribal council chambers, when he was moved the following day to the high school gym and, on Friday, after the funeral, when his body was brought to his family plot.
