In Remembrance of Elouise Cobell


In Remembrance of Elouise Cobell, who passed from complications with cancer, Sunday, October 16, 2011, in Great Falls, Montana. She was 65. Elouise was born a great granddaughter of the famous leader Mountain Chief. She grew up with seven brothers and sisters on the Blackfeet reservation. Elouise was also a banker and a rancher. She served as a trustee of the National Museum of the American Indian. Elouise was the lead plaintiff in the Indian Trust Settlement, and was a longtime champion of Indian rights. She dedicated the last fifteen years of her life to obtaining justice for Native Americans.

Asked what she wanted her legacy to be, Elouise Cobell said in a 2010 interview with The Associated Press that she hoped she would inspire a new generation of Native Americans to fight for the rights of others and lift their community out of poverty. Cobell said, "I never started this case with any intentions of being a hero. I just wanted this case to give justice to people that didn't have it."

President Barack Obama released a statement that said Cobell's work provided a measure of justice to hundreds of thousands of Native Americans, will give more people access to higher education, and will give tribes more control over their own lands. The statement continued: "Elouise helped to strengthen the government to government relationship with Indian Country, and our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family and all those who mourn her passing."

Elouise is survived by her husband, Alvin; her only son, Turk, along with his wife Bobbie and their children Olivia and Gabriella; brother Dale Pepion; sisters Julene Kennerly, Joy Ketah and Karen Powell.

Elouise Cobell will be remembered as an extraordinary person as well as a warrior and uncommon leader. Elouise drew the line in the sand and told the government "no longer, no further, and no more." Against seemingly insurmountable odds, she never backed down in her selfless fight for justice for the most vulnerable people in this country and concluded this long-running case for the largest settlement involving the government in American history. A true hero is gone today and everyone should be thankful for her sacrifice and enduring spirit. We may never see the likes of her again. And, while Elouise did not live to see the fruits of her labor, she saw over the horizon to a better world for all individual Indians.

Elouise Cobell

The Washington Post

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