Unci Grandmother

Star quilts and Pendleton blankets
 Line the walls
Tables filled with flowers,
Candles, cards, and cakes.
Tables holding precious memories
Pictures of family and
Glass angels.

Takojas (grandchildren)
Speak with broken voices
Of the grandmother (Unci)
They knew
The grandmother that helped
To raise them
“The only time we ever saw
Her cry was when we fought.”
The words of her grandson.

She was a strong woman.
Serving on tribal council
Fighting for better health care
Fighting for better education
For her children and grandchildren
Fighting for her culture
Words from
The Wisdom Keepers Society

She was a spiritual woman.
She went to ceremony
And then she went to mass.
She intertwined both native beliefs
And Christianity.

She loved one man
For 56 years
With him she had five children
He renewed his wedding vows to her
The night before her funeral.

Twenty-one grandchildren and
Forty-eight great-grandchildren
Are her legacy.

Lil Manthei