Elder set example for others to follow

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A funeral celebrating the life of Josephine Crow Shoe was held at the Brocket Community Hall on Feb. 5.

Josephine and her husband Joe were spiritual leaders of the Peigan Nation (Blackfoot Confederacy).

Not only as Joe's wife, but as a holy woman in her own right, this wise, gentle, faithful soul committed herself to see to the betterment of her tribal community, and to nurture its survival.

She passed into the Spirit World on Jan. 31, 2002 at age 84. Josephine had attended a residential school on the reserve.

Her marriage to Joe was the last of the arranged marriages among members of the Peigan Nation. He was an ordained Anglican minister, and she was his partner.

Josephine's daughter, Margaret Jackson, said Josephine was descended from Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Nation, which in the late 19th century was dispersed throughout Idaho, Oregon and Washington states. Josephine's father was among the group of Chief Joseph's relatives whom he sent across the international border between Montana and Alberta when the U.S. Army was persecuting Indians. They settled around Pincher Creek and the Peigan people took them in on their reserve.

When the Canadian government did a head count, the Nez Perce people said their name was "Warrior." That's how Josephine's father got to be named Joe Warrior.

"She's the last of that era, from that family," said Jackson. Her descendants, though, constitute a very big family that today extends up to Saddle Lake.

Josephine was respected as a woman of vision and peace, who sought always to do what she could to build bridges to move people toward reconciliation.

She was the host of two Sundances, Jackson said. She was also the custodian of two ceremonial bundles (one of them more than two thousand years old).

"She was one of the last true Blackfoot women that put up a Sundance," said Jackson.

She was revered by her people for her virtue, her courage, her wisdom, and the depth of her spirit.

As true international ambassadors, Josephine and Joe visited the people of Mongolia, and later met with the Maori in New Zealand, in an effort to deepen contacts between Indigenous people, and they exchanged ceremonial gifts.

Josephine came, despite her age and health, to cross-cultural gatherings as an ambassador who wanted so much to reach out to others. She listened carefully, spoke wisely, and had about her a wonderful sense of joy.

The government of Canada recognized Josephine with the Order of Canada in 1991.

"It was because of her commitment and dedication to preserving Aboriginal culture and promoting the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people," said Jackson.

In 1998, Josephine also was recognized by the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation in the category of Heritage and Spirituality.