Cherished Oglala elder passes on

[Historian]

It is with a sad heart that I let you know that a cherished Oglala Lakota elder and relation, Celeste Brings, never regained conciousness from her diabetic coma, and passed on yesterday (Monday, July 16th, at 9:40am). Funeral arrangements are still pending. She was 83.

Celeste was the daughter of Ben Clown Horse and Julia Dirt Kettle, both of Pine Ridge. After her parents divorced, Celeste's mom remarried George Plenty Wolf, also of Pine Ridge.

Celeste married Owen Brings and together they had five children. Linda (deceased), Harriet of Rapid City, Sandra, Sedona and Tom, all of Pine Ridge.

Should you wish to send cards of sympathy for the Brings family, or should you wish to contribute money or gifts that may be used for her Memorial give-away and dinner a year from now, they can be sent in care of:

Sedona Brings
P.O. Box 2003
Pine Ridge, SD 57770

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

[Lakota Wiyan]

Those are some really old and well respected names. I think it's a terrible loss for our tribe, but at some point, we have to be able to let these elders return to the people of their youth, and let them move on. When they are as loved and cherished as Celeste will always be, it's with a sad, but thankful heart, that we send them home, thankful for the lessons and the gifts they gave us, and thankful for the time they shared with all of us. THis past 12 months has been hard for the Oglala people, what with losing John Around Him, Nellie Two Bulls, Celeste Brings, and several other notable elders, but we have to have faith that the people still with us will take up the position and continue to encourage us as family and as an Oyate.

[Historian]

Those are some really old and well respected names. I think it's a terrible loss for our tribe, but at some point, we have to be able to let these elders return to the people of their youth, and let them move on. When they are as loved and cherished as Celeste will always be, it's with a sad, but thankful heart, that we send them home, thankful for the lessons and the gifts they gave us, and thankful for the time they shared with all of us. THis past 12 months has been hard for the Oglala people, what with losing John Around Him, Nellie Two Bulls, Celeste Brings, and several other notable elders, but we have to have faith that the people still with us will take up the position and continue to encourage us as family and as an Oyate.

Pila'mayaye

[Historian]

Celeste S. Brings

PINE RIDGE, SD - Celeste S. Brings, 83, died Monday, July 16, 2007, at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Survivors include one son, Thomas Brings, Pine Ridge; three daughters, Sedona Brings and Sandra Brings, both of Pine Ridge, and Harriett Brings, Rapid City; one brother, Basil Plenty Wolf, Pine Ridge; two sisters, Marie Red Cloud, Pine Ridge and Marlis Clown Horse, Scottsbluff, Neb.; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. A one-night wake service will begin at 5 p.m. Monday, July 23, at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Pine Ridge. Services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 24, at the church with the Rev. Abraham Tobacco and Charles McGaa officiating. Burial will be at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Cemetery in Slim Buttes. Sioux Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Published in the Rapid City Journal on 7/18/2007.