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Katherine C. Pearson, Editor, and a Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network on LexBlog.com

Not elder law:The oldest member of the Kiowa Tribe has passed away

By Elder Law Prof Blog

From the Native American Times On-Line:  Kiowalogo3

The oldest member of the Kiowa Tribe has passed away at the age of 101.

Carrie Sahmaunt died Jan. 15 at her home in the Oklahoma town of Meers.

“She was a beautiful person,” Kiowa spokeswoman Martha Koomsa-Perez told the Native American Times. “She was an inspiration to others.”   Sahmaunt’s funeral took place Jan. 18 at the Mt. Scott Kiowa United Methodist Church near Lawton. “She was a religious person, but also very traditional,” Koomsa-Perez said.

“The conference lost another legacy in the passing of Carrie Sahmaunt,” said the Rev. David Wilson, superintendent of the United Methodist Church’s Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference. “She was a living testimony and inspiration to Native and non-Native people,” he said. The United Methodist News Service profiled Sahmaunt after her death, reporting that her Indian name was “Tsat-Mah,” meaning “Door Woman,” and that she was born Aug. 20, 1904, in Carnegie, the town that currently houses Kiowa headquarters. As a young woman Sahmaunt resisted government attempts to prohibit her from speaking Kiowa, and she was one of the few tribal members that still spoke the language. Koomsa-Perez recalled attending Sahmaunt’s 100th birthday party in 2004. President George Bush sent Sahmaunt a birthday card and Oklahoma governor Brad Henry honored her with a proclamation.

“I pray a lot for everything, and I have lived a good Christian life and tried to be a good person,” Sahmaunt said that day. “Only God knows when the last days will come, and I don’t know why he gave me so many.” Sahmaunt raised ten children.
“She made sure they all received college degrees,” Koomsa-Perez said.
One of her sons was Dr. Joseph “Bud” Sahmaunt, a noted athlete that was named MVP of the 1958 All-College Tournament while he was a student at Oklahoma City University. Bud Sahmaunt is a member of the American Indian National Sports Hall of Fame. Wilson said Carrie Sahmaunt married Joel Sahmaunt on July 13, 1922, in an arranged marriage. In addition to her ten children, Sahmaunt has 28 grandchildren, 44 great grandchildren and eight great-great grandchildren. Sahmaunt was named the “Merit Mother of the Year” for Oklahoma in 1976, and in 1988 the Oklahoma Council for Indian Education gave her the title of “Indian Education Parent of the Year.