Roxann Spotted Eagle, 62, of Avon

Roxann Dakota Spotted Eagle departed peacefully from her beloved Choteau Creek home on the morning of January 18th, 2021 after she let her dogs out for the last time. Funeral services were 2 PM, Friday, January 22, 2021 at the All Tribes Fellowship Church in Wagner. Wake services began Wednesday at the church.

Roxy was a sixty-two year old elder at the time of her departure to the spirit world. She was born on the Yankton reservation to Hazel Spotted Eagle, who was a tribal member of old White Swan. Her Dakota name was given to her by her beloved Tunwin Edith "Yu'was'te Win" Spotted Eagle Selwyn, whom she stayed close to until her departure at 104. Roxy carries the name of "wa apiya win", a healer or "one who takes care of things, as it is translated." In her early years, Roxy grew up at the Spotted Eagle old place, above old White Swan, with her mom and grandparents Blanche and Wm Spotted Eagle. Later, prior to the Indian Child Welfare Act, she was placed in a home in Pennsylvania, but she came home as soon as she turned legal age. During her early adult years, she spent extensive time in Korea and Germany and learned some of the languages and was very familiar with Korean food. She had hoped to write a book about her years traveling and kept numerous journals.

Her surviving family members are her son Josh Smith of the home and her granddaughter Olivia Milk of Yankton. Josh will continue to carry on the gardens and chickens that she raised on her homestead, just like she was raised at White Swan. She was proud of her grand babies from Olivia, Annabelle and Wyatt. Also surviving her are her sister Barb Ross and her children: Preston Ross of PA; Grace Ross of Wagner; Gilbert Ross of Yankton; Charity Ross of PA; and grandchildren: Kyra, Briana, and Tristin Cournoyer. Her surviving brothers are Marvin Spotted Eagle of Wagner and Maurice Drapeau of Lake Andes; sister Marie Lamont of Des Moines, IA and family; sister/cousin Faith Spotted Eagle (with whom she was raised by their Kunsi Blanche) of Lake Andes and her children; and sister/cousin Mabel J. Honomichl.

Roxy is descended from the Deloria Family and other Yankton relatives. She was preceded in death by her mother Hazel Spotted Eagle, sister Betty Spotted Eagle Gross, and Frankie Frederick of Omaha, NE.

Roxy became a certified Alcohol/Substance Abuse Counselor and worked at Canku Teca for awhile and with youth at Springfield Youth services and also at Wakpala with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. She also received extensive training as a masseuse and provided services to Brave Heart family members.

As a Brave Heart, she was an early activist against the KXL Pipeline and went to the early hearings in NE (in a snowstorm). She helped with the International Treaty to Protect the Sacred Signing, and she was a founding member of the Brave Heart Society in the early '90s on the Yankton Reservation and Storm Mountain, Black Hills. She was very proud to be on the Kunsi Circle, the governing circle of grandmothers of the Brave Heart Society, which has become regionally and nationally known for its cultural resurgence teachings for young girls/boys and families. She was very involved in food sovereignty and had a garden to her last days, even while on dialysis. She was always a strong believer in our traditional form of government and looked forward to General Councils.