
(Photo by Michael Gallagher for Missoulian)
This last week, a wake was held for Agnes 'Oshanee' Kenmille. She was ninety-three years old when she passed, and one of the best known and most beloved elders of the Flathead Reservation, where I am blessed to call home. Oshanee was nationally renowned for her hide tanning and beadwork. But beyond her mastery of the traditional craft she practiced and taught, she was known and loved for her remarkable spirit. I am not a Tribal member, but every time I saw her, I was deeply aware of what a treasure she was, and thought to myself that this beautiful woman knows something about living that we all need to know - about finding meaning and purpose in life, about enduring, loving, and about finding joy in what one has in the present. I only saw her a few times a year, but she left an indelible impression on my heart.
Thank you for the prompt. I offer this in memory of Oshanee .....
Crescent moon eyes
look up, twinkling
round shoulders shake
with laughter's echo
So many years, showing
the way, with nimble hands and heart
softening hides, velvety white
then gloves, vests, moccasins
Ninety-three years walking
this earth, again and again
the joy of now
Incalculable
the loss, a perfect Oshanee
shaped hole in their hearts
Yet time will endow
star-studded skies and aching
hearts with twinkling eyes
and crescent moons