Walks Along, Joseph (1931-2004)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2004 Dec 13 p. 3

Birth date: 1931 Apr 23

text of obituary:

Native American leader dies at 73 in Montana
Walks Along testified of God's power to transform his lfie

By Robert Rhoses

Mennonite Weekly Review

LAME DEER, Mont. — Joseph Walks Along Sr., a Native American pastor who conquered an addiction to alcohol in his youth and was active in promoting Native American Mennonite ministries, died Dec. 1. He was 73.

Walks Along, pastor of Lame Deer Mennonite Church, died in a Billings hospital from complications after a series of heart attacks.

Walks Along, known by friends as "Old Man" out of respect for his stature in the church and the Northern Cheyenne tribe, preached the gospel while keeping in touch with the teachings and traditions of his Native American heritage.

In 1967, he preached at the Mennonite world conference assembly in Amsterdam.

Willis Busenitz, pastor of White River Cheyenne Mennonite Church in Busby, who knew and worked with Walks Along for nearly 40 years, called him a role model, a mentor and a close friend.

"He was viewed with deep respect [and] he often spoke of a deep appreciation for what the Lord had done for him," Busenitz said. "He was very faithful to his calling."

Though Walks Along believed the Cheyenne had to adapt to survive in the modern world, he also called for the preservation of the Cheyenne culture and language.

According to his family, Walks Along, whose Cheyenne name, Nahkoso, means "Little Bear," envisioned heaven in distinctly Native American terms.

He saw it as "a peaceful Cheyenne village along a cool clear river where there is joy, laughter and singing with our relatives and friends who have gone before us. He looked forward to being in the presence of his savior, Jesus Christ,'the Bright Morning Star.'"

By Cheyenne reckoning, Walks Along was born "when the plum brush blossoms," on or around April 23, 1931, at Lame Deer, according to his family.

He was raised in a traditional Cheyenne home and came from a lineage of respected Cheyenne leaders and elders.

After learning English in elementary school, he graduated from Busby High School and later, in 1961, Cook Theological School in Phoenix, Ariz., with a bachelor's degree in Christian ministry.

Walks Along served in the Army during the Korean War and received two Bronze Stars.

It was after leaving the military in 1954 that Walks Along, battling alcoholism, became a Christian.

In the 1973 book Twelve Becoming, by Cornelius J. Dyck, Walks Along detailed his battle with alcohol and his conversion, inspired by Mennonite missionary Alfred Habegger, who served a church on the Tongue Rive Reservation.

On Aug. 3, 1955, Walks Along married Victoria Long Jaw and in 1961 was ordained as a Mennonite pastor. He was an associate pastor at Lame Deer Mennonite Church under Pastor Malcolm Wenger until 1966, when he became lead pastor.

Later, he and his wife visited and ministered in Canada, Mexico and Guatemala, where Central American tribes were being persecuted for their faith.

Walks Along, who raised Black Angus cattle on a ranch north of Lame Deer, also served for many years on the Northern Cheyenne Tribal council. For nearly two years beginning in January 1999, he was tribal president.

Survivors include his wife, Victoria; a daughter, Sharon Three Fingers of Lame Deer; seven sons, James, William, David and Victor, all of Lame Deer, John of Busby and Isaac and Joseph Jr., both of Muddy Creek; 29 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren, an adopted brother, Alonzo Spang, and two adopted sons, Steve Brady and Fred Rausch.

The funeral was held Dec. 6 in Allen Rowland Gymnasium at Lame Deer.

Burial was in the Walks Along Family Cemetery.