Billy Evans Horse

The Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma lost a great "Chief" of the Kiowa tribe on Saturday, August 9, 2014. Billy Evans Horse, a long time resident of Carnegie, Oklahoma passed into the Kingdom Of God at approximately 1:00 p.m. He died in his life-time residence east of Carnegie. He was actually born and raised in rural Carnegie for more than eighty years of his life. Although, he was born to Sarah Tanedooah and Edgar Doyebi Horse, who were full blood Kiowas, he was raised by his grandparents, the late Bessie Eoneah and William "Cornbread" Tanedooah, of the home. His grandfather gave him the Kiowa name, "The One Who Sits in the Middle", in the traditional way inside a teepee. He attended Carnegie Public Schools then went on to finish highschool at Riverside Indian School in Anadarko. He met and married Dorita High and they were married for 56 years. They bore seven daughters and four sons. For more than seventy-five years, Billy Evans Horse, continued to fulfill the prediction made by his grandfather's (Tanedooah's), decades ago. As a self-trained businessman, consultant, and cultural broker, he was instrumental in the lives of many people, including educators, scholars, and local and national leaders. His dedication to the plight of his American Indian People placed him in the center of some of the most profound, and controversial transformations in Native America. In the early 1980's, he became discouraged by the rapid and adverse changes in Indian Country. He was asked to run for Kiowa Tribal Chairman. He agreed and plunged head first into tribal politics. He began his first two-year term as Kiowa Tribal Chairman in 1982. By 1986, after being elected to another consecutive two-year term in 1984, his economic Leadership had increased in tribal assets by several million dollars. New tribal-owned businesses helped spur the economy in southwestern Oklahoma (where unemployment at the time ran near 50 percent) and it so impressed Governor George Nigh, that he proclaimed June 28, 1986 as "Billy Evans Horse Day". Chairman Horse set a record for the Kiowa Tribe by serving seven two year terms of office. One of the most highly published law cases, that was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, which, in May 1998 less than a month before the end of Mr. Horse's last term as Chairman, sided with the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma in an important decision that absolved the tribe from civil lawsuits. This case put to rest one of the most formidable challenges to tribal Sovereignty in recent Kiowa political history and for many other tribes nation wide.
All of his life, he possessed the empathy for his people by safeguarding and protecting their rights, privileges and interests. His aim was always to improve the social and economic, medical and general welfare for the Kiowas and the community. He fulfilled his efforts by seeing the actual structure and operations of the Kiowa Casino, located in Devol. He then turned his attention to newer projects aimed at serving the Kiowa Community. He served as president of Satethieday Khatgomebaugh (White Bear's People), Inc. This non-profit organization was designed exclusively to be a catalyst for community enhancement, expecially in the areas of service, charity and education. His product of collaborative work with Luke Eric Lassiter, anthropologist, ethnographer, educator and author of the book, "The Power of Kiowa Song" and created the Kiowa Education Fund for the Satethieday Khatgomebaugh. Chairman Horse, was a very traditional person, he believed in the Native American Church, all of his long-lived life. He was instrumental in singing the Kiowa Traditional songs, he was knowlegeable of all family and individual songs. He war danced and learned to put Native American Presentations as he traveled across the United States. He also sang Kiowa Church Hymns. He was a great believer in all of the old ways and spoke of his early days of traditional living.

Survivors include his six daughters:
Sarah Mabel, Ada, OK
Alpha Marie Goombi and husband, Rev. Ron, Omaha, Nebraska
Lavena Jo Horse, Oklahoma City, OK
Bessie Ann James and fiance, Chelsye Dickenson, Norman, OK
Catherine Evans Horse, Oklahoma City, OK
Mary Horse Montgomery, Carnegie, OK
three sons:
John Henry Horse, Gainsville, Florida
Matthew Ray Horse and wife, Rita Clare, Titusville, FL
Charles Martin Horse an wife, Rachael, Lawton, OK
three sisters:
Shirley Tanedooah, Anadarko, OK
Joquetta Redbird and husband, Robert, Lawton, OK
Margaret Pence and husband, Dale, Cache, OK
one brother:
Ray Darby, Lawton, OK
thirty nine grandchildren and thirty nine great-grandchildren

He was preceded in death by his grandparents, William and Bessie (Eonah) Tanedooah, his parents, wife, Dorita High Horse, son, William Evans Horse, daughters, Helen Rae Horse and Marilla Rose Saddleblanket, granddaughter, Sunshine Montgomery and great-grandson, Kemper Shopshire.

Wake Service: 6:00p.m., Tuesday August 12th and Wednesday August 13th, at Red Buffalo Hall, Carnegie , OK
Funeral Service: 1:00p.m., Thursday, August 14, 2014 at Red Buffalo Hall, Carnegie
Burial will follow at Tanedooah Cemetery, Carnegie
under the direction of Ray & Martha's Funeral Home, Carnegie, OK