Quechan mourners take spirit walk for young leader

A "spirit walk" for deceased Quechan leader Lewis Jefferson symbolized for mourners one last journey with Lewis, who died at 21 last month yet left a legacy for tribal youths who will take up where he left off, say friends and family.

"Lewis was an inspirational young man because of what he believed in - protecting indigenous sacred sites, our language, our culture, and tradition," Vernon Smith, Jefferson's uncle, said.

Smith led the processional ceremony that honored the life of Jefferson. He died under suspicious circumstances Nov. 26 near the railroad track beneath the Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge, according to the Imperial County Sheriff's Office.

Two dozen mourners walking from Kammann Mortuary carrying the Quechan tribal flag and a banner that read "Quechan Pipa Akoots, Ft. Yuma, CA., Protecting our land, Sacred Sites, Longest Walk 2" were followed by several vehicles of Jefferson's friends and escorted by two Yuma Police Department bicycle patrolmen.

The walk proceeded down 1st Avenue with the destination of the Ocean-to-Ocean Bridge for another brief invocation. After a planned all-night vigil, Jefferson's remains will be cremated in a sunrise ceremony at the Quechan Indian Reservation Cemetery.

Smith, a cousin of Preston Arrow-Weed, Jefferson's grandfather with whom he grew up, recalled that Jefferson was a good leader because of his strong belief in tribal heritage and lived it every day.

"It's sad he's gone but others will follow in his footsteps."

Before the Spirit Walk left Kammann Mortuary, Dennis Banks, a Native American activist and co-founder of the American Indian Movement who helped organize the walk, assembled mourners in a drum circle and eulogized Jefferson.

Banks met Jefferson last spring on the Longest Walk 2 when it passed through Flagstaff. It was a march that began on Alcatraz Island the month before and included 800 people who traversed 24 states and 35 reservations.

Walk 2 was a revival of the original 1978 march that addressed concerns over conditions in indigenous communities and the plight of political prisoners such as Leonard Peltier. The theme of Walk 2 was prevention of environmental destruction and protection of sacred sites.

Banks said that "Mucaw," the name Jefferson's grandfather called him by, which means "let's go," was a positive young man who was a symbol of hope to the younger generation and was precisely the type of charismatic leader the Quechan Tribe was banking on.

"Even though he lays here in state, he will still be a leader," Banks said. "He inspired young people not to give up but reach for greater heights."

He went on that Jefferson, by showing courage in defending the integrity of indigenous sacred sites, gave his life for future generations and everyone at the funeral procession walks in that spirit.

Banks' granddaughter, Santane Banks, 12, arrived from her home on the Leech Lake Reservation, Minn., to commemorate Jefferson. She met him on the Longest Walk 2 last spring.

"He was a good person to look up to," Santane said. "He wouldn't let you down or anything. He always said how back home he was keeping his traditions."

Randy Blakeley, a mentor and tutor for the youth advocacy organization Moving Forward in Oakland, who also met Jefferson on the Longest Walk 2, recalled he was a traditional singer who sang the entire time as they walked 25 miles a day.

When they arrived in Washington, D.C., in July, Jefferson presented the "Manifesto for Change" drafted by indigenous youth, detailing proposed solutions to specific regional and national problems afflicting Native Americans to Congressman John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

"Mucaw was real special," Blakeley said. "He single-handedly presented Quechan issues to the Longest Walk Manifesto. When it comes to Mucaw, he should be recognized as a hero so youth in the Quechan Tribe can look up to him."

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William Roller can be reached at
wroller@yumasum.com or 539-6858.