[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 31 (Friday, February 26, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E243]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IN RECOGNITION OF EVELYN MARY LaBRAKE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JUAN VARGAS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 26, 2016

  Mr. VARGAS. Mr. Speaker, Rep. Duncan Hunter and I rise today to honor 
the life of Evelyn Mary LaBrake, Sycuan tribal elder and former 
Secretary of the Sycuan Tribe. Ms. LaBrake is survived by her nine 
children, her brother, as well as twenty-eight grandchildren and 
thirty-five great grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Ms. LaBrake was 
the granddaughter of Solomon Paipa, an original allottee of the Sycuan 
Indian Reservation.
  Evelyn was born on December 22, 1936 at Mercy Hospital in San Diego, 
to parents Louis Murphy and Martha Paipa, and grew up on the Sycuan 
Indian Reservation. She was recognized for being a passionate advocate 
for the causes of Native Americans and a defender of tribal self-
determination and sovereignty. She was instrumental in the adoption of 
the tribe's Articles of Association of 1972 and many other critical 
tribal government documents.
  As a former Secretary and Councilwoman of the Sycuan Tribe from the 
1960s to the 1980s, Evelyn fought for and obtained major improvements 
in the tribe's water, housing and community building needs. She was 
also a champion of tribal government gaming, and was a driving force in 
creating the Sycuan Bingo Palace in 1983, the first tribal gaming 
establishment in the nation.
  In the words of Cody Martinez, current Sycuan Tribal Chairman and 
grandson of Ms. LaBrake, ``She was an active participant in our general 
membership meetings as recently as this month. All Sycuan is today, is 
from the hard work of her and her contemporaries.''
  Evelyn was a firm believer in hard work and did so all her life, as a 
Secretary and Councilwoman of her tribe, but also as a machinist at 
Whittaker Survival System, where she worked for 20 years. She cherished 
her large family and deeply enjoyed their gatherings. She took special 
pride in the resurgence of cultural values expressed by her family.
  I want to commemorate Evelyn Mary LaBrake for her lifetime of service 
to her community.

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