[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 93 (Tuesday, June 4, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING THE LIFE OF CHIEF COLABE III

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BRIAN BABIN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 4, 2019

  Mr. BABIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Mikko 
Colabe III Clem Fain Sylestine, the principaL chief of the Alabama-
Coushatta Tribe of Texas who passed away on May 21, 2019 at 91 years 
old.
  Chief Colabe III was born on November 4, 1927, on the Alabama-
Coushatta Indian Reservation and is of the Granddaddy Long Legs Clan. 
He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Austin College in Sherman, 
Texas in 1952. Chief Colabe III was a teacher and coach at Southmayd 
High School, Holland High School, Shepherd High School, Woodville ISD, 
and Goodrich ISD. Although he retired in 1988, Chief Colabe III touched 
so many lives throughout his time in education.
  In addition to the passion he had for educating children, Chief 
Colabe III was a distinguished tribal leader for most of his adult 
life. He served as an elected Tribal Council member and then served as 
its chairman for many years. He assumed his chieftainship role in 1995 
as the second chief and was elected as the principal chief in 2014. In 
serving as the principal chief, he followed in the footsteps of his 
father, Bronson Cooper Sylestine, who served as the chief from 1936 to 
1969. Chief Colabe III was a direct descendant of Chief Colabe, who 
served as the second chief to Principal Chief Antone in the early 
1800s. He also was an elder in the Indian Village Presbyterian Church 
on the Alabama-Coushatta Reservation.
  As I join the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe in their period of mourning 
through the end of 2019, I want to recognize the impact that Chief 
Colabe III had on many East Texas communities. The Alabama-Coushatta 
Tribe is an integral part of East Texas, large in part because of Chief 
Colabe III's passion, leaders hip, and hard work for the people he 
cared so deeply for.
  Madam Speaker, my prayers and condolences are with the family, 
friends, and Tribe of Chief Colabe III.

                          ____________________