[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 93 (Tuesday, June 4, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H4296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING THE LIFE OF CHIEF COLABE, III

  (Mr. BABIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BABIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Mikko 
Colabe, III, or Clem Fain Sylestine, as he was also known, the 
principal chief of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, who passed 
away on May 21, 2019, at the age of 91 years.
  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 that 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 was also an elder in the Indian Village Presbyterian Church 
on the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation.
  As I join the Tribe in their period of mourning through the end of 
2019, I want to recognize the impact that he had on so many east Texas 
communities.
  The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe is an integral part of east Texas.
  Mr. Speaker, my prayers and condolences are with his family, his 
friends, and the Tribe of Chief Colabe, III.

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