[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 187 (Friday, December 2, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1208-E1209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING THE LIFE OF LIONEL R. BORDEAUX

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DUSTY JOHNSON

                            of south dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, December 2, 2022

  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
and honor the life of Lionel R. Bordeaux, Wakinyan Wanbli, (Thundering 
Eagle), of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the President of Sinte Gleska 
University in Mission, South Dakota. President Bordeaux passed away on 
November 16, 2022 at the age of 82.
  President Bordeaux led an amazing life dedicated to the service of 
his people. He was a pioneer in expanding upper education access for 
Native Americans through his advocacy and work at Sinte Gleska 
University, which became the first tribal university in the nation 
during his leadership.
  Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in honoring the life 
and memory of President Lionel R. Bordeaux, a constant fighter for 
Indian Country and a great American. I am honored to include in the 
Record this memoriam.


    Lionel R. Bordeaux, Wakinyan Wanbli, President of Sinte Gleska 
           University for 50 Years, Departs for Spirit World

       Lionel R. Bordeaux, Wakinyan Wanbli (Thundering Eagle), an 
     enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota 
     and the president of Sinte Gleska University, departed for 
     the spirit world on November 16. This is a tremendous loss 
     for his family, Sinte Gleska University, the Sicangu Lakota 
     Oyate, and Indian Country. For all who knew him, he was a 
     grounding force in stormy times; a paragon of goodwill, 
     solidarity, and wisdom; and the heart and soul of the Tribal 
     College Movement to which he was fiercely devoted.
       Lionel R. Bordeaux was born in 1940 and raised by his 
     grandfather, Alex Bordeaux Jr., and his grandmother, Mary 
     Jordan Bordeaux. His mother, Ella, had moved to Sioux Falls, 
     South Dakota, to work and eventually own her own business. 
     Lionel attended the Horse Creek Day School, St. Mary's School 
     in Winner, South Dakota, and a public school in White River, 
     South Dakota. He later attended public schools in Lincoln, 
     Nebraska, returning to the Rosebud reservation where he 
     graduated from St. Francis Indian Mission, a Roman Catholic 
     boarding school.

[[Page E1209]]

     He went on to enroll at Black Hills State Teachers' College 
     where he earned a BA in composite history and social science, 
     with a minor in psychology. Bordeaux later took classes at 
     Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado, and George 
     Washington University in Washington, D.C. He eventually 
     transferred to the University of South Dakota where he 
     completed a master's degree in guidance and counseling.
       Bordeaux's career included working for the Bureau of Indian 
     Affairs (BIA) as a counselor on the Jicarilla Apache 
     reservation in Dulce, New Mexico, a job he credited with 
     giving him good early career experience. From there he 
     entered the BIA's management training program and relocated 
     to Washington, DC, where he trained in various federal 
     agencies. His experience in DC was later instructive for his 
     role at Sinte Gleska, helping him pursue passage of federal 
     legislation to support tribal colleges and universities. 
     After transferring to Dallas, Texas, Bordeaux learned about 
     the needs of Native people living in cities due to the 
     federal government's relocation program.
       Bordeaux relocated to Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and taught 
     guidance and culture classes at high schools and grade 
     schools in various communities. In an interview with Tribal 
     College Journal, he shared that his goal was to finish his 
     career as a superintendent in Rosebud and later serve as the 
     BIA area director in Aberdeen, South Dakota. It was while 
     living in Pine Ridge that he completed his master's degree at 
     the University of South Dakota.
       Bordeaux continued his graduate studies at the University 
     of Minnesota where he completed his doctorate coursework in 
     educational administration. Before completing his 
     dissertation, Stanley Red Bird Sr., founder of Sinte Gleska 
     College, approached Bordeaux and told him traditional healers 
     had held spiritual ceremonies and directed Red Bird to seek 
     out the graduate student, who knew the tribal language and 
     history of the Sicangu Lakota people, and request that 
     Bordeaux withdraw from his doctoral studies and return to the 
     Rosebud reservation to serve as president of Sinte Gleska 
     College. Bordeaux consulted with his wife Barbara, who told 
     him that if that was their calling, they must follow it. 
     Shortly thereafter, Bordeaux and his family returned home 
     where on February 3, 1973, 12 Lakota medicine men inaugurated 
     him as president of the college, a position he held ever 
     since. President Bordeaux's career, and indeed his passion, 
     for the next 50 years was focused on culturally based Native 
     higher education and serving his community, making him the 
     longest serving college or university president in the United 
     States. Known as the ``Dean of the Tribal College Movement,'' 
     President Bordeaux oversaw the expansion and development of 
     Sinte Gleska College into the first tribal university. 
     Throughout his career there, he worked to strengthen Lakota 
     culture and language. He also forcefully advocated locally, 
     regionally, and nationally for Native peoples' educational 
     sovereignty over curriculum and a tribally based 
     accreditation body rooted in spirituality and traditional 
     laws. Family, kinship, spirituality, and culture were the 
     driving forces in everything he did. President Bordeaux 
     credited the spirituality, prayer, and ceremony of the 
     medicine men for the success of Sinte Gleska University and 
     his long-term presidency.
       In addition to his role as a tribal university president, 
     Bordeaux had a long-established history in the tribal college 
     movement. He was a founder of the American Indian Higher 
     Education Consortium (AIHEC), which serves as the voice of 
     the 35 tribal colleges and universities in Washington, DC. He 
     was also a founder of the American Indian College Fund, the 
     World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium, and 
     Tribal College Journal.
       President Bordeaux also served in leadership roles as a 
     councilman in the Rosebud Sioux tribal government for 14 
     years; chair of the tribal education committee and education 
     board; board member of the South Dakota State Education and 
     Planning Commission; board member of the Native American 
     Rights Fund; board member of the Phelps Stokes Fund; regent 
     of the Haskell Indian Junior College in Lawrence, Kansas; and 
     president of both AIHEC and the National Indian Education 
     Association.
       Bordeaux received presidential appointments to serve on the 
     National Advisory Council on Indian Education and the 
     Advisory Board of the White House Initiative on Tribal 
     Colleges and Universities. He co-chaired the historic White 
     House Conference on Indian Education.
       President Bordeaux is and was among the most honored Native 
     American educators in the United States. His generosity went 
     beyond the borders of the Rosebud reservation by providing 
     support to relatives on other Lakota and Dakota reservations. 
     This included assisting tribes like Lower Brule and 
     Ihanktonwan in achieving their dreams of having a tribal 
     college.
       Among the many honors President Bordeaux received include 
     Outstanding Administrator of the Year (Black Hills State 
     College in affiliation status with Sinte Gleska College), 
     Outstanding Educator of the Year (South Dakota Indian 
     Education Association), Tribal Government award (the National 
     Congress of American Indians), Outstanding Indian Educator of 
     the Year (National Indian Education Association), American 
     Indian Distinguished Achievement Award (American Indian 
     Resource Institute), Human and Civil Rights Award (South 
     Dakota Education Association/National Education Association), 
     First Lifetime Achievement Award (National Indian Education 
     Association), and two Living Legend Awards (National American 
     Indian Enterprise Development and the National Indian Gaming 
     Association).
       President Bordeaux earned the Outstanding Alumni Award from 
     the University of South Dakota and was named as one of the 
     top 25 graduates in the history of Black Hills State 
     University in South Dakota. He received two honorary 
     doctorate degrees, one from South Dakota State University and 
     another from Augustana University in South Dakota. The tribal 
     holiday ``Lionel R. Bordeaux Day'' was named in his honor on 
     the Rosebud reservation, and he was inducted into the South 
     Dakota State Hall of Fame. In July of 2017, President 
     Bordeaux spoke at the World's Indigenous People's Conference 
     on Education in Toronto, Canada, where he was presented with 
     an honorary doctorate degree by the World's Indigenous 
     Nations University in Hawaii. In October of 2017, his alma 
     mater, Black Hills State University, named a residence hall 
     on its campus the ``Lionel R. Bordeaux Residence Hall'' in 
     honor of his many lifetime achievements. In 2018, Bordeaux 
     was also among the inaugural inductees into the Native 
     American Hall of Fame for his educational leadership. The 
     state of South Dakota issued an executive proclamation from 
     the Office of the Governor, Dennis Daugaard, proclaiming 
     February 9, 2018, as Lionel R. Bordeaux Day. Carrie Billy, 
     president and CEO of AIHEC, said, ``President Bordeaux was 
     the heart--the drumbeat--of the Tribal College Movement. We 
     feel his loss profoundly, but his songs and stories will 
     never leave us. His legacy will endure for generations and 
     that gives us peace and hope for the future of the Tribal 
     College Movement. Please say a prayer for President 
     Bordeaux's wife, Barbara, his children, grandchildren, and 
     the students, faculty, and staff at the college he loved so 
     profoundly Sinte Gleska University. I pray that the Holy Ones 
     watch over all of us.''
       Many people who worked with President Bordeaux throughout 
     his career have shared their messages of congratulations and 
     gratitude for his service over the years, illustrating his 
     legacy. Dr. Justin Guillory, president of Northwest Indian 
     College wrote on his 45th anniversary, ``The TCU movement is 
     alive and growing stronger because of warriors like you who 
     paved the way for us.''
       John Forkenbrock, who first met President Bordeaux when 
     Forkenbrock served on the staff of the House Labor and 
     Education Committee under the leadership of Representative 
     Michael Blouin of Iowa, wrote, ``Your role in the passage of 
     the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act was 
     instrumental. If not for your continued optimism and your 
     continued efforts at keeping the House committee's efforts 
     moving forward, I know without hesitation that this 
     legislation would not have crossed the finish line.''
       President Bordeaux said in a 2012 interview with Tribal 
     College Journal, ``I see tribal colleges and universities 
     standing alone, as other institutions do not have the same 
     calling or vision to strengthen tribal nations as we do. We 
     are undoing the damage that was previously done and 
     rebuilding nationhood according to tribal prophecy and the 
     dictates of the four directions, aho! Waste' yelo!''
       In addition to President Bordeaux's remarkable legacy as an 
     educator and activist for Native higher education, his legacy 
     is no less strong in the loving and devoted family he 
     created, including his wife, Barbara, who survives him, his 
     daughter, Debra, and sons, Shawn and Brian, all of the 
     Rosebud reservation, along with 11 grandchildren and 11 
     great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his beloved 
     son Scott, his brother Lynwood Fallis, his daughter-in-law 
     Jodie, and granddaughter Jordan.
       A celebration of life is being held at the Wakinyan Wanbli 
     Multipurpose Student Center on December 1, 2022, at 10:00 AM 
     located on the Sinte Gleska University Lake Campus. For more 
     details, please visit the Sinte Gleska University website at 
     https://www.sintegleska.edu/. President Bordeaux's services 
     will be live streamed with the link accessible on the 
     university's website.

                          ____________________