Ruth Harris

Wake Services: will be held at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, June 23, 2004 at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Lame Deer

Funeral Services: will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 24, 2004 at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Lame Deer

Internment: will follow at the Harris family cemetery on the Birney Divide

Ruth Harris, 96, oldest living Northern Cheyenne, died of natural causes on Sunday morning, June 20, 2004 at the Heritage Acres Nursing Home in Hardin.

Ruth Medicine Bird was born on December 21, 1907 in Ashland, Montana, the daughter of Nelson Medicine Bird and Essa Bullard. Ruth was raised in Ashland where she attended school at the St. Labre Indian Mission. For a time, Ruth also attended school at the Genoa Boarding School in Nebraska.

Ruth worked as a practical nurse at the old Lame Deer Hospital where she met her husband Bryan. Ruth married Bryan James Harris in 1929. For the next 29 years, Ruth and Bryan Sr. raised their 8 children on Greenleaf and in Lame Deer. Ruth was proficient at beading and sewing. She enjoyed preparing and drying foods in the traditional Cheyenne way. In her later years, Ruth took much joy in traveling to camp meetings and revivals. She enjoyed Christian fellowship and always had a ride to church. Ruth raised several of her grandchildren; Ron, Becky, Pam, Randy and Kenneth (Shane) Harris.

Ruth was preceded in death by her husband, Bryan in 1958. She was also preceded in death by her parents; stepson, Charles Carl; sons, Chester (Chuck), Gilbert, Bryan Jr. & Dale; grandchildren, Serena, Dale and Gail Harris; and brother, James Medicine Bird.

She is survived by her sons, Francis (Ataloa) Harris of Lame Deer and Kenneth Harris of Colstrip; daughters, Marlene (Joe) Anderson and Connie (Leonard Sr.) Brien, both of Lame Deer. Ruth is also survived by 39 grandchildren, 101 great-grandchildren and 49 great-great-grandchildren. Among those surviving Ruth are members of the Foote, Haugen, Curley, Two Bulls, Limpy, Littlebird, Tallwhiteman, Wolfblack, Spotted Wolf, Pine, Crazymule and Seminole families, as well as the Redhat family of Oklahoma.

Wake services will be held at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, June 23, 2004 at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Lame Deer. Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 24, 2004 at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Lame Deer with burial at the Harris family cemetery on the Birney Divide. Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home in Forsyth is in charge of arrangements.