Max Baucus: “a Native American expression on the circle of life offers insight into a life well-lived: If you were born, you cried…”

“a Native American expression on the circle of life offers insight into a life well-lived: If you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that, when you die, the world cries and you rejoice. On Sunday, the world cried when Elouise Cobell left the Earth. Elouise was a brave member of the Blackfeet Nation from my home State of Montana. She fought tirelessly for what was right. On Sunday, the world lost a great hero. Native American people everywhere lost a champion. Her husband Alvin and son Turk, along with her entire extended family, lost an admired and irreplaceable loved one. And I can say with deep gratitude, having worked with her for many years, that I lost a dear friend. Through her persistence and determination, she drew attention to the Federal Government's mismanagement of Indian trust lands. She deserves the highest recognition and thanks for helping close a chapter on a bitter history of broken promises. For more than 100 years, the Federal Government did not fairly compensate Native Americans in Montana and across the Nation for revenue generated from their land. The Federal Government squandered and wasted billions of dollars in not paying Native Americans revenues they were due. It was Elouise who took up the cause. Others wouldn't; she did. She knew it was wrong. She knew it, and she had a mission. She worked tirelessly through the courts until the judicial system finally recognized what she had uncovered.…”