Reba Jean Walker, named Abíiweash (Corn Silk Woman), was born in the Elbowoods community hospital on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation on September 25, 1931. The youngest daughter of Mercy Baker Walker and Hans Walker, Sr., Reba was a member of the Maxóoxadi (Alkalai Lodge clan) and a child of the Apúhgawigaa (Low Cap Clan). Reba and her siblings grew up in the pre-Garrison Dam community of Independence, a place saturated in traditional Mandan and Hidatsa values and culture. Like many in her generation, Reba grew up speaking both Hidatsa and English.
Reba’s mother, Mercy Baker Walker, was the daughter of Louis Baker and Emma Taylor, and was raised by her grandmother First Sprout and grandfather Two Chief. Reba’s father, Hans Walker Sr., was the son of Joseph and Susie Walker Youngbird from the Lucky Mound community. Reba spoke often of the close relationship she and her siblings enjoyed with their father, a rancher who also served his community on the Fort Berthold Tribal Council. Reba’s mother sustained their family with her extensive gardens, delicious cooking, and wise guidance. She also taught Reba to be very organized, as she always had a large garden from which she would can and dry traditional foods. Reba recalled how her parents welcomed extended family and friends into their home, assuring their children knew their relatives and the traditional values embedded in those relationships. Reba had a particularly close relationship with her mother and wanted to be just like her. When her older siblings left for school, her mother would sit down at the table with her and let her drink coffee with milk in it. Once when the family sat around the table, her parents asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. She answered, “I want to be a common woman, like Mama,” and they all laughed. “But I was serious, I wanted to be just like my mom,” she explained. Both parents supported their children to grow as individuals. Reba said, “They just let us be who we were; we didn’t have to fit into a mold.”
Reba’s education began in the local Independence school and later moved to the mission school in Elbowoods ultimately graduating from Sanish High School. She then entered the nursing program at Montana State University-Bozeman. Organic chemistry was a challenge, especially after her professor quizzed her until she was able to recite how organic molecules were formed in complex chemical reactions. She relied on the values of hard work and organization learned from her parents, and earned the second highest score in the state of Montana when she sat for her nursing exams. Reba next worked for many years as a nurse all over the country – Great Falls, Pittsburgh, Cape Cod, Denver, and Tacoma. After leaving direct practice, she worked as an administrator at the University of South Dakota, and Standing Rock’s Sitting Bull College where she helped set up a nursing program to increase the number of Native nurses serving tribal communities. Reba also worked at Macalester College in Minnesota as the director of the Native American Program. After returning home, she worked in the planning office for the Three Affiliated Tribes, for Indian Health Service (IHS) as a Service Unit Director and, finally, in the Planning and Legislation Office at the IHS Area Office level before she retired. In these roles, Reba always held the interests of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara and Native people at the center of her priorities, testifying before the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs multiple times to document the health disparities, particularly regarding the need for increased care for diabetes. Reba was very active with her church the United Church of Christ, serving on the board of the Council for American Indian Ministries (CAIM) for many years. Recently, she wrote a prayer used around the world for Indigenous People’s Day by the United Church of Christ.
Even in retirement Reba kept busy, and spent many years antiquing in Mandan and Bismarck. She worked with the North Dakota State Historical Society on the preservation of sacred sites of the Mandan and Hidatsa, and in 2014 she and her sister Tillie bought and donated lands associated with the Knife River Hidatsa village site to the Three Affiliated Tribes. Reba took great pleasure in hosting family and friends in her house, offering a beautiful spread of delicious and healthy foods. Over the course of her long, busy life, she exemplified traditional values of family and community. She demonstrated that she was, in fact, an uncommon woman, making important contributions in the critical areas of health policy, the environment, and cultural preservation for the wellbeing of American Indian communities across the U.S.
Reba passed away on December 20, 2020, and is survived by her niece Leah Ann Walker, and nephews Carey, Tom, and Reid Walker. She was preceded in death by her father Hans Walker, Sr., her mother Mercy Baker Walker, two brothers Melvin Walker and Hans Walker, Jr., and elder sister Tillie Walker.
In alignment with CDC guidelines, and to respect Reba’s wishes as a lifelong health advocate, the family asks that mourners please stay home at this time to prevent the spread of COVID-19. A funeral will be held Saturday, December 26, 2020. No more than five members of Reba’s immediate family and the senior pallbearer’s family will be allowed in the viewing. This is to prevent COVID-19 spread. We know that this is a very contagious, airborne virus. Indoor gatherings are particularly risky. We ask that everyone stay in their cars. If you must leave your car, wear a mask and practice social distancing at all times. As Reba would likely say, protecting your health is the priority, as we are all at risk and have others in our lives who depend on us. Those who would like to attend the burial, please stay in your cars. If you leave your car at the gravesite, wear a mask at all times and stay at least 6 feet away from others. Do not shake hands. We understand these practices are contrary to our traditional ways. The reason we ask this of mourners, is because we want everyone to make it through these very difficult times with their health so we can be with each other after the pandemic is over.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Reba’s name to the Nueta, Hidatsa, and Sahnish College at P.O. Box 490, New Town, ND, 58763. The family appreciates everyone’s understanding and plans to gather for an appropriate memorial when it is safe to do so.
Stay home and stay safe.