Funeral Mass for Celine Dorothy LaFromboise Buckanaga, 99, of Sisseton, SD will be held on Friday, August 26, 2022 at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Hall at 3:00 P.M. with Fr. Gregg Frankman Celebrant. Following the mass, there will be an all night Wake Service starting at 5:00 P.M.  A Traditional Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, August 27, 2022 at 10:00 A.M. with Spritual Leader James Clairmont and his son Lakota Clairmont officiating. Drum Group will be Waḣpekute. Pallbearers will be Cheo Smith, Chris Strom, Wayne LaBelle, Shiloh LaFromboise, Isiac Goodsell, and Solomon Goodsell Jr. Honorary Pallbearers will be Coleen DuMarce, Sr. Patrice Colletti, Barbara Ryan, Brenda B. Brown, Pat Gill, Pam Renville, Edwina Bernard, Carol Iron Moccasin, Alvara Enoch, Connie Nelson, Mayford Brown, Bernice Johnson, and All of the staff at Tekakwitha Living Center who provided her loving care up to the end.  Interment will be in the St. Matthew's Catholic Cemetery, Veblen, SD.  The Cahill Funeral Chapel, Sisseton, SD is in charge of arrangements.

Celine Dorothy LaFromboise Buckanaga

January 16, 1922 – August 22, 2022

Celine was born in the Heipa District on the Lake Traverse Reservation near Hillhead, SD. Her father, Alexis LaFromboise, was a farmer, loving father and husband, and a benefactor in his community. Lucy Maka Gi Nelson, Celine's mother was also from the Heipa District. Celine was raised on her family's farm that provided well for not only her own family, but for neighboring families in Heipa, as well. Celine told a story of how a neighbor with a large family had lost his crops and animals and was in dire straits. Her father slaughtered a pig and pulled from their root cellar and threw everything into the neighbor's wagon to tide them over during their hard times. He did not expect repayment. Celine's Dakota name is Tahampa Douzaha Win (Fast Moccassins/Runner), which was given to her by her uncle John Plume. Her Deksi dreamed that he witnessed a race of many children of all ages and sizes. He said the littlest one, a girl, came in first - well ahead of the next runner. That little girl was Celine. He called her by that Dakota name thereafter. Celine's father died when she was seven years old while she was at Stephan Mission School. Within a six-month period, she lost her father, her little sister Lucille and infant brothers Vincent and Earl. When she came home from boarding school, she came home to an empty house – she couldn't ever verbalize that loss/trauma, but she carried it with her for her entire life. After the passing of her father, her mother remarried Dan LaBelle. From that family, she had five brothers and sisters. She and her older brothers and sisters were 10+ years older than their LaBelle siblings – nearly a generation apart, but they were a close family. Celine started her education at Wahpeton Indian School in ND and continued her elementary years at Stephan Mission School in Ft. Thompson. She started and finished high school at Flandreau Indian School. Although Celine never shared much about any of the boarding schools she attended, she did say she had a positive experience at Flandreau. At Flandreau, the education provided to young women was in preparation for jobs as maids, seamstresses, cooks, childcare workers, and adult caretakers. During the summers, Celine was placed with local Flandreau families as a maid and child caretaker. Post-graduation, the school arranged for her to begin a position as maid/child caretaker with a family in Des Moines, IA.

Celine continued to work in different cities in the Midwest, including Chicago and Minneapolis. During World War 2, Celine was made aware of a job in Seattle at Boeing Airlines and decided to make that move. She worked as a riveter backer – an assistant to one of the many Rosie the Riveters. Unfortunately, the moment the war ended, Boeing released all their women workers with no compensation or acknowledgement. After several months of working in a factory, she decided to move back to the Midwest – to St.Paul, MN where she worked in various factory positions. And, there she met her future husband, Harry Buckanaga, Sr. They married when she was 25, and the next year, they had their first son, Harry. Two more children followed – Richard (Rick) and daughter, Nancy. Harry, Sr. passed away in 1952 while they were living Fargo, ND, and Celine was on her own to raise 3 children. She moved back to Sisseton to raise her children among her family. She started working at the Tekakwitha Children's Home with the intent of saving enough money to purchase a home, and within five years of working there she earned enough to purchase a home in Sisseton, S.D. Celine worked for many years as a housekeeper in Sisseton. Nearing time for retirement, Celine started a new career as a Dakota Language Teacher. She taught in the Sisseton Public Schools, the Johnson-O'Malley Program, and Tiospa Zina Tribal School. She said teaching the language was her greatest, most fulfilling job. Celine was always outspoken, never steering away from addressing wrongs and injustices in her community. She traveled the country, speaking out against injustices and advocating for the rights of her people. One of her proudest achievements may have been her visit to Washington DC, to lobby for capital funds to build the Tiospa Zina Tribal School. She retired at the age of 80 after a career that spanned over 60 years and took her to diverse parts of the county. Celine's philanthropic spirit led her to assist relatives and friends by lending an ear, providing a safe space to stay, giving financial assistance and transportation for those in need. In her early 90s, she was still picking up a disabled friend to take her for a weekly shopping trip to the grocery store. She is preceded in death by her mother, Lucy LaBelle, her father Alexis LaFromboise, her husband Harry Buckanaga Sr., her beloved son, Richard Buckanaga, LaFromboise siblings: Willard, Martina, Marie,Joe, Lucille, Vincent, Earl, and two LaBelle siblings: Llyod Sr., and Dennis.

Celine leaves behind children: Harry Buckanaga Jr., Nancy Smith, Brain LaBelle and three remaining siblings: Doris Giles, Deanna LaBelle, and Duane LaBelle. She had 12 grandchildren: Lakota (deceased), Tanksi Clairmont, Aida Strom, Cheo Smith, Anpao, Hopsti, Michael (deceased), and Michelle Buckanaga (deceased), Deanna, Daniel, and Edie LaBelle, and Caleb Bird Bear. She also leaves behind 25 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren. Please join all of her family in saying goodbye to Celine as she has begun her journey to meet her Creator and beloved family members and friends. She will be dearly missed and remembered in our family stories and memories. Ake Waci A Kekte, Tahampa Douzaha Win, we love you!