Goodbye, Wayne Cantrell

Last Sunday was the memorial and burial of an Indian acquaintance of long standing, Wayne Cantrell. I knew Wayne from the powwow trail. He was the lead singer on a drum. While he was not from the plains, he had an affinity for the Lakota at Fort Peck, Montana. He visited there often in his youger days and learned many Lakota songs. At one powwow he sang the most beautiful Indian song I’d ever heard. I asked him what the song was about. He said it tells the story of a village crier going through the tipi village and saying, “Come, come dance, come to the dance.” Wayne was only 61, much too young to die. He had been in poor health for the last several years and had lost his sight to diabetes. After the memorial we drove to the cemetery and buried Wayne. Back at Chief Leschi School a feast was being prepared. People stayed, ate, conversed, told stories until late afternoon. It was a good send-off for this fine, gentle man. He would have enjoyed it. And perhaps he did.