John Wesley Stillsmoking

John Wesley Stillsmoking
McLoud
Nominated by Fr. Paul Zahler, O.S.B., Ph.D. 

Mr. Stillsmoking is being honored posthumously. He died in 2015.

On December 10th, the Oklahoma Universal Human
Rights Alliance will honor human rights heroes from
around our great state. A recognition program will take
place at the State Capitol.For more information, see:
"Celebrate Human Rights."

John Wesley Stillsmoking was an artist, an actor, and a man who served his community as a volunteer at the Oklahoma City VA Hospital, and as a member of the Native American Elders Council.

A member of the Blackfeet Nation of Montana, as well as a descendant of the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, John attended many pow wows, honor dances and gatherings throughout the United States in support of Native Veterans. As a leader of the Warriors Honor Guard, he would drive long distances to help honor his fellow veterans and would often take veterans to Native American gatherings. He was a loyal friend and regularly made visits and telephone calls to check up on his family and buddies.

John’s hobbies included drawing, writing, painting, working on model cars, reading, bead work, and participating in the pow wows. A graduate of McLoud High School, John painted the Indian head emblem for McLoud High School. John and his brother Jeff were actors in the movie, “The Powwow Highway.”

John was 47 years of age at the time of his death. He died among family and friend at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Oklahoma City after a short illness.

"Indigenous peoples and individuals are free and equal to all other peoples and individuals and have the right to be free from any kind of discrimination, in the exercise of their rights, in particular that based on their indigenous origin or identity."
--Article 2 of the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples