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“The good you do will come back to you”
Lucille Echohawk, Class of 1986
Lucille Echohawk has stepped up and stepped out often, but never so much as when she adopted a child who had been living at Children’s Hospital for over a year after five different foster homes.
Jewell Littlesoldier was a 7-year-old girl who had lived in the worst of situations. One of the many terrifying episodes in her young life involved being abandoned in a shopping cart in a liquor store parking lot in the middle of the night. Echohawk remembers that the first time she met Jewell at the hospital, the girl was very reserved and timid. After a while, Jewell burst out saying, “I’m Indian.” Echohawk said, “Yes, I know. Do you know what tribe you are?” Jewell answered, “I said, I’m Indian.” Echohawk responded, “Indians are in different tribes, and if you don’t know which one, we’ll find out.” In time, not only did Jewell find out what tribe she was, but what it was like to have a loving, caring mother and an extended family on which she could depend. Interestingly, Echohawk discovered that Jewell had attended a culturally-based child care center that she founded early in her career. “The good you do will come back to you,” Echohawk said. Jewell passed away at 19, but her legacy lives on in Echohawk’s changed soul.
Echohawk came to Denver from Washington, D.C., after deciding to practice what she preached. To “put down roots in a community,” as she would often advise people. She attended a meeting for the Denver Indian Center just after moving here, and before the night was over she was named Chair of the Board. “It was an exciting time,” she remembers, smiling. Federico Peña was the Mayor of Denver, Ben Nighthorse-Campbell was in the state legislature, and Echohawk began to create her network of Denver community leaders.
When she joined Leadership Denver, she felt that there wasn’t enough representation in the program from people of color. She believed this was partly due to the times when she was a member, but also due to the cost of the program. A scholarship recipient herself, she stresses how important it is for scholarships to continue, to make programs like this one available to all. Her Leadership Denver experience strengthened her continuum of relationships that continues to propel her work today.
Echohawk currently serves as strategic adviser of Indian child welfare programs at Casey Family Programs in Denver. She’s been at Casey for almost a decade and has national responsibilities to build awareness of the entity to address the issues facing native families.
“Everything in life and business is about relationship building,” Echohawk said. “Things would have been much harder without Leadership Denver.”
Interviewed By: Jennifer Hallam, Business Process Manager, IMA Financial Group, Inc. , LD 2009
May 8th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Lucille,
Hau, I hope you are having a wonder day. I had time this morning to search the web and I came across a poem, which says alot and very similar to what you have done for the child you took in. I hope you enjoy this.
I look forward to your May 18th session. See you then.
You gave on the way a pleasant smile
And thought no more about it.
It cheered a life that had been dark the while
Which might have been wrecked without it.
And so for that smile that was given there,
You’ll have a reward sometime-somewhere.
You spoke one day a cheering word,
And passed to other duties.
It cheered a heart; new promise stirred
And painted a life with beauties.
And so for that word of golden cheer,
You’ll have a reward sometime-somewhere.
You lent a hand to a fallen one;
lift in love was given.
You saved a soul when hope was gone
And helped her on toward heaven.
and, so for that help you proffered there,
You’ll have a reward sometime-somewhere.
Author Unknown
May 15th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Hi Lucille. I remember you and the fun we had in our class. I’m very proud to know you and what you did for Jewell. My best friend in NM is named Jewel and I speak her name in your honor. Kind regards, Kyla
May 31st, 2009 at 10:46 am
Lucille – How wonderful to see this lovely write-up about you and your daughter. Our time in LD was so valuable, not just for the issues probed, but more significantly, for the friendships made. Let’s get together and catch up. Christine 303.722.9958
February 17th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
Lucille, you have touched the lives of many with your smile and kind words, just as the poem promises, you will be rewarded sometime-somewhere. I cried when I read your comment about relationships – now as I grow older, I see the wisdom in that comment and wish more of our young people understood its meaning.
Alma Upicksoun
Anchorage, Alaska