As COVID swept the state, Native communities in Oklahoma raced to preserve culture

In the final hours before his father’s death, Chris Tall Bear dressed in full personal protective equipment so he could hear his dad’s last wishes and say a prayer over him.

Weeks earlier, William Tall Bear, 85, had driven himself to the hospital suffering from shortness of breath and a cough. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 and quickly hooked up to a ventilator – a pack-a-day smoking habit and a chronic inflammatory lung disease compounding the effects of COVID.

William Tall Bear collected a mountain of accolades in his life as a Korean War veteran, a founding member of the Oklahoma Indian National Guard Clan, a master welder and an expert bead worker. A citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribe, he traveled across the U.S. to represent his tribe, heritage and family.

Adam Kemp