Evelyn Marie Stevenson

Evelyn "Evie" Stevenson passed away peacefully at St. Luke Hospital in Ronan, MT, with family by her side, on March 12, 2015, after dealing with various health problems over the years. She was born March 24, 1939 to Bill and Eva Matt Case in Blue Bay, MT, where her folks were living at the time. Her dad worked for the Forest Service then, but worked a number of ranching and farming jobs over the years. Her mother stayed at home to raise the family, and was known for her excellent cooking skills, which she handed down to her daughter. Both of her parents loved the outdoors, and Evie grew up hiking, fishing, and picking huckleberries in the mountains.
Early in life, at the age of 4, Evie experienced an unusual illness that kept her in and out of the Spokane Hospital for over a year, nearly 200 miles away. She fully recovered and her family moved to a farm that she loved. She attended a one room school-house with 8 students, and ran with her dog, Tippy, in the hills. When she was 12, her father became ill for several months, and she ended up running the farm while her mother cooked for the crews and cared for her younger brother, George. She had to drive the big truck to the grain elevator after obtaining an emergency license. They had to cut out part of the dashboard so she could see to drive, and added extenders to the foot pedals. Her mother told of how this small little girl was out in the field organizing field hands and the thrashing crews like a seasoned farmer. She said, "In the beginning, they all just ignored Evie, but after a short time, when Evie gave directions, they quickly followed."
In 1960, she married Dan Stevenson while working at Boeing in Seattle, and they traveled extensively with the aircraft industry. She still managed to go home to the Reservation almost every summer. They had two children, Tisa and Craig, whom they adored. Although they divorced after 17 years, they remained great friends always. Dan says he was inspired by Evelyn, and when he was 50 he went to law school at the University of Montana. Her children also chose careers working and serving Native people and communities.
While raising a young family in San Francisco, Evelyn was very active in the Civil Rights Movement and American Indian causes. She was involved in the "Alcatraz Occupation" in the early 70's. She went to the island almost daily in a row boat for six months. She decided to become an attorney, and after finishing her undergraduate degree, she attended Golden Gate University Law School in San Francisco. She brought Craig and Tisa to school with her at night, and the whole family read her the quizzes from her books. Somehow she still managed to make wonderful dinners and found time for family time. She began working with the Salish/Kootenai Tribal Court System in the summer of 1974 after Tribal Sovereignty became more of a goal upon enactment of the Indian Education and Self Determination Act. Together with Judges Donny Dupuis and Louise Burke- and other pioneering warriors of that time- they began building a modern, sophisticated Tribal Court System. They provided the first Prosecutor, the first Tribal Advocate Program & Court Advisor. Everyone wore many hats and the system worked on integrity.
Evelyn and her dear friend, Kathleen Fleury, were the first Indian women to pass the Montana Bar, and Evelyn became the first in-house legal counsel, engaged in all aspects of law. During her first year with the Tribes, she spent the winter in Washington, D.C. learning of the past litigation and Court of Claim cases that large firms had previously handled. Those law firms were no longer prepared to deal with the greatly expanded tribal government. The Tribes were becoming prepared to stand on their own, supporting their ancestors' wishes in becoming a sovereign nation. She flew back and forth so she could still attend family activities. People joked that she could have lunch with the President, have afternoon pie and coffee with a homeless person, and then tuck her kids into bed late that night across the country.
Evelyn, along with several other very dedicated individuals, was instrumental in the effort to help win the eight-year legal battle to prevent a hydroelectric project at Kootenai Falls. This was a sacred site for the Kootenai people, off the Reservation. Evelyn always said, "This was a great victory". In fact, it was unprecedented. At no other time in U.S. history had a large scale construction project been halted through litigation. She was always humble about things, and this was probably the first time that her children realized that their mom was pretty amazing as they watched her on T.V., refusing to back down to her adversaries.
Evelyn worked with other attorneys back East in developing the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. She gives credit elsewhere for the actual writing of the act. However, she fiercely defended the law with an unrivaled devotion and dedication. She rarely lost in court. One day she stated her advantage. "My opponents were fighting for a paycheck, and I was fighting for my family." That federal law became her lifelong passion, designed to hopefully avoid further destruction of the American Indian Family. She became a nationally recognized expert on the subject, and even during various hospitalizations up until a few months ago, she would receive calls from attorneys and judges around the country. She was known to drive in her little camper or fly across the U.S. in order to attend court sessions or to visit children from the Tribe, even after requiring oxygen.
In 1979 she was severely burned in a gasoline explosion while burning brush for her small log home on Finley Point. Although they tried to airlift her to a burn center, she refused to leave the Reservation. She had finally moved back home permanently, and wanted to be close to traditional healers and her friends and family. They set up a makeshift burn unit in the Polson hospital and she recovered beautifully. Healing took months, but the traditional healers visited her daily. She had extensive superficial and inhalation burns but did not have much scarring, which surprised all of the specialists. She conducted business from her hospital bed, covered in bandages, with people lined up down the hall, praying and singing for her.
One of Evelyn's greatest experiences was a sabbatical in New Zealand where Evelyn was invited to speak at seminars with the Maori people in order to assist them in developing something similar to the Indian Child Welfare Act, as they too faced the destruction of their families. She said the cultural exchanges were invaluable. She later went back with her attorney-friend, Virginia, to visit the many wonderful people she had met.
Her second sabbatical was a trip around the country visiting with other tribal nations. She toured the U.S. in her "one-woman and a dog-camper." Everything in life was another adventure for Evie.
Evelyn was active in several organizations and received more awards than we can even name. For years she has been involved with the Native American Rights Fund on the Board of Directors, Tribal Law and Policy Board of Directors, the MT ACLU, and the Mission Valley Animal Shelter Board. She also served on the advisory board for the CASA program, as well as the National Indian Justice Center. She was appointed by two Governors for the Montana Human Rights Commission for 12 years. She also helped with the local stock car race track for many years. She loved the races, and even drove to some Nascar tracks in her camper. At the Mission Valley Speedway, the announcer was known to see her walk in, carrying her oxygen tank, and would say, "OK, we can start now…Evelyn is here."
Before she died, Evelyn's family asked her about the messages she wished to convey upon her death. She wrote much of this obituary, although she left out the compliments to herself. It was very important to her that others know how much she truly enjoyed working with so many wonderful people over the years. She seemed to see the best in everyone. We have often heard of stories from people that attribute Evelyn with their sobriety or their ability to get things back on track, to save their family. One man a few days ago spoke of Evelyn and Tribal Judge Louise coming to rescue him in jail in Spokane after some old charges surfaced. I asked if he considered escaping, and he said, "Are you kidding? From Evelyn and Louise?" Anyone who knew them would know what he meant. If they asked for someone's word, that was usually enough. Evie has kept track of the children and families long after the cases she handled were completed. Some of the people she recently helped are grandparents now trying to keep their families together, and these grandparents were sometimes the children from cases long ago. She conducted unofficial business in her nightgown at the kitchen table, and it was only a few weeks ago when she had to finally tell people that her health no longer allowed her to help with their cases.
It was important to Evie to stay in her home as long as she could, in spite of her health problems. There are simply too many people to name who helped to make that possible.
Whenever she was asked about her greatest accomplishment, she always said, "No accomplishment in life could ever be as meaningful as raising my two children." Her children could not have asked for a better mother. Those who knew Evelyn knew that she was a mother to many others as well. She loved her extended family dearly, and had the kinds of friendships in life that many only dream of having. She will be greatly missed.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her infant daughter, Renee, as well as many dear relatives and friends.
She is survived by her daughter, Tisa Newton (Patrick) and grandsons Thomas Pablo and Braiden Newton; son, Craig Stevenson, (Kara Sharai), and grandson, Finley Stevenson; her brother, George Case(Jean) and their daughters, Rebecca Woodbury (Brian) and baby Levi, and Rachelle Case; former husband, Dan Stevenson (Pam) and their son Tyler; She is also survived by many other relatives and wonderful friends- Too numerous to name. Special thanks to the entire Hardy family- especially her cousin and scrabble buddy, Linda Hardy; cousin Rene Dubay; The St. Luke's Hospital in Ronan along with Lake County Hospice provided outstanding and loving care to our mama, and made it possible for us to help her along on her journey with dignity.
The Lake Funeral Home (Grogan's) in Polson, MT will be handling the arrangements. Traditional wake services will begin on Sunday, March 15 at noon at the Elmo Community Center. The Rosary will be recited there on Sunday at 8pm. Funeral/Mass will be held on Monday at 11am in Elmo with burial to follow at the Ronan Cemetary at 46727 North Foothills Drive. We'll go back to Elmo after the burial.

Read Evelyn Stevenson's Obituary and Guestbook on www.groganfuneralhome.com.