Coeur d’Alene tribe elder Felix Aripa said a prayer before the launching of their canoe made from an old-growth cedar log from Benewah Lake near Heyburn State Park on June 7, 2016. (Kathy Plonka/SR photo)

Felix Aripa, a beloved elder of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and one of the tribe’s last native speakers, died Friday. He was 93.

Aripa was often described as the tribe’s “living link” to the pivotal era when the tribe welcomed Catholic missionaries and took up farming. In 1842, Aripa’s grandmother was one of the first children baptized by Catholic priests at the original Sacred Heart Mission in what is now Benewah County. In the early 1900s, his father was an interpreter for tribal leaders during negotiations with the federal government in Washington, D.C.

“We lost so much knowledge today that can’t be replaced,” said Chief Allan, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s chairman. “He had firsthand knowledge of his people, his culture and his country.”

Aripa’s knowledge of the Coeur d’Alene language and its history were invaluable to the tribe as it sought to regain title to parts of its aboriginal territory. He was an expert witness in the tribe’s legal battle to regain ownership of the southern third of Lake Coeur d’Alene. His testimony about place names and old village sites established the tribe’s long-standing use of the land.

“I feel proud that I know my own language,” Aripa said in an interview in early September before his death.

He and other elders also worked to ensure that later generations would have that privilege. The revival of the language among younger members of the tribe thrilled him.

“When I’m on the reservation, people are talking in Coeur d’Alene,” Aripa said. “Oh, geez. It’s our language.”

Aripa was a dignified man with a subtle sense of humor. He often gave blessings at public events, such as the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s annual Water Potato Day. He frequently wore a baseball cap with “World War II veteran” emblazoned across it/Becky Kramer, SR. More here (subscription).