Lucy Lynn Medicine Elk, 46

“Xay xay la’asin” (Woman Carries a Burden)

Our Mother, grandmother, sister, niece, cousin, and auntie “Loops” started her journey home on Saturday, April 26, 2025 in Wenatchee, WA. Early last year, Lucy was diagnosed with Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder also known as Devic’s disease, a rare autoimmune disease and had been receiving care from Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, WA. Lucy was living in Renton, WA shortly before she passed.

Lucy was born June 26, 1978 in Grangeville, ID to Muriel Slickpoo and Thomas Medicine Elk, Jr. Sadly, Lucy’s father passed away in a car accident when she was just six months old. Lucy had Umpa and her uncles as her father figures throughout her life.

Lucy was a proud enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe (Tsis tsis’tas)of Montana, though she lived most of her life on the Nez Perce reservation in Idaho. Lucy loved to visit her family in Montana for the annual 4th of July powwow & celebration, and lived for a short time with family in Ashland.

During her childhood years, Lucy attended the Tribal youth summer school program and had so much fun learning & playing with her friends and cousins. They took field trips, learned cultural arts and crafts, and played sports. Lucy also traveled extensively with her Umpa and Emma to powwows, ceremonies, and memorials throughout the Northwest and Canada.

Lucy attended elementary school in Kamiah, Kooskia, and St. Labre Indian Catholic school in Ashland, MT. In high school, she played volleyball and was part of the Indian club. Lucy graduated from Kamiah high school in 1996. Lucy was very smart and excelled in math and science and was awarded NASA and Western Energy scholarships for college. After high school, Lucy went to Montana State University in Bozeman, MT to study civil engineering.

In 1997 Lucy married Bleu Jaye Kenoras and they had two children, Lyndsey Bleu and Bryan Thomas. The marriage later ended in divorce in 2001. Lucy moved to Pablo, MT to attend Salish Kootenai College (SKC) where she proudly obtained an Associates of Arts degree in Civil Engineering. Lucy and her children then moved to Moscow, ID as she planned to purse a bachelor´s degree in civil engineering at the University of Idaho. Unfortunately, Lucy did not finish her degree and left after three years.

Lucy and her children returned to Kamiah and she worked various jobs in the Kamiah/Lapwai area while her children attended school. Lucy was employed at the Itseyeye casino, Forest Service, AmeriCorps, camp fire crew boss with the Nez Perce Tribe, and she also went to Texas as part of the Space Shuttle Columbia recovery efforts. Lucy also helped her older sister, Pam, cook when she catered tribal youth camps. Prior to the onset of her health issues, Lucy last worked at the Emerald Queen casino in Fife, WA.

Lucy was known to be quiet and soft spoken, but on the occasion she became angry, she was known as ¨Lightning Loops¨. In 2015, Lucy’s first grandchild, Chance, was born. Lucy was smitten and he was the new love and light of her life. She started to bead again, and she made him moccasins and necklaces and took him to the playground. Lucy loved Chancey so much and they shared a deep bond.

In August 2016, Lucy proudly traveled with her mother Muriel, cousins Tina Tall Bull, Rebecca (Slickpoo) Lehman, Thomas, Tei, and Tony Tall Bull, and nephew Cayuse Tall Bull to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota to protest the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (No DAPL!). The pipeline would threaten sacred burial grounds, quality of water, and have significant environmental and cultural impacts on the Indigenous peoples of the area. Lucy stayed a couple of weeks with the Nez Perce Tribe delegation in the Red Warrior Encampment and also protested with her relatives at the Northern Cheyenne delegation camp. Later that year in November, Lucy went back to the Standing Rock Sioux reservation to protest a second time. This time, she traveled with her friend, Rachel Hobart, as the military had arrived. Lucy was on the frontlines the night law enforcement and the military used tear gas on the protesters. Lucy was taken to the medic yurt and after being released, she was taken to an elder camp where they stayed another week in freezing temperatures before returning home.

After losing her son to a car accident in 2018, Lucy was overwhelmed with grief. She moved to the Colville Indian reservation with a friend until her medical condition was diagnosed. In 2024, Lucy was living in a nursing home in North Bend, WA until she was moved to a smaller facility in Renton early this year. Lucy had to reside in the Seattle-area as she had numerous medical appointments and monthly visits to Swedish Medical center for treatment. Lucy had lost her abilty to walk and depended on a wheelchair to get around. Lucy was very positive about her rare auto-immune disease even though they only gave her five years to live. Lucy read several books and articles about her condition and went to every medical appointment with questions and wanted answers. Lucy was losing her agility in her hands so she used talk to text to communicate. Lucy had dreams of moving home and being around her family again. Lucy was also very fond of her grandchildren and loved to see pictures of them and talked to them on the phone for hours. Lucy will be missed so much.

Lucy was preceded in death by her son, Bryan Thomas “Lil Tom” Kenoras; mother, Muriel Slickpoo; father, Thomas Medicine Elk, Jr.; sister, Pamela Steffy; brother John Paul (JP) Medicine Elk; Maternal grandparents, Allen P. Slickpoo, Sr. “Umpa” & Ernestine (Hayes) Slickpoo “Emma”; Paternal grandparents, Tom Medicine Elk, Sr. & Eva Flying, step-grandmother, Theresa Medicine Elk.

Lucy is survived by her daughter Lyndsey Kenoras of Portland, OR; three grandchildren, Chance and Elena Wheeler, Shoshana Toobian, all of Portland, OR; brother Max (Pino) Weasel Boy of Kamiah, and sister Shanon Shoulderblade of Albuquerque, NM. Lucy also leaves behind many Aunts, Uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, and all those who knew and loved her.

A private dressing will be held on Mon, April 28 1pm at Malcom Brower Wann funeral home in Lewiston, ID. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, April 29, 10:00am at Waayas

Community Center in Kamiah with interment to follow at No Kid Lane cemetary. Dressing and memorial services will be led by Harry Slickpoo, Jr. Lunch will be served following the burial at the Waayas.