-------------------------
DANIEL "MIKE" DEFENDER.
BIOGRAPHY:
.
..."Born December 4, 1925 at the Sees The Bear home in North Dakota to George and Margaret Helen (Sees The Bear) Defender. He served in the Army during World War II as an underwater demolition technician. He attended Standing Rock Community College and worked as a drug and alcohol counselor at Fort Yates, North Dakota. He graduated from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota with a bachelor of science degree. He was a member of the Baha'i Faith. In 1981 he joined the Peace Corps and served in the Philippines for three years. In 1984 he married Jacinta Del Rosario in Manila in the Philippines. Later the couple returned to live at Shields, North Dakota. He was a social activist all of his life. He served as a vice chairman of the Bear Soldier Housing Organization and was a member of the Human Rights Organization at Fort Yates. He and Jacinta had one daughter, Honorata Margaret and one son Quddus Emelio." (SOURCE: Biography contributed by Mary Frances).
.
-------------------------∼DANIEL DEFENDER
1925-1995
Daniel Defender was born on December 4, 1925, in Shields, North
Dakota. A Sioux Indian, Dan grew up on the extensive lands of the Standing Rock
Sioux Reservation that straddles the borders of western North and South Dakota.
The ancestry of the Standing Rock Sioux derives from the Lakota band of
the Great Teton Sioux Nation, which until the mid-eighteenth century inhabited
the forests of eastern Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin. Internecine warfare,
the encroachment of white settlers, the introduction of the horse and the gun to
their originally semi-agricultural culture, and their pursuit of the buffalo all became
factors that eventually led the Lakota to move west into the Great Plains, especially
the region spreading our from the foot of the Black Hills, long sacred to the Sioux,
today comprising the Dakotas.
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 established the boundaries of the Great Sioux
Reservation. Under the treaty the Sioux were guaranteed that settlers would not
intrude upon their land. When gold was discovered in the Black Hills, the federal
government opened up the reservation for white settlement. In 1889 an Act of
Congress subdivided the Great Sioux Reservation into five, and the Standing
Rock Sioux Reservation was eventually reduced to about a quarter of its original
treaty allocation.
Dan's name in his native tongue, "Irancan-Agdi," translates roughly to
"Brings Back Leadership," and to many on the reservation, that is what Dan stood
for. An article published in the Bismarck Tribune following his passing noted that
"he was a tireless fighter for justice on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation."
Still in his teens during World War II, Dan served in the US Navy as a "frogman"-
an underwater demolition technician. As he told the story, not long
after enlisting, the natural abilities of the frogmen hopefuls were put to their first
test as they were dumped into a muddy lake in Idaho. "They pushed us out, and
those who made it to shore made it," Dan explained. He credited his own success to
his childhood days of swimming in the reservation's narrow and murky Porcupine
Creek. During the Vietnam era Dan served in the US Merchant Marine.
By the time he encountered the Baha'i Faith in the late 1960s, Dan had reached
middle age, had traveled considerably, and had acquired a global perspective. He made
the decision to become a Baha'i during one of his returns to the Standing Rock
Reservation, more specifically to Fort Yates, North Dakota. He formally enrolled as a
Baha'i on January 25, 1970.
His enthusiasm for his new Faith, his
maturity, and his depth of experience in Indian affairs and as a member of the Fort
Yates Spiritual Assembly quickly made him attractive for service at the national level.
Appointments to the American Indian Teaching Committee in 1974 and 1975
followed.
In October 1981, after taking a bachelor's degree in social work, Dan volunteered for
service in the United States Peace Corps. His assignment to San Jose, Occidental
Mindoro, in the Philippines, provided him with an opportunity to combine government
work with international pioneering service for the Faith. When he returned to
the United States in 1984, a Filipino bride, Jacinta Nacawili del Rosario Defender,
accompanied him. Their union brought them two children, Honorara and Quddus.
They raised several foster children as well. Jacqueline Left Hand Bull-Delahunt remembers
them for having devoted their meager resources to the care of children
with physical and intellectual disabilities.
The Defender family established its new home in Fort Yates on the familiar rolling
hills and outstretching grasslands of the Standing Rock Reservation. There they
hosted Feasts, Holy Day commemorations, and firesides; and Dan served on the Local
Assembly. Jacinta recalls that they made great efforts to get their children to all
possible winter schools and gatherings. Dan died on December 3, 1995, at the
age of sixty-nine and was widely mourned.
In the Bismarck Tribune article cited above, his sister observed:
He went through the real pain our people went through. He saw what
caused our pain, and he knew there'd be no way to change that unless he
alleviated the pain. Ir wouldn't change by itself; it wouldn't change by applying
Band-Aid measures on some deep-seated problems.
Dan's body was returned to a knoll on the land of his grandfather, Tall Man Sees
the Bear, north of Shields, North Dakota.
His sister, Mary Louise Defender Wilson, remembers that Dan had fasted on that
hill a few years before.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States offered the
Defender family its condolences:
Our hearts are saddened with the passing of Daniel Defender whose
life was spent in service to humanity as a teacher of the Cause of
God on the homefront and as a pioneer to the Philippines and as
a loving father for physically challenged children whom he sheltered
... We pray for the ascent of his noble soul.
And on December 11, 1995 , the International Teaching Centre remembered
Dan and his family:
With saddened hearts, we received your email ... informing us of the
passing of a dearly devoted servant of the Cause Mr. Dan Defender
on December 3, 1995· Please assure his wife and children that we will
offer prayers at the Sacred Threshold for the progress of his soul and for
Baha'u'llah's blessings to comfort and sustain his family in this difficult
time.
From an article submitted by Thomas Murphy and supplementary information
provided by Jacinta Defender
DANIEL "MIKE" DEFENDER.
BIOGRAPHY:
.
..."Born December 4, 1925 at the Sees The Bear home in North Dakota to George and Margaret Helen (Sees The Bear) Defender. He served in the Army during World War II as an underwater demolition technician. He attended Standing Rock Community College and worked as a drug and alcohol counselor at Fort Yates, North Dakota. He graduated from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota with a bachelor of science degree. He was a member of the Baha'i Faith. In 1981 he joined the Peace Corps and served in the Philippines for three years. In 1984 he married Jacinta Del Rosario in Manila in the Philippines. Later the couple returned to live at Shields, North Dakota. He was a social activist all of his life. He served as a vice chairman of the Bear Soldier Housing Organization and was a member of the Human Rights Organization at Fort Yates. He and Jacinta had one daughter, Honorata Margaret and one son Quddus Emelio." (SOURCE: Biography contributed by Mary Frances).
.
-------------------------∼DANIEL DEFENDER
1925-1995
Daniel Defender was born on December 4, 1925, in Shields, North
Dakota. A Sioux Indian, Dan grew up on the extensive lands of the Standing Rock
Sioux Reservation that straddles the borders of western North and South Dakota.
The ancestry of the Standing Rock Sioux derives from the Lakota band of
the Great Teton Sioux Nation, which until the mid-eighteenth century inhabited
the forests of eastern Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin. Internecine warfare,
the encroachment of white settlers, the introduction of the horse and the gun to
their originally semi-agricultural culture, and their pursuit of the buffalo all became
factors that eventually led the Lakota to move west into the Great Plains, especially
the region spreading our from the foot of the Black Hills, long sacred to the Sioux,
today comprising the Dakotas.
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 established the boundaries of the Great Sioux
Reservation. Under the treaty the Sioux were guaranteed that settlers would not
intrude upon their land. When gold was discovered in the Black Hills, the federal
government opened up the reservation for white settlement. In 1889 an Act of
Congress subdivided the Great Sioux Reservation into five, and the Standing
Rock Sioux Reservation was eventually reduced to about a quarter of its original
treaty allocation.
Dan's name in his native tongue, "Irancan-Agdi," translates roughly to
"Brings Back Leadership," and to many on the reservation, that is what Dan stood
for. An article published in the Bismarck Tribune following his passing noted that
"he was a tireless fighter for justice on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation."
Still in his teens during World War II, Dan served in the US Navy as a "frogman"-
an underwater demolition technician. As he told the story, not long
after enlisting, the natural abilities of the frogmen hopefuls were put to their first
test as they were dumped into a muddy lake in Idaho. "They pushed us out, and
those who made it to shore made it," Dan explained. He credited his own success to
his childhood days of swimming in the reservation's narrow and murky Porcupine
Creek. During the Vietnam era Dan served in the US Merchant Marine.
By the time he encountered the Baha'i Faith in the late 1960s, Dan had reached
middle age, had traveled considerably, and had acquired a global perspective. He made
the decision to become a Baha'i during one of his returns to the Standing Rock
Reservation, more specifically to Fort Yates, North Dakota. He formally enrolled as a
Baha'i on January 25, 1970.
His enthusiasm for his new Faith, his
maturity, and his depth of experience in Indian affairs and as a member of the Fort
Yates Spiritual Assembly quickly made him attractive for service at the national level.
Appointments to the American Indian Teaching Committee in 1974 and 1975
followed.
In October 1981, after taking a bachelor's degree in social work, Dan volunteered for
service in the United States Peace Corps. His assignment to San Jose, Occidental
Mindoro, in the Philippines, provided him with an opportunity to combine government
work with international pioneering service for the Faith. When he returned to
the United States in 1984, a Filipino bride, Jacinta Nacawili del Rosario Defender,
accompanied him. Their union brought them two children, Honorara and Quddus.
They raised several foster children as well. Jacqueline Left Hand Bull-Delahunt remembers
them for having devoted their meager resources to the care of children
with physical and intellectual disabilities.
The Defender family established its new home in Fort Yates on the familiar rolling
hills and outstretching grasslands of the Standing Rock Reservation. There they
hosted Feasts, Holy Day commemorations, and firesides; and Dan served on the Local
Assembly. Jacinta recalls that they made great efforts to get their children to all
possible winter schools and gatherings. Dan died on December 3, 1995, at the
age of sixty-nine and was widely mourned.
In the Bismarck Tribune article cited above, his sister observed:
He went through the real pain our people went through. He saw what
caused our pain, and he knew there'd be no way to change that unless he
alleviated the pain. Ir wouldn't change by itself; it wouldn't change by applying
Band-Aid measures on some deep-seated problems.
Dan's body was returned to a knoll on the land of his grandfather, Tall Man Sees
the Bear, north of Shields, North Dakota.
His sister, Mary Louise Defender Wilson, remembers that Dan had fasted on that
hill a few years before.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States offered the
Defender family its condolences:
Our hearts are saddened with the passing of Daniel Defender whose
life was spent in service to humanity as a teacher of the Cause of
God on the homefront and as a pioneer to the Philippines and as
a loving father for physically challenged children whom he sheltered
... We pray for the ascent of his noble soul.
And on December 11, 1995 , the International Teaching Centre remembered
Dan and his family:
With saddened hearts, we received your email ... informing us of the
passing of a dearly devoted servant of the Cause Mr. Dan Defender
on December 3, 1995· Please assure his wife and children that we will
offer prayers at the Sacred Threshold for the progress of his soul and for
Baha'u'llah's blessings to comfort and sustain his family in this difficult
time.
From an article submitted by Thomas Murphy and supplementary information
provided by Jacinta Defender
-------------------------
DANIEL "MIKE" DEFENDER.
BIOGRAPHY:
.
..."Born December 4, 1925 at the Sees The Bear home in North Dakota to George and Margaret Helen (Sees The Bear) Defender. He served in the Army during World War II as an underwater demolition technician. He attended Standing Rock Community College and worked as a drug and alcohol counselor at Fort Yates, North Dakota. He graduated from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota with a bachelor of science degree. He was a member of the Baha'i Faith. In 1981 he joined the Peace Corps and served in the Philippines for three years. In 1984 he married Jacinta Del Rosario in Manila in the Philippines. Later the couple returned to live at Shields, North Dakota. He was a social activist all of his life. He served as a vice chairman of the Bear Soldier Housing Organization and was a member of the Human Rights Organization at Fort Yates. He and Jacinta had one daughter, Honorata Margaret and one son Quddus Emelio." (SOURCE: Biography contributed by Mary Frances).
.
-------------------------∼DANIEL DEFENDER
1925-1995
Daniel Defender was born on December 4, 1925, in Shields, North
Dakota. A Sioux Indian, Dan grew up on the extensive lands of the Standing Rock
Sioux Reservation that straddles the borders of western North and South Dakota.
The ancestry of the Standing Rock Sioux derives from the Lakota band of
the Great Teton Sioux Nation, which until the mid-eighteenth century inhabited
the forests of eastern Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin. Internecine warfare,
the encroachment of white settlers, the introduction of the horse and the gun to
their originally semi-agricultural culture, and their pursuit of the buffalo all became
factors that eventually led the Lakota to move west into the Great Plains, especially
the region spreading our from the foot of the Black Hills, long sacred to the Sioux,
today comprising the Dakotas.
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 established the boundaries of the Great Sioux
Reservation. Under the treaty the Sioux were guaranteed that settlers would not
intrude upon their land. When gold was discovered in the Black Hills, the federal
government opened up the reservation for white settlement. In 1889 an Act of
Congress subdivided the Great Sioux Reservation into five, and the Standing
Rock Sioux Reservation was eventually reduced to about a quarter of its original
treaty allocation.
Dan's name in his native tongue, "Irancan-Agdi," translates roughly to
"Brings Back Leadership," and to many on the reservation, that is what Dan stood
for. An article published in the Bismarck Tribune following his passing noted that
"he was a tireless fighter for justice on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation."
Still in his teens during World War II, Dan served in the US Navy as a "frogman"-
an underwater demolition technician. As he told the story, not long
after enlisting, the natural abilities of the frogmen hopefuls were put to their first
test as they were dumped into a muddy lake in Idaho. "They pushed us out, and
those who made it to shore made it," Dan explained. He credited his own success to
his childhood days of swimming in the reservation's narrow and murky Porcupine
Creek. During the Vietnam era Dan served in the US Merchant Marine.
By the time he encountered the Baha'i Faith in the late 1960s, Dan had reached
middle age, had traveled considerably, and had acquired a global perspective. He made
the decision to become a Baha'i during one of his returns to the Standing Rock
Reservation, more specifically to Fort Yates, North Dakota. He formally enrolled as a
Baha'i on January 25, 1970.
His enthusiasm for his new Faith, his
maturity, and his depth of experience in Indian affairs and as a member of the Fort
Yates Spiritual Assembly quickly made him attractive for service at the national level.
Appointments to the American Indian Teaching Committee in 1974 and 1975
followed.
In October 1981, after taking a bachelor's degree in social work, Dan volunteered for
service in the United States Peace Corps. His assignment to San Jose, Occidental
Mindoro, in the Philippines, provided him with an opportunity to combine government
work with international pioneering service for the Faith. When he returned to
the United States in 1984, a Filipino bride, Jacinta Nacawili del Rosario Defender,
accompanied him. Their union brought them two children, Honorara and Quddus.
They raised several foster children as well. Jacqueline Left Hand Bull-Delahunt remembers
them for having devoted their meager resources to the care of children
with physical and intellectual disabilities.
The Defender family established its new home in Fort Yates on the familiar rolling
hills and outstretching grasslands of the Standing Rock Reservation. There they
hosted Feasts, Holy Day commemorations, and firesides; and Dan served on the Local
Assembly. Jacinta recalls that they made great efforts to get their children to all
possible winter schools and gatherings. Dan died on December 3, 1995, at the
age of sixty-nine and was widely mourned.
In the Bismarck Tribune article cited above, his sister observed:
He went through the real pain our people went through. He saw what
caused our pain, and he knew there'd be no way to change that unless he
alleviated the pain. Ir wouldn't change by itself; it wouldn't change by applying
Band-Aid measures on some deep-seated problems.
Dan's body was returned to a knoll on the land of his grandfather, Tall Man Sees
the Bear, north of Shields, North Dakota.
His sister, Mary Louise Defender Wilson, remembers that Dan had fasted on that
hill a few years before.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States offered the
Defender family its condolences:
Our hearts are saddened with the passing of Daniel Defender whose
life was spent in service to humanity as a teacher of the Cause of
God on the homefront and as a pioneer to the Philippines and as
a loving father for physically challenged children whom he sheltered
... We pray for the ascent of his noble soul.
And on December 11, 1995 , the International Teaching Centre remembered
Dan and his family:
With saddened hearts, we received your email ... informing us of the
passing of a dearly devoted servant of the Cause Mr. Dan Defender
on December 3, 1995· Please assure his wife and children that we will
offer prayers at the Sacred Threshold for the progress of his soul and for
Baha'u'llah's blessings to comfort and sustain his family in this difficult
time.
From an article submitted by Thomas Murphy and supplementary information
provided by Jacinta Defender
DANIEL "MIKE" DEFENDER.
BIOGRAPHY:
.
..."Born December 4, 1925 at the Sees The Bear home in North Dakota to George and Margaret Helen (Sees The Bear) Defender. He served in the Army during World War II as an underwater demolition technician. He attended Standing Rock Community College and worked as a drug and alcohol counselor at Fort Yates, North Dakota. He graduated from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota with a bachelor of science degree. He was a member of the Baha'i Faith. In 1981 he joined the Peace Corps and served in the Philippines for three years. In 1984 he married Jacinta Del Rosario in Manila in the Philippines. Later the couple returned to live at Shields, North Dakota. He was a social activist all of his life. He served as a vice chairman of the Bear Soldier Housing Organization and was a member of the Human Rights Organization at Fort Yates. He and Jacinta had one daughter, Honorata Margaret and one son Quddus Emelio." (SOURCE: Biography contributed by Mary Frances).
.
-------------------------∼DANIEL DEFENDER
1925-1995
Daniel Defender was born on December 4, 1925, in Shields, North
Dakota. A Sioux Indian, Dan grew up on the extensive lands of the Standing Rock
Sioux Reservation that straddles the borders of western North and South Dakota.
The ancestry of the Standing Rock Sioux derives from the Lakota band of
the Great Teton Sioux Nation, which until the mid-eighteenth century inhabited
the forests of eastern Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin. Internecine warfare,
the encroachment of white settlers, the introduction of the horse and the gun to
their originally semi-agricultural culture, and their pursuit of the buffalo all became
factors that eventually led the Lakota to move west into the Great Plains, especially
the region spreading our from the foot of the Black Hills, long sacred to the Sioux,
today comprising the Dakotas.
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 established the boundaries of the Great Sioux
Reservation. Under the treaty the Sioux were guaranteed that settlers would not
intrude upon their land. When gold was discovered in the Black Hills, the federal
government opened up the reservation for white settlement. In 1889 an Act of
Congress subdivided the Great Sioux Reservation into five, and the Standing
Rock Sioux Reservation was eventually reduced to about a quarter of its original
treaty allocation.
Dan's name in his native tongue, "Irancan-Agdi," translates roughly to
"Brings Back Leadership," and to many on the reservation, that is what Dan stood
for. An article published in the Bismarck Tribune following his passing noted that
"he was a tireless fighter for justice on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation."
Still in his teens during World War II, Dan served in the US Navy as a "frogman"-
an underwater demolition technician. As he told the story, not long
after enlisting, the natural abilities of the frogmen hopefuls were put to their first
test as they were dumped into a muddy lake in Idaho. "They pushed us out, and
those who made it to shore made it," Dan explained. He credited his own success to
his childhood days of swimming in the reservation's narrow and murky Porcupine
Creek. During the Vietnam era Dan served in the US Merchant Marine.
By the time he encountered the Baha'i Faith in the late 1960s, Dan had reached
middle age, had traveled considerably, and had acquired a global perspective. He made
the decision to become a Baha'i during one of his returns to the Standing Rock
Reservation, more specifically to Fort Yates, North Dakota. He formally enrolled as a
Baha'i on January 25, 1970.
His enthusiasm for his new Faith, his
maturity, and his depth of experience in Indian affairs and as a member of the Fort
Yates Spiritual Assembly quickly made him attractive for service at the national level.
Appointments to the American Indian Teaching Committee in 1974 and 1975
followed.
In October 1981, after taking a bachelor's degree in social work, Dan volunteered for
service in the United States Peace Corps. His assignment to San Jose, Occidental
Mindoro, in the Philippines, provided him with an opportunity to combine government
work with international pioneering service for the Faith. When he returned to
the United States in 1984, a Filipino bride, Jacinta Nacawili del Rosario Defender,
accompanied him. Their union brought them two children, Honorara and Quddus.
They raised several foster children as well. Jacqueline Left Hand Bull-Delahunt remembers
them for having devoted their meager resources to the care of children
with physical and intellectual disabilities.
The Defender family established its new home in Fort Yates on the familiar rolling
hills and outstretching grasslands of the Standing Rock Reservation. There they
hosted Feasts, Holy Day commemorations, and firesides; and Dan served on the Local
Assembly. Jacinta recalls that they made great efforts to get their children to all
possible winter schools and gatherings. Dan died on December 3, 1995, at the
age of sixty-nine and was widely mourned.
In the Bismarck Tribune article cited above, his sister observed:
He went through the real pain our people went through. He saw what
caused our pain, and he knew there'd be no way to change that unless he
alleviated the pain. Ir wouldn't change by itself; it wouldn't change by applying
Band-Aid measures on some deep-seated problems.
Dan's body was returned to a knoll on the land of his grandfather, Tall Man Sees
the Bear, north of Shields, North Dakota.
His sister, Mary Louise Defender Wilson, remembers that Dan had fasted on that
hill a few years before.
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States offered the
Defender family its condolences:
Our hearts are saddened with the passing of Daniel Defender whose
life was spent in service to humanity as a teacher of the Cause of
God on the homefront and as a pioneer to the Philippines and as
a loving father for physically challenged children whom he sheltered
... We pray for the ascent of his noble soul.
And on December 11, 1995 , the International Teaching Centre remembered
Dan and his family:
With saddened hearts, we received your email ... informing us of the
passing of a dearly devoted servant of the Cause Mr. Dan Defender
on December 3, 1995· Please assure his wife and children that we will
offer prayers at the Sacred Threshold for the progress of his soul and for
Baha'u'llah's blessings to comfort and sustain his family in this difficult
time.
From an article submitted by Thomas Murphy and supplementary information
provided by Jacinta Defender
Gravesite Details
Dan's body was returned to a knoll on the land of his grandfather, Tall Man Sees
the Bear, north of Shields, North Dakota.
Family Members
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