Louis Gray, Sr.

Louis Gray was born April 23, 1953, in Pawhuska, Oklahoma and died July 23, 2025, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He was 72 years old. He was the fourth of seven children born to his parents Andrew and Margaret Gray. He was active in his Osage culture throughout his life and served his community in many different areas. When he was young, the Gray family moved to Colorado, where he excelled in sports, namely football and basketball. While in Denver, Louis and the entire Gray clan developed a lifelong passion for the Denver Broncos. When he was 16, he transferred to Albuquerque Indian School, where he was an all-city football star as a Linebacker and Fullback. Later, he enrolled in the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M., where he studied photography and writing.

At the age of 19, Louis and his brother Andrew, and sisters Mary Grayce and Gina placed themselves and their lives in harm’s way when they joined the American Indian Movement Occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973, which made international news to protest the historic injustice that faced Native people throughout the country even as the U.S. government sent the National Guard to surround the activists with guns and tanks. This event is widely recognized as a turning point in Federal Indian Policy, when just two years later Congress passed the landmark Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975. Returning safely from that experience, Louis enrolled in Haskell Indian Nations University, where he studied photography and journalism while playing football.

After he returned home to Pawhuska, he married Anita Eaves and started a family, where they made Pawhuska their home. Working in various jobs for the Osage Nation, he found his calling in media. In the mid-1970s, he was employed as a reporter/photographer and videographer for the Osage Nation Media Center. A position that attracted him to work at our Nation’s Capital for the Council of Energy Resource Tribes as the editor of the widely read newsletter The CERT Report. In this capacity, Louis covered U.S. Supreme Court cases, Congressional hearings on Indian Energy issues and interviewed top Executive Branch officials in the Department of the Interior and Energy.

But at the heart of Louis’s passion for life was his love of Osage culture. Going in the Pawhuska district as a member of the Deer Clan, named by Osage elder Magella Green (Wah-Sha-No-Pe, Osage whom they fear to see). Louis found his calling in the Inlonshka dance and was quickly recognized as one of the most talented dancers of his generation. Shortly after recognizing his love for the dance, numerous Drumkeepers asked Louis to serve as a tail dancer for the next 28 years of his life. He learned the songs from our singers and their meaning. In time, he learned all the protocols of the dance and passed that knowledge down to the next generation. To his last day, even as a former tail dancer, he served on the Pawhuska Waxakoli^ committee

He also became an active member of the Native American Church, where he attended many family churches throughout his life and supported his brother Andrew’s church. It was there he felt the healing power of his faith to heal himself and learn to heal others in their darkest hours.

It was during these years that many Indigenous people knew him and his brother Andrew as one of the best traditional straight dancers in the country, competing and winning against some of the best dancers in the biggest arenas in all of Indian Country.

In more recent years, most people knew him as a proud member of the Osage Gourd Clan, where he represented his Osage people at powwows throughout the state.

After his divorce, Louis took a second wife, Stacey DeRoin, and began a new life with her. For the love of all of his children, he maintained very close relations with both of his families for the rest of his life. Years later, he would marry Sherry Gann and in the 1990s, Michelle Vesper till his final days.

After his experience in Washington, D.C., Louis was hired as a news reporter for the Pawhuska Journal-Capital, eventually becoming the Editor in the mid-1980s. It was there that he covered local and national news, and his columns were a mainstay for anyone who wanted to know what was going on in town. His love of writing eventually got the attention of President Reagan, who invited Louis and 49 other small-town journalists to a reception where the President honored them for maintaining the free press in small-town America. Louis was the only Indigenous writer to attend.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Louis began a 20-year on-and-off relationship with one of Oklahoma’s largest and oldest Black newspapers, The Oklahoma Eagle. He wrote editorial endorsements, civil rights issues and was involved in civic activity in the North Tulsa community. To this day, he remained a loyal friend to the Goodwin family, whose family had owned the paper since statehood.

Years later, he started his own paper in Pawhuska, but the days of Pawhuska being a two-newspaper town proved to be over in the 1990s as he eventually closed it down. During these days, Louis found his sobriety and turned a new chapter in his life. In the mid-1990s, he joined his brother Jim and his then-wife Liz to form the Oklahoma Indian Times and later named The Native American Times as Co-Publisher and writer. After nearly 10 years, the paper was sold and Louis began his new journey as a Drug and Alcohol Counselor for the Osage Nation for the next 13 years. After leaving the Osage Nation, he was employed as a counselor for Washington Co Youth and Family Services, where he served for two terms on the board.

To be Louis’ friend was to receive a rare and precious gift. He had a talent for making others feel seen and valued, for creating spaces where laughter and vulnerability could coexist. His advice, always thoughtful and sincere, was offered without judgment. In moments of joy, Louis celebrated with genuine delight; in moments of sorrow, Louis provided gentle reassurance and unwavering support.

Friends speak of adventures shared, late-night talks that stretched into dawn, and quiet moments of understanding that required no words. Louis taught those around him the value of presence, of listening deeply, and of loving fiercely.

To attempt to capture the entirety of someone’s life within these lines is an impossible task. Yet, in every heart touched, in every life changed, his legacy persists. It is found in the lessons taught, the laughter shared, and the love given freely and without expectation. It lives on in the stories we tell and the traditions we carry forward in his honor.

In the face of loss, we cling to the memories—the ones that make us smile, the ones that bring tears, and the ones that remind us how deeply we have loved. We gather today, not just to mourn, but to celebrate a life that enriched the world and made it brighter.

Though words will never fill the space left behind, we hold fast to the hope that love endures, that bonds of friendship and family are unbroken by time or distance. As we say goodbye, we do so with gratitude for the years shared and the lessons learned. In living well, in loving deeply, and in serving with humility, our dearly departed showed us the way.

Let us honor their memory not just in words, but in action—by extending kindness, by offering grace, and by ensuring that their spirit of generosity lives on through us. May we find comfort in one another, strength in remembrance, and peace in knowing that a beautiful soul, though gone from our sight, will never be forgotten.

Rest now, in gentle peace. You have given much and loved well. The world is better for your presence, and your story will live on in every heart you touched.

Louis is preceded in death by his grandmother, Annette (Nettie) Luttrell, father Andrew Gray his mother Margaret Gray, his brother Andrew Gray Jr., his sisters, Gina Gray and Mary Grayce Bighorse.

Louis is survived by his wife, Michelle of Bartlesville, and his children, Louis Gray Jr. of Pawhuska; Gina Red Eagle of Pawhuska; Edward Gray Sr. of Skiatook; Anthony Gray of Cleveland; Paul Gray of Cleveland; Matt Reed of Laguna, N.M.; Davena Amayi Powell of Tulsa; and Mary Nell Gray of Miami, OK.

Louis is survived by his sisters, Jacque Butler of Pawhuska, Margo Gray of Pawhuska, and his brother Jim Gray of Skiatook.

Louis is survived by his grandchildren, Payton, Eli, Fiona, Liam, Ian, Gabriel, Issac, Pimmie, Edward Jr., Henry Amos, Samuel, Noah, Rowland, Jaylyn, Gabriel and Isabelle.

Louis is also survived by his great-grandchildren, Maelen Tallchief, Milleigh Tallchief, Penelope Rosette and Xander Diaz.

Louis will lie in state at the Wakon Iron Chapel in Indian Camp, in Pawhuska. On Friday, July 25, there will be a Rosary at 7 p.m. led by Deacon Robert Axom, followed by a Native American Church Singing. Indian Service will be at 8 a.m., Saturday, at Wakon Iron Chapel and a Catholic Service at 10 a.m. at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Pawhuska, and Graveside services following at the Osage National Cemetery in Pawhuska. Lunch will follow at Wakon Iron Hall, Indian Camp, in Pawhuska.