Deborah Ann Broken Rope

Deborah Ann Broken Rope, 70, entered the Spirit World April 11, 2023, after a brief illness. Debbie was born April 17, 1952, in Washington, DC, the second of two children of Ruth Two Crow and Everett Broken Rope. She is an enrolled member of Oglala Sioux Nation; her Lakota name "Waci Uwe" which means Come Dancing, given to her by Ben Black Elk who raised her father, Everett Broken Rope. Debbie was a lifelong resident of the DC/Maryland area, while maintaining ties and alliances with her Native community.
Following high school, she worked for ten years as a Staff Assistant for Morris K. Udall on the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (now referred to as House Committee on Natural Resources) with the US House of Representatives, in Washington, DC, launching her lifelong career as a champion for Native Americans. As a Staff Assistant she prepared briefing materials for the Chairman and other Committee members on oversight and investigative activities concerning BIA and IHS program operations. She reviewed and evaluated federal policies and pending legislation affecting Native people. On June 20, 1988, she was an invited guest of a CSPAN teleconference, addressing teen problems of Native Americans.
Following her employment with the Committee, she pursued her higher education goals, earning a Bachelor of Arts Interdisciplinary degree in Communications, Legal, Economics and Government from American University in 1995. She continued her education, earning a JD (Juris Doctor) degree in law from American University in 2000. She then served on the Adjunct Faculty for American University for the next three years working in the summers and then in 2004 taught a semester course "Formation of Federal Indian Policy". Simultaneously, from 1988- 2003, she also served as a Legislative Analyst for IHS, Rockville, MD, working within the complex and diverse political and legal frameworks encompassing Federal-Indian relations. She then accepted a position as a Senior Public Policy Advisor with Holland & Knight LLP, Washington, DC until November 2005. Her experience with Indian health, federal appropriations, congressional relations and the legislative process were instrumental in benefiting tribes and other clients.
From 2006 forward, Ms. Broken Rope served as a consultant for the Oglala Sioux Nation and the Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association. The GPTCA recently commended Ms. Broken Rope for her work on Health care on their behalf. She has served as a selfless, tireless advocate for Native Americans, dedicating her life to the cause and her departure has left a void in the hearts of her family, friends and associates. Debbie was a long-standing member of the American Indian Society, based in Washington, DC.
She was known for her kindness, generosity and giving nature, supporting higher education goals of other Native students, even using her own personal resources to do so, if needed. She was a strong advocate for national voting rights, helping with registration drives.
She is survived by her cousins Marvin Richards, Robert Two Crow, Charlotte Black Elk, Shirley Murphey and Shirley Poor Thunder and Lorleen Poor Thunder-Hutcherson and their families as well as her dear friends Irene Herder, Frank D'Ducheneaux and Carolyn Littlefield. She is preceded in death by her brother Frederick David Broken Rope, and her parents Ruth Two Crow and Broken Rope.
Funeral services are pending under H Street Funeral Home, 5732 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20011. Interment will be held at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made directly to the H Street Funeral Home, 202 455 9655. Please specify in memory of Deborah Broken Rope.