Joshua Levi Monette

1997 - 2017

Joshua Levi Monette, Kashchuqwayup, 19, of Neah Bay was lost to the sea April 2 at Cape Flattery.

Joshua was born in Port Angeles to William Joseph and Rebekah Joy Greene-Monette.

Joshua graduated from Neah Bay High School in 2015 and was a sophomore in Dartmouth College.

Joshua was very active in his community and was involved in all family gatherings, activities and events. He was learning and teaching Makah traditional skills and language to all, especially his little sisters and nephew.

He loved fishing, hunting, toolmaking, harvesting and processing traditional Makah foods and resources.

He participated in singing and dancing tribal and family songs including sla-hal, war canoe racing and the Tribal Canoe Journeys. He also performed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian exhibit opening in Washington, D.C., and New York.

He enjoyed sports, unicycling and was a Soap Box Derby racing two-year qualifier for National Championships in Akron, Ohio. In football, he was on a three-time state championship team, Neah Bay High School Red Devils (2011-13 and 2014), and he was the North Olympic League special team's player of the year junior year. He led team tackles in his senior year.

Joshua worked hard in life as well. He was a Makah Tribal Summer Youth Program song leader and a Makah Cultural and Research Center language transcriber, translator and curriculum development technician.

Joshua worked at the Makah Fisheries Program: Marine Mammal as a surveyor, researcher and data collector for traditional Makah halibut hook project, resulting in publication in the journal Fisheries Research 2017. Joshua was also a Makah Tribal Council delegate to special events, meetings and celebrations to deliver speeches and songs in the Makah language, including trips to Barrow, Alaska; Washington, D.C.; and Olympia, Washington.

Joshua is survived by his mother, Rebekah J. Monette; stepfather Steve Baum; his father, William J. Monette, and Alison Hero; his sisters, Lamira Luna and Lani Pele Richardson; his brother, William Eli Monette and Felicia Monje; his nephew, Braedyn Eli Monette; as well as numerous, numerous cousins, aunts, uncles and his grandfather Philip R. Greene Sr., Beverly Fowler and grandmother Julie Johnson.

Joshua was preceded in death by his maternal grandmother, Elsa M. Greene, and his paternal grandparents, Wally and Mary Monette, as well as his Papa Coach.

There will be a celebration of life Sunday, April 9, 2017, at 1 p.m. at the Makah Community Gym, 1394 Bayview Avenue, Neah Bay.

Memorial contributions can be made to a scholarship fund, c/o Rachel Venske, P.O. Box 718, Neah Bay, WA 98357.