Funeral services for pending for 70-year old Deborah “Debbie” Broken Rope
Interment will be in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC.
In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations be made directly to the H Street Funeral Home, 5732 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20011, Please specify in memory of Deborah Broken Rope.
Online condolences may be left at siouxfuneralhome.com
Deborah Ann Broken Rope “Waci Uwe” (Come Dancing) was born April 17, 1952, in Washington, DC, and entered the Spirit World April 11, 2023, after a brief illness.
Debbie was the second of two children of Ruth Two Crow and Everett Broken Rope. She was an enrolled member of Oglala Sioux Nation and her Lakota name of “Waci Uwe” was given to her by Ben Black Elk, who had raised her father, Everett Broken Rope.
Debbie was a lifelong resident of the DC/Maryland area, but maintained ties and alliances with her Native community.
Following high school, she worked for ten years as a Staff Assistant for Congressman Morris K Udall on the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (now rthe House Committee on Natural Resources), launching her lifelong career as a champion for Native Americans.
As a Staff Assistant, Debbie prepared briefing materials for the Chairman and other Committee members on oversight and investigative activities concerning BIA and IHS programs and operations.
She also reviewed and evaluated federal policies and pending legislation affecting Native people, and on June 20, 1988, was an invited guest of a CSPAN teleconference addressing teen problems of Native Americans.
After that, Debbie pursued her higher education goals and earned a Bachelor of Arts Interdisciplinary degree in Communications, Legal, Economics and Government in 1995 from American University in Washington, DC.
She continued her education and received a JD (Juris Doctor) degree in law from American University in 2000, then served as an Adjunct Faculty member for the university, working in the summers for 3 years and teaching the semester course “Formation of Federal Indian Policy” in 2004.
Simultaneously from 1988- 2003, Debbie also served as a Legislative Analyst for the IHS in 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 in Washington. Her experience with Indian health, federal appropriations, congressional relations and the legislative process were instrumental in benefiting tribes and other clients.
From 2006 forward, Debbie was a consultant for the Oglala Sioux Nation and the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association, which recently commended her for her work on Health care on its behalf.
She has been a selfless, tireless advocate for Native Americans, dedicating her life to the cause. 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 and helped with many registration drives.
Debbie 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 was preceded in death by her brother Frederick David Broken Rope, and her parents Ruth Two Crow and Broken Rope.