Brother Parker Paul McKenzie (1897-1999) was a Kiowa Native American. Born in a tepee, he was educated at the Rainy Mountain Kiowa Boarding school where the Kiowa language was banned and anyone using it was subject to harsh punishment. As an adult, Brother McKenzie vowed to preserve the language which, up to that time was strictly oral. He developed the Kiowa alphabet, documented its vocabulary and translated several works into the language. Without a formal higher-education, the University of Colorado awarded him an honorary doctorate and at his death he was the oldest living Kiowa.
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