Kathryn Sage Montana

Born March 17, 1986 ~ Died April 2, 2017

“There is no death, only a change of worlds.” Chief Seattle

Wakan Tanka (Great Spirit) Wakinyan took our baby home on April 2, 2017, at the early age of 31 years. Kathryn Sage Montana was born March 17, 1986, in Salt Lake City, Utah when her father was in this second year of law school. Kathryn who was known as Sage to most all her family and friends loved people and loved to help others. She had an infectious smile and laugh ~ she loved to tease and be teased, which is a Lakota (Sioux) way of life.
The second child of Gary J. Montana and Linda M. Nichols-Montana from birth she was the apple of her father’s eye. Always riding with him somewhere even as a baby. From the beginning of her life Sage had a smile and loved taking rides in the city late at night when she could not sleep.
After law school the family relocated to Pocatello, Idaho where her father took his first job after law school (Shoshone Bannock Tribe). Two (2) years later the family moved to Neola, Utah when her father took a position as in-house legal counsel for the Northern Ute Indian Tribe (Uintah Ouray Reservation). Several years later the family moved to Rapid City, South Dakota and purchased a home in the Black Hills (Paha Sapa) and resided there until 1997.
Sage attended school in Rapid City, South Dakota at the Lincoln Elementary, until the 5th grade and then went on to Southwest Middle School, until she finished 7th grade. She then moved to her father’s home in Osseo, Wisconsin where she participated in basketball ~ a sport she dearly loved and graduated from high school with the Class of 2004.
After High School - Sage attended the University of Minnesota and graduated with a BS in Social Services. Not knowing exactly what she wanted to do with her life ~ Sage decided to attend the Aveda Institute of Cosmetology, Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she graduated and gave the commencement speech for the Class 2010.
After graduating from Aveda, Sage moved to the Lower Brule Tribe of South Dakota where she worked at a woman’s shelter. Sage then moved back home in 2012 to assist her father with his law office located in Osseo, Wisconsin. In her leisure time Sage loved to play basketball, bead with her mother, ride horses, sing country songs and dance jingle at pow wows ~ and above all spend time with her beloved son Mahto.
Recently Sage had just accepted a positon as a woman’s domestic abuse facilitator at the Ho-Chunk Nation and was very excited about the challenges that lay before her….her passion for helping others and especially Native American women and children.
Kathryn Sage Montana, is survived by her mother Linda Nichols-Montana of Minneapolis, Minnesota; her father Gary J. Montana and youngest sister, Marisol Montana of Osseo, Wisconsin; her step mother Rachel Walsh of Black River Falls, Wisconsin, step brother Xavier Puzon of Madison, Wisconsin; her siblings Ian Montana, Molly Montana, niece Sophie Montana-Wadena, nephew Colt Montana-Stout of Minneapolis, Minnesota; her sister Sierra Montana of Duluth, Minnesota; her aunt Lynda Kingery-West of Eagle Butte, South Dakota; uncle Ron Volesky of Huron, South Dakota, cousins Taylor, Tucker, Turner and Tyler; and finally and most importantly, her son Milton Mahto-Luta Spears of Bloomington, Minnesota. Also, she leaves behind her special daughters from the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.
Sage is preceded in death by a baby that was born in 2013 and passed shortly after conception; paternal grandparents, Kate and Vern Pigney of Blunt, South Dakota; grandmother Sophie Penny-Brown; grandfather Elmer Nichols of White Horse, South Dakota; great-grandmother, Mary Bagola of Eagle Butte, South Dakota and Dennis Pigney her uncle from Davenport, Iowa.
Native American services for Kathryn Sage Montana will be Saturday, April 8, 2017 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Grand Occasions Event Center, W16181 US Hwy 10/53, Osseo, Wisconsin.
We as a Lakota family are comforted in the understanding that Wakan Tanka and our ancestors have already embraced Sage and are guiding and carrying her on her journey. They wait to welcome her at the other side camp where they will hug and kiss her and offer her a seat by the fire, so that she can now know all that we ever wished to know, and to feel and absorb the pure energy of peace, unity, tolerance and love. We as a family feel that her spirit will grow in magnitude and intensity with a newfound strength of being and understanding, so that she will be a comforting and guiding spirit herself for all of us that still have time left upon this physical world.
We thank all her friends, family and those who she touched with her love, who have attended her Memorial and to those who could not attend, who have sent their condolences and prayers through countless phone calls, messages and Facebook posts.
Our Sage we are sure will carry your love to the next world and spread it as a gift to those she encounters.

Mitakuye Oyasin
(To all My Relations).