By VERNON ROBISON
Moapa Valley Progress
The Moapa Band of Paiutes (MBOP) honored a local resident and businessman last week for his sensitivity and long-standing service to tribal members.
On Tuesday, July 11, the MBOP Tribal Council presented an engraved plaque and a Pendleton blanket to Logandale resident Brian Rebman, owner of the Moapa Valley Mortuary.
Tribal Chairman Darren Daboda explained that over recent months the Council had sought the chance to acknowledge people who have provided important services to the tribe over the years.
Rebman had been suggested as a candidate by a tribal member who had recently experienced a death in the family, Daboda said. The family had been impressed and touched by the service that Rebman and his team at the mortuary had rendered in that difficult time, he said.
“The Council recognized that Brian always goes above and beyond what would be considered regular duties in serving the tribal community,” Daboda said. “He knows our culture and he respects our customs. He is always there helping the families.”
Daboda explained that the unique nature of tribal funeral services might be viewed by some as outside of the usual services that Rebman would normally conduct. These services include an all-night vigil before the day of the burial. Ceremonial singers gather to the reservation from other tribes and bands all over the region to help the family honor and memorialize the deceased. The singers perform these ceremonial songs all through the night. Then the next morning, before sunrise, the body is transported, in a procession, to the cemetery for a sunrise burial service.
“Brian is always here and ready for that in the early morning hours,” Daboda said. “He respects our traditional singers and the role of the other tribal elders and is very sensitive to the way that we handle our dead.”
At the presentation ceremony on Tuesday, Daboda said that the council wanted to express its appreciation and recognize the many years of work Rebman had done as a friend of the tribe.
“We appreciate his support and we kind of adopt him as a native brother,” Daboda said.
But in a moment of humor, Daboda clarified this adulation, given Rebman’s position as undertaker. “We truly appreciate his service to us, but we don’t really want to see him around too often,” Daboda said with a laugh.
