Joshua Running Crane Memorial

Okii Nikso'kowaiks, Hello Relatives. We are the cousins of Joshua Running Crane and we ask that you consider a donation in honor of the memory of our dear loved one, Joshua, to help our auntie Janice and his family with relieving the cost of burial expenses. Josh tragically took his own life on March 5, 2023. You may remember Josh as being the boy who wanted to dig his mom's grave by hand in frigid cold weather. He accomplished that goal with the help of his friends, brothers, and cousins.

Josh was an Amskapipikuni boy who grew up on the Blackfeet Reservation, in Heart Butte, Montana and just turned 16 in December. He was raised riding horses, swimming, and enjoying the outdoors around Badger Creek and Heart Butte Mountain where he ran and played with his many cousins. He was a student at the Heart Butte Schools and a fan of the Heart Butte Warriors.

Heart Butte is located on the Blackfeet Reservation in the shadow of the Rockies. It is a small, remote village on the Reservation. Because of the remoteness, it is difficult to find services for mental health and grief support. Heart Butte also has a high level of poverty, which makes it hard to get to the already overtasked service providers in Browning. Joshua was suffering extreme grief and trauma which overcame him.

Josh was raised by his mom, Missy, who was a single parent of two, and her mom, Janice. On Thanksgiving Day he lost his beloved mother Missy to a brutal domestic violence homicide, which is still pending in the US District Court- hasn't even been settled. Missy's twin brother, Michael, was also murdered just one year before that and his case was declined. However, the family has still been dealt two blows that have been difficult emotionally, spiritually, financially, and in any other way you can think of.

Although Janice does all she can to care for her family, working as a teacher's aid at the local Head Start; paying for three funerals in such a short time is a financial difficulty not many people can handle. Janice isn't one for asking for help, but we would like to ask our community on her behalf to please donate to the memory of a boy who belonged to the Pikuni, who deserves a funeral honoring his short life. His grandma should not have to have the added stress of a financial setback to add to her compounded grief.

Any help you can give our Auntie in the memory of Joshua Running Crane is greatly appreciated by the Running Crane family <3