Beverly "Bev" Jo (Clay) McVeigh

Beverly "Bev" Jo McVeigh (Clay), 72, was born on March 2, 1948 and passed away October 23, 2020 in Indianapolis, IN. Bev is survived by her 3 children, John Michael McVeigh, Gerry McVeigh, and Ändrea McVeigh-Nelson (TK Nelson); only grandchild, Ardan Blaez Nelson; sisters, Nancy Knight and Vicki Ostergren; and brother, David Clay. She is remembered by countless nieces, nephews, and other relatives and loved ones.

Bev was the oldest girl of nine children, which made her a natural caregiver. Her mother, Ethel Pearl, and 5-year-old sister, Beth, died in a car accident when Bev was only 17, leaving her to care for the entire family. Bev made everyone she met feel loved and accepted, always there to listen and not judge. She didn’t know a stranger. She was such a giving person to everyone, especially defending women and children.

Bev took after her grandmother, Lelia Clay, and connected with her Native American roots. She was an Honorable Yuwipi altar woman for the late Lakota Chief, John CrowDog, making most of the prayer ties for the ceremonies. She travelled extensively to traditional Native American ceremonies across the US and Canada, including Sundances and PowWows. She fulfilled the sacred Hanbleceya (Traditional Lakota Vision Quest Ceremony), and was given the name “Mni” (Water) by Tribal Elders.

Well known for her kind eyes and good cooking, everyone from Chiefs to children would come over to her camp to eat her food. As a mother and grandmother to all who knew her, Bev had a way of bringing people together.  She believed in taking care of the Earth, and started a successful landscaping company taking care of trees and planting flowers.

She was an accomplished multi-media artist, there for everyone’s important life moments, making baby blankets for newborns, decorating cakes for birthdays and baby showers, and making the most beautiful floral arrangements for memorials. She liked to paint, write, watch professional sumo wrestling, and secretly play video games when no one was watching. :)

She loved ‘getting lost’ in her car on backroads in the country, finding old graveyards where she paid respect to those who came before us, and extensively decorating for every holiday. She frequently visited buffalo (one of her spirit animals). She adored her only grandson, Ardan Blaez, who inherited her empathy and who gave her another name that she was the most proud of -‘Namaw’.

The world has lost an angel. She was one of the last of the tribal elders to carry on the sacred traditions. She is now reunited with her late husband, Mickey "Coyote Having a Thought".

We love you Namaw with all of our hearts and souls.

Mitakuye Oyasin, sweet butterfly

Full circle

The Miami tribe granted permission to have her memorial at the sacred Mounds State Park in Anderson, IN on the Circle Mound. Her family is honored and grateful. Visitation starts November 14, 2020 at 3:15 pm, Ceremony at 4 pm followed by a feast at Sophie’s Bagels in Pendleton.

In lieu of flowers please donate in her honor to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center