The Oglala Sioux Tribe says Oliver Red Cloud, a descendent of the legendary Lakota Chief Red Cloud, has died at the age of 93.

Tribal spokeswoman Toni Red Cloud, who is Oliver Red Cloud’s niece, says her uncle died Thursday in a Denver hospital surrounded by family. Memorial arrangements are being planned.

The fourth-generation direct descendant of Chief Red Cloud, Oliver Red Cloud was a hereditary chief of the Oglala Lakota Sioux people, Speaker of the traditional Lakota Sioux Nation, and Chairman of the “Black Hills Sioux Nation Treaty Council”.

Family members in a statement call him a powerful orator on obligations each nation had to the other in keeping peace during modern times, and the leading statesman for keeping peace between Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho people.

Then-Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota offered a formal tribute to Oliver Red Cloud on the Senate floor in September 2004.

In it, Daschle said Chief Red Cloud had been able to “bridge differences, find creative solutions to problems facing the Great Sioux Nation, and make sure the voices of his people are heard…(earning) the respect of Indian nations.

On its website, the Oglala Sioux Tribe described Chief Oliver Red Cloud as carrying on his family’s proud tradition by focusing his efforts on maintaining the traditional ways of his people and fighting to improve the standard of living on the reservation, especially the plight of the elderly and handicapped.