DENMARK PAGE


For further information about Centreland Singers contact Jonathan Smith: Telephone 01242 237948

We know that the value and the meaning of life consist of living it - and living it well. People who have been a strength and comfort to others and have worked for those less fortunate or less able than themselves, deriving fulfilment and satisfaction from so doing, these are the people who create the value and meaning in life. And Kim was indeed such a person.

His involvement with Native American peoples and with those of Tibet gave him a very rich and meaningful Spirituality. He believed in a Creator and instinctively knew that all things are related and he followed his Spiritual Path with Honesty, Compassion and Valour. He would always stand up for the little guy, for those less fortunate and for those in need. Indeed Grandpa Kim Oakeshott was the perfect example of someone who walked the Sacred Path.

Grandpa Kim was born on 24th November 1934 in Rangoon, Burma and was named after his father Maurice. He was the eldest of three sons born to Maurice and Irene.

He was given his nickname 'Kim' after the mischievous character in Kipling's 'Jungle Book'. They learned to speak many languages and Kim in particular had a natural gift for language and could speak 4 languages fluently including Burmese, Urdu and Hindi. He was always a wordsmith and his storytelling prowess became famous over the years. During childhood the family was in a privileged position and were looked after by domestic staff. His brother Keith remembers they had a parrot, called 'Beak' and they taught the parrot to call for water in Hindi. On many occasions they hid behind the door laughing as a servant entered the room bearing a jug of water, only to leave in dismay as the parrot continued to shriek it's demands.

Although life in Burma and India was quite an adventure there were also some dangerous times. During the Japanese invasion of Burma in World War Two the family had to flee for their lives, walking hundreds of miles through jungles and mountains to the safety of India. Kim's father employed Naga head hunters to be their guards and on route Buddhist Monks protected them from Japanese bombing raids by getting them to hide in a pit whilst the monks chanted and threw gooseberries onto their heads!

After the War the family returned to Burma and eventually Kim studied to be a Vet, he always had a passion for animals. His studies were interrupted when he was conscripted for National Service and was stationed on a hospital ship during the Korean War.

After the war he took his exams in Rangoon University, writing his papers in Burmese, and qualified as a Vet specialising in Tropical Medicine. He was assigned to the then Burmese Royal Palace looking after the exotic animals in the Burmese court.

In the mid 1950's the family had again to flee for their lives when the Burmese government was overthrown by military coup. This time they lost everything and returned to England.

Not able to find a suitable job as a partner in a Vetinary Surgery (not a great deal of call for Tropical medicine in England) Kim became an RSPCA inspector but left this after 3 years very disillusioned, sick of just being the person who destroyed strays rather than caring for animals as he was trained to do.

He joined his father working as a salesman for Gestetner Duplicators and remained there until the middle 1980's when he took early retirement and started his own transport company Motrans. A couple of years afterwards Kim was diagnosed with Angina and Arthritis in the spine, he was registered Disabled and he started to live a somewhat quieter life. Or so he thought!

Kim had many interests and hobbies. In the early 1960's Kim met up with the family of Nana and Poppa Lord. He had been studying the history of Native Americans and found a like-minded soul in Keith Lord. As he did with many of his friends Kim adopted the family as his own and soon spent most of his free time with them. Over the next few years their respect for the Lakota Indians grew and together with other friends including Steve Ratty, Peter Cowling, John Datlen and Charlie Clayton they planned a trip to North America in 1970. During that trip they met with Lakota spiritual leaders Frank Fools Crow and John Fire Lame Deer who promptly sent them to Vision Quest on Bear Butte and invited them to take part in the Sundance at Pine Ridge. During those ceremonies Kim and the others were told that they must return to Europe and tell the people that the Lakota are not dead and that they struggle still under the oppression of the Government. They were asked to dance and sing and to hold powwows and help mend the Sacred Hoop that had been broken. At the powwow on Pine Ridge that year Kim and the group were announced and called 'the wasicu Lakota' (the white Lakota) indeed a great honour. On their return from that trip Kim, with the support of many others, organised the first Native American Powwow in England, held in a community hall in South London on Veterans day November 1970. The Veterans powwow is still held and is now in its 34th year (the 1st four powwows were just called 'powwow')

In the following 30+ years over 180 Powwows have been held and continue to do so, here in England and also in Denmark, Belgium and Germany and Grandpa Kim was in great demand as a Powwow Emcee or Master of Ceremonies. Countless times Native peoples from all over America would join in these gatherings and such was their surprise to find powwows so far from home that many found them an antidote to their homesickness.

During the 1980's Kim and his group of friends 'The Black Crow Dancers' went to Europe and such was the impact of their singing and dancing that soon powwows were being held there as well as in the UK. (Some of the Centreland Singers were members of the Black Crow Dancers).

Kim made several trips to America and on one occasion fed the people at the Rosebud Sundance, sponsoring the yearly celebration. On another occasion when he discovered that water had to be shipped in for the festivities he paid for a well to be drilled near the Sundance site and it is still a useful source of fresh water for the people today.

As a measure of the acceptance and high esteem that some of the Lakota people felt for him he was adopted into two different Lakota families. The first in 1970 was a public affair when Hunkpapa Lakota Mayor Eddie Loon adopted Kim and Keith Lord into his family and gave Kim the name Elk in memory of his own father. The second adoption, occurring after his Mother had passed away, was known only to a small handful of friends.

Despite what some people may think, Kim was an intensely private and humble person and really hated the fuss that people made over him and around him. Natives and non-natives alike started to call Kim by the Honorific title 'Grandpa', a title that was well deserved as in his later years many people would seek him out for his advise and wisdom on matters mundane or Spiritual. He used to say, "I don't know why these people think I can help them, I am just an ordinary man"!

Often his generosity of time and money was almost expected and sometimes abused, but he just used to shrug and say "they need it more than I, if I can help then I will".

No Kim, you were never ordinary, you were extra-ordinary!

As if all this was not exciting enough, Kim was also involved in Falconry and his Harris Hawk 'Ben' and Barn Owl 'Jojo' became familiar visitors together with his ever-faithful Jack Russell 'Shunka', for if you invited Kim to stay for a few days the menagerie would surely have to come with him. His achievements in Falconry amazed all those that knew him but he had an affinity with animals and birds that was almost Spiritual. If you had a bird or animal that was unwell or unruly Kim would minister to it in his kind and gentle way and he always brought out the best in any creature.

Many of you will always have the memory of an elderly but dignified gentleman, walking stick in one hand, a hawk on the other, dog trotting along behind, grinning and swearing (politely of course) at the fact that all he really wants to do is sit down and have a cup of tea and that he is far to old to be doing this!

Despite the Powwows and Falconry taking up large portions of his time he was also interested in Bonsai and was an active member of the Northampton Bonsai club. And as with everything else he turned his hands and mind to he approached Bonsai with that same determined energy that brought success. His trees will be a living memorial to the skill of a remarkable man.

So here we have an amazing man, a skilled artist and craftsman in his own right but so ready to praise the achievements of others; so trusting and happy to see the best in everyone. He was talented, intelligent, intrepid, and generous with a strong sense of social justice. His intense energy and boundless enthusiasm made him a veritable rock of strength to all. Whatever he had he gave to others freely, his was a rich and worthwhile life but he did not recognize his own worth. Grandpa Kim would have been amazed to know how much he was loved. He never married but he was as a 'Father' to many, a 'Brother' to even more and a 'Grandpa' to everyone!

He really is sorely missed; fly well Kim as you travel with the Ancestors!

The above are extracts from 'SHARING A JOURNEY WITH GRANDPA KIM' a soon to be published Biography by Keith Lord.