Angela Paniogue Butterfield

Angela Paniogue Butterfield died on September 12, 2024. She was 91 years old. Angela was the oldest of three children born to Salvador M. ‘Sam’ Paniogue and Dolores LaVatta Paniogue. Her sister Mary Paniogue Brownley (Carl ‘Wayte’ Brownley) predeceased her. Her brother Colman S. Paniogue (Janet Jankowski Paniogue) survives her.

She was a member of the Shoshone Bannock Tribes of Fort Hall, Idaho and granddaughter of Raphael LaVatta and Effie Pocatello LaVatta, and a descendant of Lemhi Chief Tendoy.

She attended school in American Falls, Idaho.

As a young pianist she was offered a contract by a Horace Heidt talent scout to tour internationally with the Horace Heidt Show, which she declined in favor of school.

Selected to attend Girls State, she was elected Idaho Girls State Governor in 1950 and elected Girls Nation representative in Washington DC. While there she met President Harry S. Truman at a reception in the White House Rose Garden. Accompanied by Secret Service agents, the girl delegates visited the War Room in the Pentagon where walls, covered with maps with flashing green and red lights, depicted live battles then being fought during the Korean war. She was chosen to appear on the Voice of America, which was broadcast and heard world wide.

She married John F. ‘Johnie’ Butterfield Jr. on September 17, 1951 and they had five children. Michael J. (Desi) Butterfield, Gregory K. Butterfield, deceased, Rebecca B. (Jeffrey S., deceased) Neilsen, Teresa B. (Michael K.) Packer, and Linda Butterfield (John D. Stewart, deceased) Angela and Johnie divorced 39 years later.

While raising her family, she was elected to the Fort Hall Tribal Business Council in 1965, where she served for ten consecutive years. She was the tribal spokesperson against the Bureau of Reclamation’s plan to rebuild the American Falls dam to raise the water level, which would have flooded the bottom lands of Indian cattlemen and put them out of business. The new dam was built and the water level remained the same.

She spoke against the state’s plans to ignore tribal interests when developing plans for the new interstate highway which would have left the tribe with no access. With the help of many, she was successful in guiding an agreeable solution for all.

While on the tribal council she was listed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as one of the ten most prominent Indian leaders in the nation.

After leaving the tribal council she started as a Clerk Typist with the BIA in Fort Hall and after moving to California, retired as a Tribal Operations Officer 24 years later.

 Angela retired to Prescott, AZ and Bullhead City, AZ where she enjoyed playing duplicate bridge and attained the rank of Silver Life Master.

She returned to Idaho to be near her family and continued to winter in Arizona until the last three years.

Angela led a full life and considered her family to be her life’s greatest blessing.

She is survived by her children, listed above, and her grandchildren, Cassidi (Scott) Holm, Heather (Kris) Bertagnolli, BJ Neilsen, and Brittney (William) Carter. Great grandchildren Kashlin and Peyton Holm, Gracie, Giada, and Lola Bertagnolli, Charlie and Daegan Cominotti, and Jacoba Rydalch.

Angela requested no funeral services. After cremation, her ashes will be returned home to the Bannock Creek area where she was born and raised.

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