Obituaries

Dwight Michael “ The Bucko” Teeple, Waaban Anang, of Bay Mills, Michigan, walked on to the spirit world on August 12, 2026, at the age of 78, surrounded by his family.

Bucko was born July 8, 1948, in a log cabin on the shores of Lake Superior in Bay Mills, Michigan, delivered by his great-grandmother Ellen Marshall. The son of Frank “Boss Man” Teeple and Mildred Teeple, he grew up in Bay Mills and spent a lifetime deeply rooted in the land, waters, people, and traditions of Gnoozhekaaning.

After graduating from Brimley High School, Bucko began college at the Sault Ste. Marie branch of Michigan Technological University before serving his country in the United States Army during the Vietnam era as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, where—as he liked to describe it—he jumped out of “perfectly good airplanes.” He returned home and eventually returned to college as well. In quintessential Bucko fashion, the school had changed names twice by the time he finally graduated 29 years after he began: what started as Michigan Tech's Sault branch became Lake Superior State College and, finally, Lake Superior State University.
His life after the Army became one of service—to his Tribe, to Indian Country, to his culture, and to anyone who needed him.

As a young man, Bucko traveled in search of Anishinaabe teachings and ceremonies, learning from elders and knowledge keepers and bringing those teachings home to his community. He understood that culture survives by being lived, practiced, protected, and passed forward. Throughout his life, he carried those responsibilities as a pipe carrier, eagle staff carrier, traditional dancer, drummer, teacher, and keeper of ceremony. He led the Four Winds Drum, gave traditional names, performed weddings and funerals, prayed with people in times of need, and helped generations understand who they were and where they belonged.

Bucko's service to Native people extended into nearly every part of his professional and civic life. Over the years, he served as Director of the Petoskey Indian Center, worked with the Chippewa Ottawa Treaty Fishery Management Authority, helped secure federal funding for Native economic development, served as Executive Director of the Michigan Indian Child Welfare Agency, and worked on the Indian Child Welfare Act at the federal level. He spent more than a decade on the Bay Mills Indian Community Executive Council and more than two decades on the Bay Mills Gaming Commission before concluding his career in perhaps its most fitting role, as Cultural Director for the Bay Mills Indian Community.

He was also a fierce advocate for Tribal sovereignty and treaty rights. Bucko was part of the struggle to exercise and defend Bay Mills' treaty-protected fishing rights during the era remembered as the “fishing wars,” when treaty fishermen faced harassment, theft, and even gunfire for exercising rights their ancestors had reserved generations before. He traveled to Lansing, Washington, D.C., and beyond to advocate for Native people, Tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, and the protection of the lands and waters that sustained his people.

His relationship with the Great Lakes ran throughout his life. Bucko worked to have the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald recognized and protected as a gravesite and served on the board of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society. His ceremonial responsibilities took him to extraordinary places, from performing a pipe ceremony at the bottom of Lake Superior at the Edmund Fitzgerald to carrying ceremony to the top of one of the towers of the Mackinac Bridge.
But Bucko did not believe culture was something preserved only through speeches, institutions, or ceremonies. He taught by doing. He hunted and harvested, gathered medicines and berries, tapped maple trees and made syrup, made jam, danced, drummed, fished, worked with his hands, and shared what he knew. When he hunted, he provided not only for his family but for elders and others in the community. He taught that your first kill was to be given away.

He was recognized many times for his service, including receiving the Distinguished Service Award from the Michigan Indian Education Council. He and his wife, Michele, became the first husband and wife to both receive the honor. But no list of positions, awards, or accomplishments could fully capture the number of people who knew that when they needed help, they could call Bucko. He was the person who answered the phone, showed up, quietly figured out what needed doing, and did it.

And then there was simply The Bucko.

He was an accomplished photographer who captured weddings, graduations, nature, lightning and the northern lights. He was a hunter, golfer, treaty fisherman, collector of coins and cards, Red Wings fan, enthusiastic lawn mower (AKA “Anishinaabe Mowin”), powwow MC, dancer, drummer, cook, storyteller, and adventurer. He could talk for hours about coins, cars, cards, the Edmund Fitzgerald, or one of the seemingly impossible number of things he had done in his life. He made legendary ribs, omelets, scalloped potatoes, fish stew, venison gravy and morels, maple syrup, and jam. He had an answer for nearly everything and, as one family member put it, tended to “just go head first into stuff.”

He had a particular affection for Baby Yoda, born from watching The Mandalorian with his daughter, Sarah and eventually embraced by seemingly everyone who knew him. When he bought a Toyota, a toy Yoda naturally appeared on the dashboard. Somewhere along the way, Papa Bucko became “The Papalorian,” and another piece of Bucko mythology was born.
For a man so deeply rooted in Bay Mills, Bucko’s life took him remarkably far from its shores. He and Michele traveled extensively throughout their life together, across the United States and around the world, often sharing Anishinaabe culture through dancing, teaching, and cultural exchange. At one point, they moved their family to Germany for six months to perform Native dancing at a Western-themed park. They traveled through Europe with Native dance groups and participated in cultural exchange with Aboriginal people in Australia.

And, because an ordinary life story would never have been quite enough for Bucko, an Austrian folk-rock band once met him, fell in love with him, and wrote a song about him. Naturally, this resulted in Bucko and his family appearing in the music video for Zillertaler Schürzenjäger's “Großer Manitou,” and later dancing onstage with the band before approximately 30,000 people on a mountainside in Finkenberg, Austria.

His adventures even earned him an IMDb credit. Bucko appeared as an extra in the film Grey Owl and, while working on the production, helped teach Pierce Brosnan how to dance for his role—another one of those stories that sounds improbable until you remember who you're talking about.

Of all his adventures, however, the great partnership of Bucko's life was with Michele.
Michele admired him from afar for a year before they really spoke. Their story finally began at a powwow contest in which women gave their shawls to men, who then competed dancing in the women's style. Michele gave Bucko her shawl. He won. She informed him that since he had won with her shawl, he owed her dinner.

Apparently, he agreed.

They married in the traditional Native way at New Years 1982 and built a life together in Sault Ste. Marie and Bay Mills. Twenty-two years later, they celebrated another wedding, this time making their marriage legal under state law. Their invitation claimed they had already been together for 23 years, which Michele maintained was perfectly accurate because, as she explained, she had been in the relationship for a year before he was.

Together they raised four children and accumulated a lifetime of adventures, stories, travels, family, friends, and people who became family along the way.

Bucko loved his children fiercely, although he was far more likely to show “I love you” than to say it. His love language was acts of service. He taught, fixed, drove, provided, protected, cooked, showed up, and made sure his children knew they could count on him. He taught them things both profound and practical—including, among countless other lessons, how to drive a stick shift.

Every Valentine's Day, Bucko made sure his children knew they were loved. Even after they grew up, moved away, built careers, and found partners of their own, Dad remained their Valentine. Flowers would still arrive at their offices because, as far as Bucko was concerned, apparently no amount of adulthood exempted his children from being taken care of by their dad.

Bucko is survived by his wife, Michele Wellman-Teeple; his children, Robin Teeple, Sarah (Lawrence “Bucky” Sanborn ) Wellman, Theodore “Teddy” Wellman-Teeple, and Victoria (Austin) Pocus; and grandchildren, Melody Cameron, Michael Cameron, Mary Jane Cameron, and Maddox Cameron.

He is also survived by his siblings, Raymond Teeple, Bryce (Joy) Teeple, Diane Teeple, Anthony (Barbara) Teeple, Leona Cole, Allard (Kimberly) Teeple, Mark (Andy Sibbald) Teeple, and Melody Teeple; siblings-in-law, Arlene Buchinger, Neal Wellman, and Anita (Joe) Pence; and countless nieces, nephews, niblings, cousins, extended relatives, chosen family, friends, community members, and people whose lives were changed because Bucko showed up when they needed him.

He is further survived by cat, Zegizi; and grand-pugs, Floyd and Skylar.

Bucko was preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Mildred Teeple; grandmother, Sarah Teeple; his siblings. Jane (Mike) Fascina, Lindsay Teeple, Patrick Teeple, and Roberta Teeple; siblings-in-law, Thomas “Timmy” Wellman, Dennis Wellman, Stanford “Sandy” Wellman, and Beverly and Doug Disney; and the Teeple family dog, Bruno Butterscotch.

Bucko once said he planned to live to 90. He didn't quite make it. As his daughter Victoria observed, he certainly crammed 90 years' worth of stuff into the 78 he got.

In his final moments, Bucko was surrounded by his family. Michele held one hand and his daughter, Sarah held the other. His children were gathered around him, along with his son-in-law, granddaughter, and brother Mark. At the end of his bed, Mark played “Großer Manitou”—the song that had been written about Bucko so many years before.

As the song ended, Bucko began his journey to the spirit world.

The drum will continue to sound. The songs will continue to be sung. The ceremonies will continue. The teachings he carried home and entrusted to others will continue to be shared. His legacy lives not only in the positions he held or the battles he fought, but in every person who carries forward something Bucko taught them.

Chi miigwetch, Bucko.

We will take it from here.

A Gathering will be held Saturday, August 15, 2026, at Ojibwe Charter School Gymnasium, 12099 W. Lakeshore Dr., Brimley, MI 49715, starting at 12:00 Noon until Monday, August 17, 2026, at 10:00 AM, when the Traditional Ceremony will begin.

Bucko’s final resting place will be at Mission Hill Cemetery in Brimley, Michigan.

Family Life Funeral Homes – Sault Ste. Marie assisted the family with arrangements. Condolences may be given to the family at www.familylifefh.com.