A Short Interview with Monique Brave

You don't know what difficulties she may be facing. From what little I know, I think we need to show compassion in this case.

Yes. You are right.

Perhaps she will donating the money to the Sioux nation or to some aid organisation. We shouldn´t judge her.

//Björn

Well done in getting the interview

Thanks to DJC to for alerting me to this thread, via that interminable "EIC" thread elsewhere...!

Gregory Nolan Jr. wrote:

Here is some of that imagery of Elvis being presented with an award by Monique ...

Doctor John Carpenter replied:

It was not an award, little Monique Brave gave Elvis a MOST ironic gift backstage in Rapid City -- a sacred, Sioux Nation "Medallion of Life."

Good call and interesting post. I called it an award in a most general sense as I couldn't recall, but I had heard was a "medallion of life" and, boy, are your comments seem ever too fitting....! Perhaps Cyrogenic is correct, but your first take seems to put your finger on what's wrong about this all-too-often sad but somehow compelling final TV special.

Who is the interviewer? Tom Hulett?

Who is the interviewer? Tom Hulett?

IIRC, that is Hulett, but there was no interview -- he just did simple introductions of the Rapid City mayor and little Miss Brave.

Interesting follow up to this topic, via a recent Rapid City Journal article:

"Inside, Elvis met then-Mayor Art LaCroix as well as Sharon Brave and her 10-year-old daughter, Monique.

The brief encounter with "The King" left a lasting impression on Sharon.

"I can still remember everything; we were in and out in a few minutes," the longtime Elvis fan said. "We had the best seat in the house for a couple of minutes."

Monique wore a full buckskin American Indian dress and presented Elvis with an eight-point beaded medallion. He gave her a scarf that she still has.

"He's part Native American. He looked at her and had the most peaceful look on his face. It was the most fabulous thing I've ever seen," Sharon said about their encounter with Elvis. "He had a lot of charisma. He was just so real."
The mother and daughter are also featured on the CBS live taping of the Rapid City concert."


I guess he came across well, considering the drug f*cked persona many would like to propagate.

I guess he came across well, considering the drug f*cked persona many would like to propagate.

Elvis always coped very well in these situations, straight or not, and perhaps even more so with the bright lights of the CBS-TV cameras in his dressing room. Anyone viewing this -- still officially unreleased -- footage can discern this wonderful, warm talent.

And no doubt, Elvis' charisma was undeniable until his final show five days later. Sometimes it was the only thing that kept the later shows from being a total disaster.

What is unfortunate is the cold, hard view of the camera lens does not lie or "propagate" -- the footage captured in June 1977 shows a very ill man, not the bright-eyed king of the hill from 1969-70.

Even in the dressing room with Monique he looks awful, and his voice is weak. It's not a surprise the sequence was left out of the October 1977 broadcast, besides which the irony of his receiving a "Medallion of Life" just weeks before his death is almost too much for any caring fan to bear, then or now.

I vaguely recall seeing one of the posed photos of Elvis and Monique. If it's out there, can someone please post?