Jesse Taken Alive. Forum file photo Jesse "Jay" Taken Alive, a former Standing Rock Sioux Tribe chairman and Lakota language and culture protector, died with COVID-19 earlier this week, multiple news outlets reported on Thursday, Dec. 17. Taken Alive, who was 65 at the time of his death, was Standing Rock tribal chairman from 1993 to 1997. He died Monday, Dec. 14, only one month after his wife Cheryl Taken Alive also died after contracting COVID-19, according to multiple news outlets. At least 23 people on the Standing Rock Reservation died due to COVID-19 complications between March and Dec. 14, according to the Standing Rock Incident Command.