LEST WE FORGET: Luther Standing Bear
There exists confusion regarding the year and reservation where Luther Standing Bear was born (either in 1863 or 1868) on the Rosebud Reservation or the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, and whether he was a Lakota Brule or Oglala. He identified himself as an Oglala, born at Pine Ridge. Originally named Plenty Kill, Standing Bear became a well-known author, activist and movie actor.
Like other Native males, he was trained in traditional ways to be a hunter and warrior.
In 1879, his father, Standing Bear, sent him to Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania as a member of the first class of Native students. At Carlisle, he and other Native students were forbidden to speak their languages, had their hair cut, had to wear uncomfortable non-Native attire, and were given a new name. He chose Luther and became Luther Standing Bear.Standing Bear was a model student at Carlisle and returned to the Rosebud Reservation after spending five years at the school, where he learned to become a tinsmith, a not particularly useful occupation on the reservation. Fortunately, Carlisle Superintendent Richard Henry Pratt secured him a government position as a teacher's assistant on the reservation, with a salary of $300 a year, and Standing Bear received high praise from other Bureau of Indian Affairs employees. In 1891, Standing Bear became superintendent of a day school on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Other jobs he held included an agency clerk, operator of a small store, an assistant minister, and ranch owner.In 1902, he became a member of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and travelled to England with the troupe. Standing Bear was among the Sioux performers who were seriously injured in a terrible train accident near Melrose Park, Illinois, on April 7,1904. He sustained two broken and three bruised ribs, a broken left arm, left leg, collar bone, and nose, cuts above both eyes, a severe gash on the back of his head, and dislocation of both hips.After the accident, Standing Bear sold his land allotment on Pine Ridge, moved to Sioux City, Iowa, and later to Walthill, Nebraska, working at a variety of jobs such as a store clerk and rodeo performer. Ultimately in 1912, he moved to California, where he delivered lectures and became a Hollywood movie actor. Standing Bear appeared in dozens of films and worked with such famous actors as Douglas Fairbanks, Tom Mix, and William S. Hart. Along with other Native actors, Standing Bear worked to ensure Natives were portrayed more accurately in films.Standing Bear wrote four books: My People the Sioux (1928), My Indian Boyhood (1931), Land of the Spotted Eagle (1933), and Stories of the Sioux (1934). In his books, he wrote of his upbringing, traditional customs and beliefs, and inclusion into the dominant society. He also offered criticism of federal Indian policies that he blamed for deplorable reservation conditions.Luther Standing Bear deserves more recognition as an activist who fought to ensure Native people were allowed to embrace their traditional identities and be treated as equal members of the dominant society. He believed Native and non-Native teachers in Indian schools should be bilingual, Native American history should be part of the curriculum in all schools, and Natives should have more leadership roles on reservations and hold more BIA positions.Luther Standing Bear died on Feb. 20, 1939, after contracting the flu during the production of the film Union Pacific, starring Joel McCrea and Barbara Stanwyck. Native actors in the film spoke Lakota and were not as stereotyped as in previous films.Sources: Carlisle Indian School Digital Research Center; My People the Sioux (1928); My Indian Boyhood (1931); Land of the Spotted Eagle (1933); Stories of the Sioux (1934); and Luther Standing Bear Films.
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