Eddie Little Sky(1926-1997)

Oglala Lakota, born Edsel Wallace Little Sky on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in South Dakota. Eddie served with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theatre during World War II. Tall (at 6 ft, 2") and muscular, he was subsequently employed as an oil field wildcatter and then toured the rodeo circuit with Casey Tibbs' American Wild West Show & Rodeo as a bull and bareback bronco rider. He entered films as a stuntman in the early 50s. By the middle of the decade, Eddie was playing Native American chiefs and braves and eventually amassed a portfolio of more than 60 film credits and numerous TV episodes -- often as a featured player rather than a mere extra. Among his better known roles was that of Black Eagle in A Man Called Horse (1970). Eddie and his wife Dawn Little Sky moved to Los Angeles in 1959, but they never regarded this as their true 'home'. "Phasing out the Hollywood era", as Dawn called it, they returned to South Dakota in 1975 whereupon Eddie worked as director of the Oglala Lakota Tribal Parks and Recreation Authority. Both Eddie and Dawn were also well known for their accomplishments as exponents of traditional dance, having toured both Europe and Japan and performed before royalty.