Nipo T. Strongheart
Encyclopedia
Chief Nipo T. Strongheart (born May 15, 1891 in White Swan, Washington
, died December 31, 1966 in Hollywood, California) was a Yakima Nation Native American
film actor and technical advisor
to Hollywood films about Native Americans. He helped form the National Congress of American Indians
and authored the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
signed by President Calvin Coolidge
in 1924.
In 1926 Cecil B. DeMille
made a biography of him with the title changed to Braveheart lest the public think the story was about a canine star of the time with the same name
.. Rod LaRocque played him with Strongheart playing a Medicine Man
and collaborating on the screenplay.
In 1930 he married Marion Winton Campbell (recently divorced from Alexander Winton) a composer of operas who started the Women's National League for Justice to American Indians in 1929. They divorced in 1933.
Strongheart wrote an article History in Hollywood in 1937 that led him to a career as a technical advisor on Hollywood films about Native Americans where he also appeared in cameos in such films as Black Gold, Young Daniel Boone, Across the Wide Missouri
, Broken Lance
, Pony Soldier
and Ten Who Dared
.
White Swan, Washington
White Swan is a census-designated place in Yakima County, Washington, United States. The population was 793 at the 2010 census. This was a 73.9% drop from the 2000 census.-History:...
, died December 31, 1966 in Hollywood, California) was a Yakima Nation Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
film actor and technical advisor
Technical advisor
A technical advisor is an individual who is expert in a particular field of knowledge, hired to provide detailed information and advice to people working in that field...
to Hollywood films about Native Americans. He helped form the National Congress of American Indians
National Congress of American Indians
The National Congress of American Indians is a American Indian and Alaska Native indigenous rights organization. It was founded in 1944 in response to termination and assimilation policies that the U.S. government forced upon the tribal governments in contradiction of their treaty rights and...
and authored the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, also known as the Snyder Act, was proposed by Representative Homer P. Snyder of New York and granted full U.S. citizenship to America's indigenous peoples, called "Indians" in this Act...
signed by President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
in 1924.
Biography
In 1902 he and his father toured in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show as a bareback trick rider. He went to Hollywood appearing in his first motion picture at age 14.In 1926 Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
made a biography of him with the title changed to Braveheart lest the public think the story was about a canine star of the time with the same name
Strongheart
Strongheart was the screen name of Etzel von Oeringen , a German Shepherd that became one of the earliest canine film stars. After being trained in Germany as a police dog, he was brought to the United States by husband and wife filmmakers Laurence Trimble and Jane Murfin, who had previously worked...
.. Rod LaRocque played him with Strongheart playing a Medicine Man
Medicine man
"Medicine man" or "Medicine woman" are English terms used to describe traditional healers and spiritual leaders among Native American and other indigenous or aboriginal peoples...
and collaborating on the screenplay.
In 1930 he married Marion Winton Campbell (recently divorced from Alexander Winton) a composer of operas who started the Women's National League for Justice to American Indians in 1929. They divorced in 1933.
Strongheart wrote an article History in Hollywood in 1937 that led him to a career as a technical advisor on Hollywood films about Native Americans where he also appeared in cameos in such films as Black Gold, Young Daniel Boone, Across the Wide Missouri
Across the Wide Missouri (film)
Across the Wide Missouri is a 1951 American film based on historian Bernard DeVoto's book, Across the Wide Missouri. The film dramatizes an account of several fur traders and their interaction with the Native Americans....
, Broken Lance
Broken Lance
Broken Lance is a 1954 Western film made by Twentieth Century-Fox, directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Sol C. Siegel. The movie stars Spencer Tracy and features Katy Jurado, Richard Widmark, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Eduard Franz, Hugh O'Brian and Earl Holliman.Shot in color and...
, Pony Soldier
Pony Soldier
Pony Soldier is a 1952 Technicolor Northern Western set in Canada but filmed in Sedona, Arizona. It is based on a 1951 Saturday Evening Post story Mounted Patrol by Garnett Weston...
and Ten Who Dared
Ten Who Dared
Ten Who Dared is a movie made by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution in 1960. It tells the story of United States Army officer John Wesley Powell, who was the first to travel down the Colorado River, and the dangers that he and nine other men had to face while making a...
.
External links
- Nipo Strongheart portraits http://www.yakimamemory.org/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=any&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=/relander&CISOBOX1=Strongheart