Floyd Red Crow Westerman

Infobox actor
name = Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman


imagesize = 200px
caption = Floyd Red Crow Westerman
birthname = Floyd Westerman
birthdate = birth date|1936|8|17
birthplace = Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota, USA
deathdate = death date and age|2007|12|13|1936|8|17
deathplace = Los Angeles, California, USA
othername = Floyd Crow Westerman
Floyd Westerman
Pop Wharton (nickname)
occupation = Actor, Activist, Artist, Musician
spouse = Rosie Westerman
partner =
yearsactive = 1990s - 2007
website =

Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman (August 17, 1936 – December 13, 2007) was a Dakota musician, activist and actor. Late in his life he became a leading actor depicting Native Americans in American films and television. He is sometimes credited as "Floyd Crow Westerman".

Biography

Early life

Westerman was born on the Lake Traverse Reservation, home of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Dakota (Sioux) in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As a youth, he attended an off-reservation elementary school where he was forced to cut his hair and forbidden to speak his native language. This would profoundly impact his later life and his restless pursuit of championing his own heritage (Time Magazine, Dec. 31 2007 - Jan. 7th 2008). At the age of 10, Westerman was sent to the Wahpeton Boarding School, where he first met Dennis Banks of the American Indian Movement.

Career

Westerman's film and television appearances include the role of the "Shaman" for Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's "The Doors" and as "Ten Bears" in "Dances with Wolves". Westerman debuted in "Renegades" in which he played "Red Crow" the Lakota Sioux father of Lou Diamond Phillips. In his last film, Westerman appeared as Standing Elk alongside his long-time friend Max Gail in the 2006 family film, "Tillamook Treasure". He can be seen as well in the beginning of "Hidalgo", as the Chief in Buffalo Bill's circus.

His television roles have included playing "Uncle Ray" on "Walker, Texas Ranger", "One Who Waits" on "Northern Exposure" and multiple appearances as "Albert Hosteen" on the "X-Files". In September 2007, Westerman finished work for the film "Swing Vote".

Before entering films and television, Westerman had established a solid reputation as a country-western music singer. His recordings offer a probing analysis of European influences in Native American communities. In addition to several recordings of his own, Westerman has collaborated with Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Harry Belafonte, Joni Mitchell, Kris Kristofferson, and Buffy Sainte-Marie. Westerman toured with Sting in the 1990s to raise funds to preserve rain forests.

He earned a degree in secondary education from Northern State University in South Dakota. Westerman also spent two years in the United States Marine Corps.

Westerman was also a recognized political advocate for Native American causes, working at times with the American Indian Movement. In 2000, American Indian Expo named Westerman celebrity of the year.

From 2003–2007, Westerman appeared in a number of television advertisements for "Lakota" brand topical pain reliever, often wearing traditional Native dress.

Death

Westerman died on December 13, 2007 at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles after an extended illness and complications from leukemia. [cite web|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jj4yj37U9DWYfLMh8iNpt2MokknAD8THL2IG0 |title=Obituaries in the News |accessdate=2007-12-23 |author=Associated Press |date=2007-12-14 |publisher=Associated Press, via Google] cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/15/AR2007121501806.html |title=Floyd Red Crow Westerman, 71; Performer, Activist |accessdate=2007-12-24 |author=Robert Jablon |date=2007-12-16 |work=The Washington Post]

His interment was located at Saint Matthew's Catholic Cemetery in Veblen, South Dakota.

Quotations

"And I told them not to dig for uranium, for if they did, the children would die. They didn't listen, they didn't listen, they didn't listen to me.

And I told them if the children die, there would be no keepers of the land. They didn't listen.

And I told them if they destroy the sky, machines would come andsoon destroy the land. They didn't listen...

And I told them if they destroy the land, man would have to move into the sea. They didn't listen...

And I told them if they destroy the sea -- they didn't listen..."

-"from the Floyd Westerman song "They Didn't Listen" as Westerman recited the lyric concluding his testimony in 1992 at the World Uranium Hearings in Salzburg, Austria". [ [http://www.ratical.org/radiation/WorldUraniumHearing/FloydWesterman.html World Uranium Hearing] ]

"There is an ancient Indian saying that something lives only as long as the last person who remembers it. My people have come to trust memory over history. Memory, like fire, is radiant and immutable while history serves only those who seek to control it, those who douse the flame of memory in order to put out the dangerous fire of truth. Beware these men for they are dangerous themselves and unwise. Their false history is written in the blood of those who might remember and of those who seek the truth." -"spoken by Floyd Westerman as "Albert Hosteen" in "The X-Files" episode "The Blessing Way", written by Chris Carter"

Filmography

*"Swing Vote"
*"Tillamook Treasure"
*"Renegades"
*"Naturally Native"
*"The Brave"
*"Dusting Cliff 7"
*"Jonathan degli orsi"
*"Clearcut"
*"Legends of the West"
*"Red Crow"
*"The Doors"
*"Dances with Wolves"
*"Powwow Highway" (voice)
*"We Pray with Tobacco" (documentary)
*"Last Party 2000" (aka Party's Over USA: video title)
*"Hidalgo"
*"Dreamkeeper"
*"Atlantis: Milo's Return"
*"Truth and Dare... aka Party On"
*"Legends of the West"
*"Grey Owl"

Television appearances

*"Buffalo Girls"
*"500 Nations" (voice)
*"Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee"
*"Siringo"
*"The Broken Chain"
*"Rio Shannon"
*"Walker, Texas Ranger"
*"Northern Exposure"
*"Dharma & Greg"
*"Millennium"
*""
*"The Pretender"
*"Roseanne"
*"The X-Files"
*"Murder, She Wrote"
*"Captain Planet and the Planeteers" (voice)
*"Hardball"
*"L.A. Law"
*"MacGyver"
*"Femte port, Den" (TV movie)
*"Judging Amy"
*"Baywatch Nights"
*"Lakota" commercials
*"The Dakota Conflict" (voice)

Discography

* "Custer Died for Your Sins" (1969)
* "Indian Country" (1970)
* "Custer Died for Your Sins" (re-recording) (1982)
* "The Land is Your Mother" (1982)
* "Oyate" (with Tony Hymas) (1990)
* "A Tribute to Johnny Cash" (2006)

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0922671|name=Floyd Red Crow Westerman
* [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-westerman15dec15,1,6636757.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california Los Angeles Times: Floyd Red Crow Westerman obituary]
* [http://www.tjwestern.com/radio.htm Radio Profile of Floyd Westerman]
* [http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=9182 Native American Times]
* [http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2075&Itemid=1 News From Indian Country]
* [http://www.reznetnews.org/blogs/red-clout/we-must-give-back-what-minstrel-gave-us Floyd Red Crow Westerman tribute]
* [http://www.tillamooktreasure.com/Floyd_Red_Crow_Westerman.shtml Floyd Red Crow Westerman In Memoriam ~ his last film ]