Chief Thunderbird

Richard Davis Thunderbird (August 6, 1866 – April 6, 1946) was a Native American actor of Cheyenne descent known as Chief Thunderbird. He appeared in twenty films but was credited only in major films such as Wild West Days (1937), For the Service (1936), Silly Billies (1936), Custer's Last Stand (1936), Annie Oakley (1935), Cyclone of the Saddle (1935), Laughing Boy (1934), and Heroes of the West (1932).

Career

Thunderbird was born on August 6, 1866, near Tongue River, Montana and attended the Carlisle Indian School.

Thunderbird made his first appearance in a film in 1914. He played an "Indian" (an uncredited role) in the film The Perils of Pauline Thunderbird got his first credited roles in the movie Heroes of the West where he played as Chief Thunderbird. The protagonists of the film included Noah Beery Jr., as Noah Blaine, Julie Bishop as Ann Blaine, Onslow Stevens as Tom Crosby and William Desmond as John Blaine. The film is a classic Western film in which the hero fights off crooks and Indians for the railroad.

Thunderbird got his first big role in his next film, Laughing Boy (1934), where he played Laughing Boy's Father. The film itself was a controversial one, revolving around Ramon Novarro's character, Laughing Boy, who falls in love with Lupe Velez's character, Silly Girl. Laughing Boy's family, of Navaho descent, disapprove of their son's decision to marry a white man's mistress.

The next film Thunderbird was credited for was Cyclone of the Saddle (1935) where he starred as High Hawk. The movie itself was about how Rex Lease's character, Andy Thomas, was in charge of getting to the bottom of who was harassing the wagon trains. Thunderbird however did not have much of a commanding role in this film.

Later in 1935, Thunderbird was showcased in his most notable film Annie Oakley (1935), starring as Chief Sitting Bull. The film, called a "Western", takes place in Cincinnati. Thunderbird plays the character of Chief Sitting Bull, a representation of the actual Sitting Bull (1831–1890), a Native American of Sioux descent.

Thunderbird next starred in Custer's Last Stand (1936) as Rain-in-Face. (Chick Davis) however had a very minimal role in the film. The film itself was about how the villains (the Indians) were attacking white men. Blade, the main protagonist steals an Indian medicine arrow. When asked to exchange the arrow for gold, Blade decides to start killing the Indians. Although it is an abysmal role for Thunderbird, it is important to understand the representation of the Native Americans in these films at this time.

Thunderbird made his next appearance in 1936 in the film Silly Billies, where he played Chief Cyclone. The two main characters travel to the West to open up a new dentist practice where they find themselves saving the day against the hostile Indians.

Thunderbird made another appearance in 1936 in the film For the Service, where he played Chief Big Bear. In this film, the main characters, Buck Jones (Buck O'Bryan) and Captain Murphy (Edward Keane) send their troops to go after the outlaw gang, composed of whites and Indian renegades. This film portrays Indians as killers, thieves and all around not intelligent human beings.

Thunderbird's last major credited film came in 1937, where he played Chief Red Hatchet in Wild West Days. Like most Westerns of the time, Thunderbird played the side of the villain. In Wild West Days the Indians plotted alongside the Secret Seven to take over the Munro Ranch.

Thunderbird made his last appearance in 1944 in the film The Falcon Out West, where he was uncredited in the role of Eagle Feather. He died two years later on April 6, 1946 in Los Angeles County, California, at the age of 79.

Though Thunderbird acted in twenty films, he was never cast in a lead or supporting role, although Native American performers like Chief Yowlachie, Will Rogers, and Ray Mala did portray prominent screen characters. During his era, Indians were portrayed in a variety of roles as both sympathetic and hostile.

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References
  • Aleiss, Angela (2005). Making the White Man's Indian: Native Americans and Hollywood Movies. Westport, Conn./London: Praeger. ISBN 0-275-98396-X.
  • D'Ambrosio, Brian (July 2019). Montana Entertainers: Famous and Almost Forgotten. Montana: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781467141109.
  • Deloria, Philip J. (March 2006). Indians in Unexpected Places. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1459-2.
  • Simmon, Scott (June 30, 2003). The Invention of the Western Film: A Cultural History of the Genre’s First Half Century. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-55581-7.
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