Nipo T. Strongheart
| Nipo T. Strongheart | |
|---|---|
,_May_20,_1917,_Page_55,crop.jpeg)
Nipo T. Strongheart as he appeared in The New York Times in 1917
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| Native name | Nee-Ha-Pouw Chtu-Tum-Nah |
| Born |
George Mitchell Jr. May 15, 1891 White Swan, Washington |
| Died | December 31, 1966 (aged 75) Motion Picture Country Hospital, Los Angeles, California |
| Resting place | Smohalla Cemetery, Yakama Nation, Washington |
| Nationality | United States |
| Known for | Native American activism, Lyceum and Chautauqua performance-lectures, and technical advisor for films with Native American themes |
| Notable work | |
Nipo T. Strongheart (born May 15, 1891, in White Swan, Washington; died December 31, 1966, in Hollywood, California) was a Yakama Nation Native American lecturer and performer and a technical advisor to Hollywood film producers. Throughout his life, which spanned several careers, he was an advocate for Native American issues. He spoke on religious issues several times and late in life became a member of the Bahá'í Faith.
Strongheart's mother, Chi-Nach-Lut Schu-Wah-Elks, was a member of the Yakama Nation. He was exposed to native culture through performing with his father in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and its successors; according to some sources Strongheart spent most of his childhood with his white father away from the reservation and Indian culture; other sources say he was adopted by a Yakima woman, and brought up and educated on the reservation. Strongheart's public performances began in 1917 when he worked for the YMCA War Work Council. He toured military camps across New England, where he gave presentations on Native American culture and spoke seriously about military service. His talks encouraged hundreds of men to volunteer for war service. After World War I and his job ended, Strongheart moved briefly to the Yakama Indian Reservation but left again and had a successful career in the Lyceum and Chautauqua circuits of fairs, where he gave presentations on Native American culture and often spoke against the reservation lifestyle enforced by government policy. He played an important role in the development of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 signed by President Calvin Coolidge, which he thought would help end reservations and empower Indian culture.
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