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{{Infobox person
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Eastern Cherokee, Southern Iroquois and United Tribes of South Carolina}}
| name = Will Moreau Goins
{{Infobox ethnic group
| image = Floyd_Westerman2.jpg
|group= Eastern Cherokee, Southern Iroquois and United Tribes of South Carolina
| image_size = 200px
|image=ECSIUT Logo.png
| caption = Westerman aka ''Kanghi Duta''
|image_caption=
| birth_name = William Moreau Goins
|population= Over 700
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1961|12|2}}
|popplace={{Flag|United States}} ({{Flag|South Carolina}})
| birth_place = [[Washington, D.C.]]
|langs=[[English language|English]], [[Cherokee language|Cherokee]], ''formerly'' [[Tuscarora language|Tuscarora]], and [[Catawban languages]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|11|11|1961|12|2}}
|rels=[[Christianity]], [[Native American religion|Traditional Indigenous]]
| death_place = [[Columbia, South Carolina]]
|related= [[Cherokee]], [[Tuscarora people|Tuscarora]], [[Cheraw (tribe)|Cheraw]], [[Lumbee]], [[Winyaw|Winyah]], [[Cape Fear Indians|Cape Fear]] and other [[Siouan]] peoples
| resting_place = Saint Matthew's Catholic Cemetery, [[Veblen, South Dakota]], U.S.
}}
| other_names = Kanghi Duta
The '''Eastern Cherokee, Southern Iroquois and United Tribes of South Carolina, Inc.''' or '''ECSIUT''' is state-recognized Native American Indian group in the state of [[South Carolina]] under the SC Code Section 1-31-40 (A) (7)(10), Statutory Authority Chapter 139 (100-111) and obtained this status on February 17, 2005.<ref>{{cite web |title=South Carolina's Recognized Native American Indian Entities {{!}} Commission for Minority Affairs |url=https://cma.sc.gov/minority-population-initiatives/native-american-affairs/south-carolinas-recognized-native-american-indian-entities |website=cma.sc.gov |accessdate=21 October 2019}}</ref> The ECSIUT is organized to promote interest in scholarly research as well as foster accurate documentation of genealogical, biographical, and historical records surrounding the [[Cherokee]] and other Native American tribes originating in South Carolina. For twenty years the ESCIUT hosted an annual Native American film festival in [[Columbia, South Carolina]] which gave exposure to indigenous film makers.<ref>{{cite web |title=20th Annual Native American Indigenous Film Festival of Southeast |url=https://www.onecolumbiasc.com/event/20th-annual-native-american-indigenous-film-festival-of-southeast/ |website=onecolumbiasc |accessdate=21 October 2019}}</ref>
| occupation = Actor, artist, musician
| spouse = Rosie Westerman
| children = 5
| othername = Kanghi Duta
| years_active = 1988–2007}}


'''Floyd Westerman''', also known as '''''Kanghi Duta''''' i.e. "'''Red Crow'''" in [[Dakota language|Dakota]] (August 17, 1936 – December 13, 2007), was a [[Sioux]] musician, political activist, and actor. After establishing a career as a country music singer, later in his life, he became a leading actor depicting Native Americans in American films and television. He is sometimes credited simply as Floyd Westerman.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/americanrootsmusic/pbs_arm_saa_floydwesterman.html Song artist page] from [[PBS]]</ref> He worked as a political activist for Native American causes.
==Government==
According to South Carolina law, Native American Indian groups are defined as "a number of individuals assembled together, which have different characteristics, interests and behaviors that do not denote a separate ethnic and cultural heritage today, as they once did. This group is composed of both Native American Indians and other ethnic races. They are not all related to one another by blood. A tribal council and governmental authority unique to Native American Indians govern them."<ref>[https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:OI9Go90fsYsJ:www.scstatehouse.gov/getfile.php%3FTYPE%3DCODEOFREGS%26CHAPTER%3D139+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi8828RBgkZwBeH1WWQrXOrUYHlZ68gjpEfUlq1wgUe2owy9PuTpz6OLJKcIsWWAcuWgjhwjSimxczwt7eLscV2KBcjPTjhRK-IW_tjV9_PVNFV0noodqyMciyL0k0nZ9x0VF_7&sig=AHIEtbRKYpobcoKu-2obtxvUruRCJv9dXg "139102. Definitions."] ''Chapter 139. Commission for Minority Affairs. Article I. State Recognition of Native American Indian Entities. (Statutory Authority: S. C. Code Section 13140(A)(10)).'' Page 2. Retrieved 21 October 2019.</ref> The ECSIUT is headquartered in [[Richland County, South Carolina]] and was formerly led by the late Native American activist, Dr. William Moreau Goins, who founded the group and served as CEO up until his passing in November of 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Obituary of Dr. William Moreau Goins |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thestate/obituary.aspx?n=william-goins&pid=187312921&fhid=8974 |website=legacy.com |accessdate=21 October 2019}}</ref>


==History==
==Early life==
He was born Floyd Westerman on the [[Lake Traverse Indian Reservation]], home of the [[Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate]], a federally recognized tribe. It is one of the tribes of the Eastern Dakota subgroup of the [[Great Sioux Nation]], living within the U.S. state of [[South Dakota]].<ref name=jablon/> His [[Indigenous language|indigenous]] name ''Kanghi Duta'' means "Red Crow" in Dakota (one of the three Sioux related languages).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues00/Co06032000/CO_06032000_Westerman.htm |title=Indian Celebrity of the Year |first=Vicki |last=Lockard |first2=Paul |last2=Barry |date=June 3, 2000 |issue=11 |work=Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060423033135/http://www.turtletrack.org:80/Issues00/Co06032000/CO_06032000_Westerman.htm |archive-date=23 April 2006 |access-date=1 August 2018 |publisher=Paul C. Barry}}</ref>
According to the Cherokee “Clan Mother” Amanda F. Allen, some of the core families represented in the tribe today with Cherokee roots are those with the surnames, Oglesby, Allen, Jones, Poole, Adair, Sizemore, Thompson, Butler, Nicholson, Martin, and Stare.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goins |first1=William Moreau |title=About Us |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022003230/http://cherokeeofsouthcarolina.com/about.html |website=web.archive.org |accessdate=21 October 2019 |date=22 October 2016}}</ref> The Butlers, Wattses, Vanns, Rosses, Galphins, and McIntoshes are said to be related to the prominent Bushyhead family.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goins |first1=William Moreau |title=About Us |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022003230/http://cherokeeofsouthcarolina.com/about.html |website=web.archive.org |accessdate=21 October 2019 |date=22 October 2016}}</ref> After many years of intermarrying within this small community most of these families became related.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goins |first1=William Moreau |title=About Us |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022003230/http://cherokeeofsouthcarolina.com/about.html |website=web.archive.org |accessdate=21 October 2019 |date=22 October 2016}}</ref> This was in part due to the isolation of the community and in keeping with strict miscegenation laws that prohibited “free people of color” from marrying European or African people.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goins |first1=William Moreau |title=About Us |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022003230/http://cherokeeofsouthcarolina.com/about.html |website=web.archive.org |accessdate=21 October 2019 |date=22 October 2016}}</ref> In early times, since these families lived in rural communities, as was common across the state, most of them were farmers.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goins |first1=William Moreau |title=About Us |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022003230/http://cherokeeofsouthcarolina.com/about.html |website=web.archive.org |accessdate=21 October 2019 |date=22 October 2016}}</ref> Consequently, one clan took to gathering during the final weekend of September in thanksgiving to the harvest of that season.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goins |first1=William Moreau |title=About Us |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022003230/http://cherokeeofsouthcarolina.com/about.html |website=web.archive.org |accessdate=21 October 2019 |date=22 October 2016}}</ref> This was in keeping with the Cherokee Fall Festival tradition, which is held the first week of October for the same reason.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goins |first1=William Moreau |title=About Us |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022003230/http://cherokeeofsouthcarolina.com/about.html |website=web.archive.org |accessdate=21 October 2019 |date=22 October 2016}}</ref> There are approximately seven hundred Cherokee descendants descended from these families enrolled in the ECSIUT.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goins |first1=William Moreau |title=About Us |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022003230/http://cherokeeofsouthcarolina.com/about.html |website=web.archive.org |accessdate=21 October 2019 |date=22 October 2016}}</ref> Most of these individuals had ancestors who resided in numerous Cherokee Lower Villages prominent throughout history, which include, Brasstown, Crane Creek, Chatuga, Chauga, Cheowee, Coweeshee, Echay, Esseneca, Estanaley, Estatoe, Oustestee, Keowee, Noyowee, Oconee, Socony, Qualhatchie, Sugartown, Tomassee, Toxaway, and the Tugaloo village.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goins |first1=William Moreau |title=About Us |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022003230/http://cherokeeofsouthcarolina.com/about.html |website=web.archive.org |accessdate=21 October 2019 |date=22 October 2016}}</ref>


At the age of 10, Westerman was sent to the Wahpeton Boarding School, where he first met [[Dennis Banks]] (who as an adult became a leader of the [[American Indian Movement]]). There Westerman and other boys were forced to cut their traditionally long hair and forbidden to speak their native languages. This experience would profoundly impact Westerman's later life. As an adult, he championed his own heritage.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1697428,00.html |first=Andréa |last=Ford |title=Milestones – Died: "Floyd (Red Crow) Westerman |magazine=[[Time Magazine]] |date=December 27, 2007 |access-date=October 17, 2010 |publisher=[[Time Inc.]]}}</ref>
Some members of the ECSIUT trace descent from historically mixed Siouan communities such as the "Smiling Indians" of [[Sumter County, South Carolina]]. This group was largely studied by amateur anthropologist James McDonald Furman in the late 19th century who took to calling members of the community [[Redbone (ethnicity)|“Redbones”]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Britt |first1=Morris F. |title=Implosion |date=Jul 29, 2017 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781387132256 |pages=447}}</ref> Furman helped establish a “Redbone Celebration” on October 23, 1895 in order to promote and instill Indian pride and identity.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Britt |first1=Morris F. |title=Implosion |date=Jul 29, 2017 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781387132256 |pages=447}}</ref> In 1896, after making a list of families that attended the Bethesda Baptist Church in [[Privateer, South Carolina]] he was able to conclude that there were an estimated seventy or eighty mixed race families living within Sumter, most of which bearing the surnames Chavis, Epps, Gibbes, Goins, and Smiling.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Britt |first1=Morris F. |title=Implosion |date=Jul 29, 2017 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781387132256 |pages=450}}</ref> Furman discovered that most of the Smiling Indians were descended from two patriarchs. The first is a man named Thomas Gibbes, who owned a nine hundred and thirty one acre plantation in Sumter.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Britt |first1=Morris F. |title=Implosion |date=Jul 29, 2017 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781387132256 |pages=386}}</ref> It is assumed to be most likely that his family were the remnants of coastal tribes, especially the [[Ittiwan people|Etiwan]] which occupied part of the William Gibbs plantation near [[Charleston, South Carolina]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Britt |first1=Morris F. |title=Implosion |date=Jul 29, 2017 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781387132256 |pages=386}}</ref> The second patriarch of the Smiling Indians is noted to have been Jerry Goins alongside his wife Edie.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Britt |first1=Morris F. |title=Implosion |date=Jul 29, 2017 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781387132256 |pages=450}}</ref> Edie was noted to have been a "mixed blood Indian woman" and a fortune teller.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Britt |first1=Morris F. |title=Implosion |date=Jul 29, 2017 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781387132256 |pages=450}}</ref> At the turn of the twentieth century many of these families relocated to [[Robeson County, North Carolina]] and assimilated with the [[Lumbee]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Britt |first1=Morris F. |title=Implosion |date=Jul 29, 2017 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=9781387132256 |pages=386}}</ref> By no later than the mid-1920s the remaining families in South Carolina migrated to [[Williamsburg County, South Carolina]] and were referred to broadly as the Goins Community while others with the surname Chavis were noted to live in [[Orangeburg County, South Carolina]] at the same time by Wes Taukchiray.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Taukchiray |first1=Wes |title=The Smiling Indians; Goins community; the Chavis Indians.Unpublished manuscript |date=1975}}</ref> Williamsburg was previously home to the [[Winyaw|Winyah tribe]] and the [[Cape Fear Indians|Cape Fear]] are noted to have been relocated there by 1715 by Chapman J. Milling in ''Red Carolinians''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chapman |first1=James Milling |title=Red Carolinians |date=1969 |publisher=University of South Carolina Press |isbn=0872491803 |page=226 |edition=2nd}}</ref> This seems to be evidence that the communities were migrating to places where other Native descended people lived. Presumably around this same time or slightly before, some families began to commingle with Cherokee descendants due to [[Anti-miscegenation|miscegenation laws]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goins |first1=William Moreau |title=About Us |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022003230/http://cherokeeofsouthcarolina.com/about.html |website=web.archive.org |accessdate=21 October 2019 |date=22 October 2016}}</ref>


He graduated from [[Northern State University]] with a B.A. degree in secondary education. He served two years in the [[US Marines]], before beginning his career as a singer.<ref name=jablon/>
However, despite these laws, as time further passed, many families pressured by restrictions placed upon them in the [[Jim Crow Laws|Jim Crow era]] ultimately began to disperse and intermarry into predominately European or African communities in the state as was common among most mixed Native American communities in South Carolina during the twentieth century as Brewton Berry notes in ''The Mestizos of South Carolina''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Berry |first1=Brewton |title=The Mestizos of South Carolina |journal=American Journal of Sociology |date=July 1945 |volume=51 |issue=1 |page=41 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2771573}}</ref> For this reason, individuals within the ECSIUT today are of diverse ethnic backgrounds and do not represent a singular ethnic culture as historic tribes once did. Though many members seek to represent, preserve, and educate others about their respective ancestor's traditions and history.

==Career==
Before entering films and television, Westerman had established a solid reputation as a [[country music|country-western music singer]]. His recordings offer a probing analysis of European influences in Native American communities. In addition to several solo recordings, Westerman collaborated with [[Jackson Browne]], [[Willie Nelson]], [[Bonnie Raitt]], [[Harry Belafonte]],<ref name=jablon/> [[Joni Mitchell]], [[Kris Kristofferson]], and [[Buffy Sainte-Marie]]. In the 1990s, he toured with [[Sting (musician)|Sting]] to raise funds to preserve [[rainforest|rain forests]].<ref name=jablon/>

Westerman became interested in acting after years of performing as a singer. He debuted his film career in ''[[Renegades (1989 film)|Renegades]]'' (1989), in which he played "Red Crow", the [[Lakota people|Lakota]] Sioux father of Hank Storm, the character played by [[Lou Diamond Phillips]]. Additional film roles include "Chief Ten Bears" in ''[[Dances with Wolves]]'' (1990), and the "shaman" for the singer [[Jim Morrison]] in [[Oliver Stone]]'s ''[[The Doors (film)|The Doors]]'' (1991).<ref name=jablon/> Westerman appeared as Standing Elk, alongside his long-time friend [[Max Gail]], in the family film, ''[[Tillamook Treasure]]'' (2006). He appeared in ''[[Hidalgo (film)|Hidalgo]]'' (2004), as Chief Eagle Horn in [[Buffalo Bill]]'s circus. In September 2007, Westerman finished work for the film ''[[Swing Vote (2008 film)|Swing Vote]]'' (2008).<ref name=jablon/>

Television roles included playing "George" on [[Dharma & Greg]], "Uncle Ray" on ''[[Walker, Texas Ranger]]'' (in the pilot and first regular seasons),<ref name=jablon/> "One Who Waits" on ''[[Northern Exposure]]'', and multiple appearances as "[[List of minor The X-Files characters#Albert Hosteen|Albert Hosteen]]" on ''[[The X-Files]]''.<ref name=jablon/>

==Death==
Westerman died from complications of [[leukemia]] at [[Cedars-Sinai Medical Center]] in Los Angeles on December 13, 2007.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/18/arts/18westerman.html |title=Floyd Red Crow Westerman, 71, an Actor, Is Dead |last=Martin |first=Douglas |date=18 December 2017 |access-date=1 August 2018 |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |publisher=[[The New York Times Company]] |page=C11}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/dec/24/usa.film |title=Floyd Red Crow Westerman |last=Carlson |first=Michael |date=24 December 2007 |access-date=1 August 2018 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |publisher=[[Guardian News and Media Limited]]}}</ref> He was surrounded by his wife Rosie and five children.<ref name=jablon>{{cite news|url=https://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=December 16, 2007|work=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>

==Selected filmography==
*''[[Powwow Highway]]'' (1989) - CB Radio Voice (voice)
*''[[Renegades (1989 film)|Renegades]]'' (1989) - Red Crow
*''[[Dances with Wolves]]'' (1990) - Ten Bears
*''The Making of 'Dances with Wolves''' (1990) - TV Short documentary - Himself
*''[[Son of the Morning Star (film)|Son of the Morning Star]]'' (1991, TV Mini-Series) - Sitting Bull
*''[[The Doors (film)|The Doors]]'' (1991) - Shaman
*''[[Clearcut (film)|Clearcut]]'' (1991) - Wilf
*''The Broken Chain'' (1993, TV Movie) - Tribe Elder
*''[[Jonathan of the Bears]]'' (1994) - Chief Tawanka
*''[[Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee]]'' (1994, TV Movie) - Mary's grandfather
*''[[500 Nations]]'' (1995, TV Mini-Series) - (voice)
*''[[Buffalo Girls]]'' (1995, TV Mini-Series) - No Ears
*''[[Last Assassins|Dusting Cliff 7]]'' (1997) - Indian Bob
*''[[The Brave (film)|The Brave]]'' (1997) - Papa
*''[[Naturally Native]]'' (1998) - Chairman Pico
*''[[Grey Owl (film)|Grey Owl]]'' (1999) - Pow Wow Chief
*''Graduation Night'' (2003) - Old Man
*''[[Atlantis: Milo's Return]]'' (2003) - Chakashi (voice)
*''[[Dreamkeeper]]'' (2003, TV Movie) - Iron Spoon
*''[[Hidalgo (film)|Hidalgo]]'' (2004) - Chief Eagle Horn
*''[[Tillamook Treasure]]'' (2006) - Standing Elk
*''[[Comanche Moon (TV miniseries)|Comanche Moon]]'' (2008, TV Mini-Series) - First Old Comanche
*''[[Swing Vote (2008 film)|Swing Vote]]'' (2008) - Chief Running Bear (final film role)

==Selected television appearances==
*''[[MacGyver (1985 TV series)|MacGyver]]'' (1988, TV Series) - Two Eagles
*''[[Captain Planet and the Planeteers]]'' (1990, TV Series) - Indian Chief (voice)
*''[[L.A. Law]]'' (1991, TV Series) - Judge William Gainser
*''[[Northern Exposure]]'' (1991-1993, TV Series) - One-Who-Waits
*''[[Murder, She Wrote]]'' (1992, TV Series) - Uncle Ashie Nakai
*''[[Walker, Texas Ranger]]'' (1993-1994, TV Series) - Uncle Ray Firewalker
*''[[500 Nations]]'' (1995, TV Mini-Series) (voice)
*''[[Roseanne (TV series)|Roseanne]]'' (1995, TV Series) - Floyd
*''[[The X-Files]]'' (1995-1999, TV Series) - Albert Hosteen
*''[[The Pretender (TV series)|The Pretender]]'' (1997, TV Series) - Ernie Two Feathers
*''[[Baywatch Nights]]'' (1997, TV Series) - Indian Guide Wahote
*''[[Poltergeist: The Legacy]]'' (1997, TV Series) - Ezekial
*''[[Millennium (TV series)|Millennium]]'' (1997, TV Series) - Old Indian
*''[[Dharma & Greg]]'' (1997-2001, TV Series) - George Littlefox
*''[[Judging Amy]]'' (2001, TV Series) - Mr. Wheeler

==Discography==
* ''Custer Died for Your Sins'' (1969)
* ''[[Indian Country (album)|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)

==See also==
{{Portal bar|Biography}}


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
<references/>

==Further reading==
* {{Cite news |author=Associated Press |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-westerman15dec15,1,6636757.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california |work=Los Angeles Times |title=American Indian activist, actor appeared in 'Dances With Wolves' |date=December 15, 2007 |accessdate=2016-04-24}}

==External links==
* {{official website|http://www.floydwesterman.com/}}
*{{Find a Grave|23482297}}
*{{IMDb name|922671|Floyd Red Crow Westerman}}
* [http://www.tillamooktreasure.com/Floyd_Red_Crow_Westerman.shtml In Memoriam: Floyd Red Crow Westerman] at TillamookTreasure.com
* [http://tjwestern.com/Audio/Floyd%20Westerman%20Report%201st%20person%20radio.mp3 Audio profile] at Tjwestern.com

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastern Cherokee, Southern Iroquois, and United Tribes of South Carolina, Inc.}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westerman, Floyd Red Crow}}
[[Category:Native American tribes in South Carolina]]
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:State recognized Native American tribes]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:20th-century Native Americans]]
[[Category:American Indian Movement]]
[[Category:Male actors from South Dakota]]
[[Category:Singers from South Dakota]]
[[Category:Native American United States military personnel]]
[[Category:Native American activists]]
[[Category:Native American male actors]]
[[Category:Native American musicians]]
[[Category:Northern State University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Riverside County, California]]
[[Category:People from Sisseton, South Dakota]]
[[Category:Sioux people]]
[[Category:United States Marines]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in California]]
[[Category:Deaths from leukemia]]
[[Category:Activists from California]]

Revision as of 19:32, 21 October 2019

Will Moreau Goins
Westerman aka Kanghi Duta
Born
William Moreau Goins

(1961-12-02)December 2, 1961
Washington, D.C.
DiedNovember 11, 2017(2017-11-11) (aged 55)
Columbia, South Carolina
Resting placeSaint Matthew's Catholic Cemetery, Veblen, South Dakota, U.S.
Other namesKanghi Duta
Occupation(s)Actor, artist, musician
Years active1988–2007
SpouseRosie Westerman
Children5

Floyd Westerman, also known as Kanghi Duta i.e. "Red Crow" in Dakota (August 17, 1936 – December 13, 2007), was a Sioux musician, political activist, and actor. After establishing a career as a country music singer, later in his life, he became a leading actor depicting Native Americans in American films and television. He is sometimes credited simply as Floyd Westerman.[1] He worked as a political activist for Native American causes.

Early life

He was born Floyd Westerman on the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation, home of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, a federally recognized tribe. It is one of the tribes of the Eastern Dakota subgroup of the Great Sioux Nation, living within the U.S. state of South Dakota.[2] His indigenous name Kanghi Duta means "Red Crow" in Dakota (one of the three Sioux related languages).[3]

At the age of 10, Westerman was sent to the Wahpeton Boarding School, where he first met Dennis Banks (who as an adult became a leader of the American Indian Movement). There Westerman and other boys were forced to cut their traditionally long hair and forbidden to speak their native languages. This experience would profoundly impact Westerman's later life. As an adult, he championed his own heritage.[4]

He graduated from Northern State University with a B.A. degree in secondary education. He served two years in the US Marines, before beginning his career as a singer.[2]

Career

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 solo recordings, Westerman collaborated with Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Harry Belafonte,[2] Joni Mitchell, Kris Kristofferson, and Buffy Sainte-Marie. In the 1990s, he toured with Sting to raise funds to preserve rain forests.[2]

Westerman became interested in acting after years of performing as a singer. He debuted his film career in Renegades (1989), in which he played "Red Crow", the Lakota Sioux father of Hank Storm, the character played by Lou Diamond Phillips. Additional film roles include "Chief Ten Bears" in Dances with Wolves (1990), and the "shaman" for the singer Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's The Doors (1991).[2] Westerman appeared as Standing Elk, alongside his long-time friend Max Gail, in the family film, Tillamook Treasure (2006). He appeared in Hidalgo (2004), as Chief Eagle Horn in Buffalo Bill's circus. In September 2007, Westerman finished work for the film Swing Vote (2008).[2]

Television roles included playing "George" on Dharma & Greg, "Uncle Ray" on Walker, Texas Ranger (in the pilot and first regular seasons),[2] "One Who Waits" on Northern Exposure, and multiple appearances as "Albert Hosteen" on The X-Files.[2]

Death

Westerman died from complications of leukemia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on December 13, 2007.[5][6] He was surrounded by his wife Rosie and five children.[2]

Selected filmography

Selected television appearances

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)

See also

References

  1. ^ Song artist page from PBS
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Robert Jablon (December 16, 2007). "Floyd Red Crow Westerman, 71; Performer, activist". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
  3. ^ Lockard, Vicki; Barry, Paul (June 3, 2000). "Indian Celebrity of the Year". Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America. Paul C. Barry. Archived from the original on 23 April 2006. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  4. ^ Ford, Andréa (December 27, 2007). "Milestones – Died: "Floyd (Red Crow) Westerman". Time Magazine. Time Inc. Retrieved October 17, 2010.
  5. ^ Martin, Douglas (18 December 2017). "Floyd Red Crow Westerman, 71, an Actor, Is Dead". New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. C11. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  6. ^ Carlson, Michael (24 December 2007). "Floyd Red Crow Westerman". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 1 August 2018.

Further reading

External links

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