Chief Luther Standing Bear in jail, 1935

Item Overview

Title

Chief Luther Standing Bear in jail, 1935

Date Created

May 7, 1935

Date

1935-05-07

Publisher

Los Angeles Times

Language

No linguistic content

Collection

Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection

Notes

Description

Luther Standing Bear, aka Ota Kte (meaning Plenty Kill) or Mochunozhin, was a Native American writer and actor. Although Standing Bear achieved many successes by American standards, including becoming a member of the Actor's Guild of Hollywood, the plight of his people remained foremost in his mind. The Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890 was particularly disturbing to him. Standing Bear published books during his lifetime to educate the public about Native American and Lakota culture and government policies toward his people. These included My People the Sioux (1928), Land of the Spotted Eagle (1933), and Stories of the Sioux (1934). In 1939, he died of the flu while on the set of the film Union Pacific. He is buried in Los Angeles, California's Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
This photograph appears with the article, “Indian Chief Begins Term, Standing Bear Deplores His Jailing and Tells of Sioux Punishment.” Los Angeles Times, 8 May 1935. Print. The article states: "…The lines in Chief Luther Standing Bear’s face were sad yesterday. But his voice was strong as he began serving his year sentence in the County Jail on an immorality charge. … Also related to Los Angeles Times article, May 6, 1935, 'Chief Standing Bear Given Year Term in County Jail.' … The 71-year-old author, actor and educator recently pleaded guilty to making improper advances to a young half-breed Piute girl…"
Luther Standing Bear, in dark jacket and pants, arms crossed, standing, behind jail bars

Caption

Text from negative sleeve: Bear, Chief Standing
Handwritten at edge of negative: Chief Standing Bear
Text from newspaper caption: Stands Firm. Chief Standing Bear, proud Sioux, stoical as he begins year’s jail sentence.

Physical Description

Extent

1 photograph

Medium

b&w nitrate negative

Keywords

Genre

news photographs
cellulose nitrate film

Names

Standing Bear, Luther, 1868?-1939

Resource type

still image

Subjects

Crime
Tribal chiefs--United States
People
Legal
Jails
Government