Chauncey Yellow Robe

Chief Chauncey Yellow Robe (born Canowicakte Yellow Robe, 1867–1930) was a Sičhą́ǧú (Rosebud Sioux) educator, lecturer, actor, and Native American activist. His given name, Canowicakte, means "kill in woods," and he was nicknamed "Timber" in his youth.

He was taken to Carlisle Indian School, a Native American boarding school, from which he graduated in 1895. He was an educator for 32 years under the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1915, he became a devoted member of the Masonic Lodge of Rapid City, South Dakota, where he spent the majority of his life as a teacher and counselor.

He appeared in films, media, and political events in his later life, including adopting President Calvin Coolidge into the Sioux tribe and starring as Chief Chetoga in the 1930 historical drama The Silent Enemy.

He is the father of folklorist, educator, and writer Rosebud Yellow Robe.

Early life and education Yellow Robe was born in Sičháŋǧu Oyáte territory—known today as the Rosebud Indian Reservation—in southern South Dakota

He was the firstborn child of Tahcawin , who was a skilled artist and niece of Sitting Bull. His father, Tasinagi, was a hunter, Chief, and son of a hereditary chief, known later as Yellow Robe for war deeds. He described his childhood to have primarily involved hunting, fishing, and chasing buffaloes across the plains of South and North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana. and became known as Chauncey. At the age of fifteen I was taken away to the far east to school by Brig. Gen. R. H. Pratt wearing my full Indian costume, long hair, painted face, feathers, moccasins, and blanket and not knowing a word of English. Yet, in a few years, I was able to pass from the silent walls of the school house as an independent American citizen. To educate the Indian is not a disgrace to the American civilization. caption2 = The same trio after their forced cultural assimilation, taken either six months later in 1884 or three years later in 1886. Chauncey Yellow Robe is seated on the left side.

In 1893, Yellow Robe was in charge of the Carlisle School's exhibit at the Chicago World's Fair. He was also selected to represent the North American Indians at the Congress of Nations of the World's Fair. being trained in the tailoring trade. It was one of the off-reservation Indian Boarding Schools established by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and was sometimes called "School of the Hills".

In October 1914, Yellow Robe was a speaker at the Fourth Annual Conference of the Society of American Indians in Rapid City, South Dakota. Yellow Robe's lecture condemns multiple contemporaneous cultural depictions of Native Americans:All these Wild West Shows are exhibiting the Indian worse than he ever was, and deprive him of his high manhood and individuality... We see a monument of the Indian in New York harbor as a memorial of his vanishing race. The Indian wants no such memorial monument, for he is not yet dead. The name of the North American Indian will not be forgotten as long as the rivers flow and the hills and mountains shall stand, and though we have progressed, we have not vanished. The Lakota tribe used the occasion to arrange a ceremony to induct Coolidge as a member of their nation, "in recognition of the role he played in passing the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924."

Chauncey Yellow Robe bestowed the Lakota name Wanblee-Tokaha upon President Coolidge, After presenting Coolidge his native name, Yellow Robe stated the following:Today, Mr. President, you are a one-hundred percent American by adoption into an aboriginal tribe. Good White Father, we welcome you into our tribe. We hope you will continue to guide this great nation on to a still greater destiny. and Lake Temagami in Ontario, Canada, to shoot the film. Yellow Robe played one of the leading roles and helped with technical direction; according to Atalie Unkalunt, the cast consisted solely of Native Americans, though this was later complicated by the appearance of Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance, whose ancestry was questioned. Notably, Yellow Robe delivered the film's sound-on-film speech introduction, wherein he greets the audience, praises the story, and expresses hope for the Ojibwe tribe's future.

Yellow Robe's portrait was published in 1928 in the National Geographic, captioned "His Forebears Ruled the Dakotas".

Death and legacy On April 8, 1930, Yellow Robe died of pneumonia at the Rockefeller Institute Hospital. The New York Times described his death as "ending a picturesque and notable career".

His family shipped his body to Rapid City, and his funeral was held in the city's Masonic Temple. He was buried beside Lillian Belle Sprenger in Mountain View Cemetery.

After Yellow Robe's death, President Calvin Coolidge stated, "[He] was a born leader who realized that the destiny of the Indian is indissolubly bound up with the destiny of our country. His loyalty to his tribe and people made him a most patriotic American."