Paul Littlechief

Early life Littlechief was born Lawton, Oklahoma to Tom Littlechief (Kiowa) and Merle Ruth Kosepeah (Comanche). His great-grandfather was a war chief known only as Littlechief (K’yád̶áisàn) who was killed by the U.S. Cavalry in 1874. His mother was Comanche and his father was Kiowa. He learned to play guitar and pedal steel when he was in his teens. He graduated from Lawton High School in 1953 and trained to become a butcher. He toured with a country band in the 1950s, billing himself as Chief Little Chief. He moved to Hollywood, California in 1956 and started playing more rockabilly-style music and recorded two songs with 4 Star Records: Come On Darlin’ and It’s for Certain (That I’m Hurtin).

Career Littlechief met his future wife, a singer who had been a former Miss Wisconsin, whose stage name was Baby Rae. The two of them developed an act with singing, dancing and fancy outfits and got a yearlong spot at the 49er Club in El Monte, California playing six nights a week. They had Indigenous-themed costumes but tried to avoid Western movie cliches and stereotypes.

Littlechief continued to perform, angling for better spots and got positive reviews for his performances at the Aladdin in 1970, one of the few Las Vegas venues which would headline non-white performers. A friendly fan funded his creation of an album of politically themed songs called The Real American, by Paul Littlechief and the Uprising, featuring two songs written by his oldest son Brock. He dedicated the album to Native American Studies Groups who help perpetuate Native culture. The district attorney fought the charge stating that the shooting happened on tribal land and it was thrown out. Littlechief's son was placed in permanent psychiatric care. The case led to the formation of a tribal police force and court system within the Kiowa Nation. Author Kliph Nesteroff wrote an entire chapter on Littlechief's life in his book about Native Americans in comedy called We Had a Little Real Estate Problem.