David Bald Eagle, who starred in Dances with Wolves, has died at the age of 97

David Bald Eagle was a veteran of the Second World War and a drummer in a band, a champion ballroom dancer, competitor in rodeos and Hollywood stuntman during his younger years. He also had a starring role in Dances with Wolves. He died on July 22nd, 2016.

David William Bald Eagle, who died on Friday aged 97, was born in a tipi on 8th April 1919, in Cherry Creek, on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation in South Dakota. His name in Lakota translates as Wounded in Winter Beautiful Bald Eagle.

Dave was raised in the Minneconjou Sioux tribe, largely by his grandparents, on the prairies in the heart of America. He grew up speaking Lakota and immersed in Sioux tradition. One of his grandfathers was the warrior White Bull, who led the assault on General Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Inspired by stories of White Bull’s friend Crazy Horse, Dave was keen to make his mark. He won his first rodeo at 14. He underwent the traditional sundance ceremony aged 15, and at 17 joined the Fourth Cavalry where he participated in the last years of mounted cavalry before mechanization, and became a formidable boxer. He re-enlisted into the 82nd Airborne – the All Americans – at the outbreak of the Second World War and fought in the landings at Anzio in Italy where he won the silver star. He was severely wounded by German fire while parachuting into France during the Normandy invasion.

Read the Rest of this post on his Official Facebook Page.

Posted by Dave Bald Eagle on Sunday, July 24, 2016