Dawn Little Sky(1930-2025)
- Actress
Indigenous actress and animation artist, the widow of actor, stuntman and rodeo rider Eddie Little Sky, Eunice "Dawn" Elsie Gates was the daughter of John (1890-1962) and Ethel (Bruguier) Gates (1888-1982). She grew up on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and went on to study at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. While there, she met her future husband who fondly named her "The Ava Gardner of Fort Yates." After the couple moved to California, Dawn found work at Disney's Frontierland and then became an artist, coloring animation cels for Walt Disney Studios. During the 1960s and early 70s, she also appeared in small roles on the screen, including episodes of Gunsmoke (1955), Have Gun - Will Travel (1957) and Rawhide (1959).
By the late 1970s -- with less film work coming her way -- Dawn returned to South Dakota where she served for several years as director of the Lakota cultural center in Eagle Butte. From the early '80s, she taught traditional art and culture at the Little Wound School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. She was also a celebrated women's traditional dancer and a recipient of South Dakota's Indian Living Treasure Award in 2005.
By the late 1970s -- with less film work coming her way -- Dawn returned to South Dakota where she served for several years as director of the Lakota cultural center in Eagle Butte. From the early '80s, she taught traditional art and culture at the Little Wound School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. She was also a celebrated women's traditional dancer and a recipient of South Dakota's Indian Living Treasure Award in 2005.
