Are you familiar with this living American character?

 

studi

Acting has been a long and rewarding profession for Wes Studi. He was raised in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma, and until he started school, he only spoke Cherokee. He enlisted in the National Guard at age 17 and eventually deployed to Vietnam.

Following his discharge, Studi got involved in politics involving American Indian issues. In 1973, he took part in Wounded Knee at the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Studi is well-known for playing ferocious Native American warriors in movies like "Dances with Wolves," where he played a Pawnee warrior. He made his film debut in "The Last of the Mohicans" as Magua, a Huron. Soon after, he was cast as Geronimo in the title role in "Geronimo: An American Legend." He appeared in "The Lone Ranger," "Skinwalkers," and "The Horse Whisperer." He performed thethe Indian in the desert who appeared in both "The Doors" and "Avatar" movies.

Studi has been in a number of additional films, TV episodes, and miniseries. He also earned an Honorary Academy Award, making him the second Indigenous person from North America to receive such a distinction from the Academy. Buffy Sainte-Marie, an Indigenous musician from Canada, was the first.

Studi and his wife are members of the band Firecat of Discord, in which Studi plays bass as well. Wes Studi also serves as honorary chair of the Indigenous Language Institute's National Endowment Campaign, which works to preserve Native languages.