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Sometimesnotfunny t1_ja9btwm wrote

The crying Native American was Italian.

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varietydirtbag t1_jaa39l2 wrote

Such a crazy story, but at some point I think he was genuinely accepted as a part of a Native American tribe.

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Sometimesnotfunny t1_jaa8haa wrote

I don't know enough to say either way, but his wikipedia article (grain of salt) mentions he claimed Native American pretty much his whole life, but pretty much everybody questioned it. Especially when your birth name is Espera De Corti.

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varietydirtbag t1_jaa9m7n wrote

So yes he's Italian and lied about it his whole life. He played Native American's in film and TV but he was eventually accepted into a tribe even though he was of Italian decent. It was a while ago I read the story so can't remember the specifics how this happened.

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Sometimesnotfunny t1_jaae8cv wrote

You're probably right, especially if he portrayed NA folks in a positive way, and not as hatchet-wielding bloodthirsty savages as history is wont to do.

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Dorocche t1_jab3906 wrote

Positive compared to his contemporaries, at least

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Bearman71 t1_jabusy3 wrote

I mean they were though. The plains natives were absolutely fucking brutal people.

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Sometimesnotfunny t1_jadc5ch wrote

In response to what was happening to them or in general? Context matters. If you're pulling my rug out from under me, yeah, I'm gonna be Savage.

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Bearman71 t1_jadmwa6 wrote

In general, their brutality didn't magically start when Europeans moved in, they had a long brutal culture long before then.

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cinnamon-eater t1_jaewk6x wrote

Can you describe... anything at all about this supposed brutality?

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Bearman71 t1_jaeygb2 wrote

Murdering other tribes for resources and stealing children?

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WikiSummarizerBot t1_jaa8ixw wrote

Iron Eyes Cody

>Iron Eyes Cody (born Espera Oscar de Corti, April 3, 1904 – January 4, 1999) was an American actor of Italian descent who portrayed Native Americans in Hollywood films, famously as Chief Iron Eyes in Bob Hope's The Paleface (1948). He also played a Native American shedding a tear about litter in one of the country's most well-known television public service announcements from the group Keep America Beautiful. Living in Hollywood, he began to insist, even in his private life, that he was Native American, over time claiming membership in several different tribes. In 1996, Cody's half-sister said that he was of Italian ancestry, but he denied it.

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majorjoe23 t1_jabcwek wrote

Seems like crying "Indian" would have been more accurate.

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