Season 1 • Episode 26
LatestBrave Eagle is a 26-episode half-hour western television series which aired on CBS from September 28, 1955, to March 14, 1956, with rebroadcasts continuing until June 6. Keith Larsen, who was of Norwegian descent, starred as Brave Eagle, a peaceful young Cheyenne chief. The program was unconventional in that it ⁕ reflects the Native American viewpoint in the settlement of the American West and ⁕ was the first series to feature an American Indian as a lead character. Larsen's co-stars were Kim Winona, a Sioux Indian, as Morning Star, Brave Eagle's romantic interest; Anthony Numkena of Arizona, a Hopi Indian then using the stage name Keena Nomkeena, appeared as Keena, the adopted son of Brave Eagle; Pat Hogan as Black Cloud, and Bert Wheeler of the comedy team Wheeler & Woolsey, as the halfbreed Smokey Joe, full of tribal tall tales but accompanying wisdom. The episodes center upon routine activities among the Cheyenne, clashes with other tribes, attempts to prevent war, encroachment from white settlers, racial prejudice, and a threat of smallpox.
Acting
Actual Native actors in 1955, not brownface
Writing
Native perspective in Eisenhower-era television
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Keith Larsen was Norwegian, not Cheyenne—a casting compromise that still outraged 1955 audiences used to white 'Indian' stars.
Bert Wheeler, playing the comic relief 'halfbreed,' was 60 and decades past his 1930s comedy fame—his presence was stunt casting for older viewers.
US
