Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance facts for kids

Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance (born Sylvester Clark Long; December 1, 1890 – March 20, 1932) was a journalist, writer, and film actor. For a time, he became famous around the world. He spoke up for Native American causes.

He wrote a book about his life, which he said was based on growing up as the son of a Blackfoot chief. He was thought to be the first Native American to join the Explorers Club in New York City. Some experts describe his background as a mix of Native, White, and Black heritage.

One professor explains that Long Lance's mother had both White and Lumbee Indian family. She identified herself as "Croatan" or "Croatoan." These were names for Lumbee people in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The professor states that Long Lance had real claims to Indian ancestry from both his mother's and father's sides. However, his mother's people, the Lumbee, faced a difficult situation in the segregated Southern United States.

Early Life and Education

In the past, many parts of the United States had strict rules that separated people by race. This meant that African Americans had fewer chances in life. Sylvester Long first left his home state of North Carolina to act as an Indian in a "Wild West Show". During this time, he started telling stories about being Cherokee. These stories were later found to be untrue.

In 1909, Long said he was half Cherokee when he applied to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. He was accepted and also lied about his age to get in. He finished school in 1912 as one of the best students. Famous Native Americans like Jim Thorpe and Robert Geronimo (son of the famous Apache warrior) were in his class.

Long then went to the St. John's and Manlius Military academies in Manlius, New York. He received a full music scholarship because of his skills at the Carlisle School.

Career as a Journalist and Advocate

In 1919, Long moved to Canada as an acting sergeant. He asked to be released from duty in Calgary, Alberta. He then started working as a journalist for the Calgary Herald newspaper. At that time, Canada also had unofficial rules that separated people by race. The government had even tried to stop black people from moving there from the U.S.

It was common for people of African heritage in both Canada and the U.S. to falsely claim they were Cherokee or Blackfoot. This was often done to avoid racial discrimination. It is believed that Long Lance felt safer and could achieve more by not revealing his connection to black heritage.

Long presented himself as a Cherokee from Oklahoma. He claimed he had graduated from West Point. He also said he earned the Croix de Guerre medal in World War I. For the next three years, he wrote about Native American issues as a reporter. He spoke out against how the government treated Native Americans. He also criticized Canada's Indian Act, especially its efforts to change Native cultures and stop tribal rituals.

Long told a friend that he decided to pretend to be a Blackfoot Indian. He felt it would help him be a better advocate for Native Americans. He also said he hadn't lived with his own people since he was sixteen. By 1924, Long Lance became a press representative for the Canadian Pacific Railway.

During these years, Long also became active in Calgary. He joined the local Elks Lodge and the military. He also coached football for the Calgary Canucks. Because of Jim Crow laws in the U.S., he likely would not have been able to do these things if he had said he was a black man. He was a successful writer, publishing articles in popular magazines like Macleans and Cosmopolitan. By 1927, when he wrote his autobiography, Long claimed to be a full-blooded Blackfoot Indian.

Autobiography and Fame

A company called Cosmopolitan Book Company asked Long to write his life story. They wanted it to be an adventure book for boys about Native Americans. His book, Long Lance, was published in 1928 and quickly became very popular.

In the book, Long claimed he was born a Blackfoot, the son of a chief, in Montana's Sweetgrass Hills. He also said he was wounded eight times in World War I and became a captain.

His book's success and international news stories made him a big celebrity. The book sold well around the world. It was praised by book critics and experts who study human cultures. Long had already been writing and giving talks about the life of Plains Indians. His fame gave him more chances to speak. He became part of the social scene in New York. Most importantly, he was accepted into the famous Explorers' Club in New York. The Explorers' Club believed they were welcoming their "first Indian" member.

He earned about $100 for each speech, which was a good amount of money back then. He also promoted a sports shoe for the B.F. Goodrich Company. A film magazine, Screenland, wrote that "Long Lance, one of the few real one-hundred-percent Americans, has had New York right in his pocket."

Questions About His Identity

In 1929, Long started working in movies. He starred as the main character in the 1930 silent film The Silent Enemy. This movie was about a famine and power struggle in an Ojibwe tribe. The film used over 200 Native American people, including actors like Chief Yellow Robe, Cheeka, Chief Awakanush, and Molly Spotted Elk. The filmmakers tried to show Native American history accurately.

Chief Yellow Robe, who played the Chief and likely helped with cultural advice for the film, became suspicious of Long. He told the studio's legal advisor. Long could not explain his background in a way that satisfied them. Soon, rumors began to spread.

An investigation found that his father was not a Blackfoot chief. Instead, he was a school janitor in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Some neighbors from his hometown said they thought his family might have included African ancestry. This meant that by the racial rules in the South at the time, he would have been considered black. The studio did not make its investigation public. However, the accusations caused many of his wealthy friends to stop spending time with Long.

Historians have discussed Long's identity. Some have called his claims about being Indian "pure and simple" an assumed identity. Others use the questions about Long's identity to explore how Native American identity and authenticity are understood in American culture.

Death

"To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die."

After the questions about his identity, a wealthy woman from California named Anita Baldwin hired Long as a bodyguard. He traveled with her to Europe. Because of disagreements, Baldwin left him in New York. For a time, he was in love with a dancer named Elisabeth Clapp, but he did not want to marry her. In 1931, he returned to Baldwin. In 1932, Long was found dead at Baldwin's home in Los Angeles, California.

Long left his belongings to St. Paul's Indian Residential School in Southern Alberta. Most of his papers were left to his friend, Canon S.H. Middleton. These papers, along with Middleton's, were later bought by a dealer. The dealer sold them to the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in 1968.