Chief Buffalo Long Lance (1890-1932) was a writer, journalist, actor and activist for Native American causes. He was of mixed black, white and Native American ancestry and spoke English and Cherokee.
As a young man, he traveled with the Wild West Show, but then finally enrolled in a Native American school and got in because of his language ability and by faking his age. In 1912, he graduated at the top of his class.
Lance fought in France during World War I. He left the military in 1919 and moved to Canada where he worked as a reporter chronicling the issues affecting Indians. It was then, as a spokesperson for Indian causes, that he began to claim his connection to the Blackfoot people although his Native American background was Cherokee and Croatan.
In 1928, he published his autobiography, Long Lance, with great success. The book became an international bestseller and Lance became an international celebrity.
He went on to give speaking engagements around the world. In 1929, he started a film career as an actor portraying Native Americans more realistically.
When rumors circulated that Lance wasn't really Blackfoot but "black" as the one-drop rule dictated of the time, his life began to crumble around him. His "career as an Indian" ended. He died in 1932 (apparently a suicide).
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Mixed Experience History Month is an annual blog post series celebrating the history of the Mixed experience. Established on Heidi Durrow's blog Light-skinned-ed Girl in 2007, Mixed Experience History Month is an effort to illuminate achievements of multiracial and multicultural individuals (not tragic mulattoes) and people and events central to the Mixed experience. Please look for more profiles of people, places and events of the Mixed experience every weekday of May at Lightskinned-ed Girl, the blog, or Mixed Chicks Chat blog! Thanks for reading. You can also read past year's series: 2007, 2008, 2009.
