The Real Rosebud: The Triumph of a Lakota Woman (review)

Among the many unintended consequences of nineteenth-century assimilationist Indian policy was its tendency to split native communities into several, ideologically opposed factions. Comprising one of these divisions were individuals whom federal officials labeled "blanket Indians" because of their staunch resistance to all government efforts at "civilization and Christianization." At the other extreme were so-called "progressivist" Indians who repudiated their native cultures and values for those of Euroamerican society. Falling in between these two camps were tribal members who, for pragmatic and/or philosophical reasons, attempted to construct bridges that would allow Indians to operate in both worlds. Though sometimes lumped with progressivists, persons belonging to this last group were quite often involved in a complex form of "cultural brokerage" that was grounded in the traditional Indian belief that individuals should utilize their gifts for the welfare of their communities. Such brokers generally conceived of their contributions to Indian interests in terms of the two interrelated goals: Wrst, that of replacing predominantly negative stereotypes of Indians with more accurate and sympathetic images and, second, that of discovering ways that would allow present and future generations of Indians to become part of the national mainstream without sacrificing their identity as Native Americans.

In her new book, The Real Rosebud, Marjorie Weinberg tells the story of three generations of Sicangu Lakota cultural brokers—Chief Yellow Robe, his son Chauncey, and Chauncey's daughter "Rosebud"—describing in six brief chapters their commitment to bridging the cultural chasm between the Indian and white worlds. As the book's title suggests, however, Weinberg is principally interested in describing Rosebud Yellow Robe's pursuits and "triumphs" along these lines.

Born in Rapid City, South Dakota, on February 26, 1907, Rosebud was the eldest of Chauncey and his Caucasian wife, Lillian's, three daughters. Shortly after Rosebud's arrival, Chauncey confided to his former mentor and friend, Captain Richard H. Pratt (founder of the Carlisle Indian School), that he and his wife had assumed that their first child would be a boy, and thus had neglected to consider any girl's name. It was "only as he was writing a letter to his father, on the Rosebud Reservation, that he decided Rosebud would be a fine name for his firstborn" (28). Chauncey also enrolled his daughter at the agency and saw to it that she was allotted 160 acres of reservation land.

However, in spite of her ties to the reservation, Rosebud seems to have spent very little, if any, time there. In fact, she appears to have derived most of her knowledge of traditional and contemporary Indian life from her father and from tribal elders who visited the Yellow Robes in Rapid City.

After graduating from Rapid City high school Rosebud enrolled at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, but was obliged to return home after one year to tend to her terminally ill mother. Notwithstanding the brevity of her career, she gained local and national notoriety for being a "Sioux Indian and a relative of Sitting Bull" and by staging a program of Lakota dances in which she dressed in male attire and performed the hoop, rabbit, and war dance. As a result of this publicity, she was offered a leading role in Cecil B. DeMille's Wlm Ramona and a walk-on part in Eddie Cantor's Broadway show, Whoopee, both of which she declined.

Following her mother's death in 1927, Rosebud decided the time was ripe to try her luck on the New York stage. However, under the guidance of her manager (and soon to be husband) Arthur Seymour, she instead developed a night club act of American Indian dances which she performed in "a stylized Indian costume." Her career took yet another turn when a new manager booked her to lecture on Indian myths and customs at the American Museum of Natural History. These appearances eventually led to her twenty-year engagement (1930-1950) as the director and star of...