New Migrations for Redcrow
Though he is best known as an actor, activist and frank spokesman for
Indian people (see July/Aug. 2005 issue), Floyd Redcrow Westerman
(Dakota) continues to fly in new directions, most recently with the
release of the first works in a series of bronze busts of well-known
Indian leaders of the past, and his first new recording in many
years—at 71 years of age!
Actor and activist Westerman is
also a talented musician and budding sculptor—his bronze bust of
Sitting Bull rests behind him. right: The new Berlin Gallery at the
Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ. Photo:Kitty Leaken
“I guess I may never get to do a film series about all these great
leaders as I’d hoped, but I’m trying to honor them with these
sculptures,” Westerman says. “I want people to know that they were the
defenders of this land and their people against the aggressive
European-Americans, who labeled them ‘red skin savages.’ They sought to
protect the soul of their people against overwhelming odds and never
faltered, even though, as I’ve tried to show, there was a sadness in
their eyes at the end, seeing what was coming.”
So far, he has completed busts of Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph and
Geronimo, and begun another series that will reflect typical scenes in
Indian life—in this case a man holding the sacred pipe.
Though he began his musical career in the 1960s—his early albums
Custer Died for Your Sins and
The Land Is Your Mother have just been re-released on a single 22-track CD titled
Going Back—in recent years music has taken a backseat to his acting (
Dances with Wolves, Renegade, The Doors, Hidalgo,
etc. and numerous television roles). However, with his deep bass voice
and musical sensibilities honed on Hank Williams and other country
greats, his newest CD,
A Tribute to Johnny Cash
(Hen House Studios) is a perfect match for the artist as heard on such
songs as “Ring of Fire,” “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” “Busted” and
“Folsom Prison Blues.”
As his friend and fellow performer Kris Kristofferson says, “I think
Johnny would be especially proud of this tribute album. Not just
because of his high regard for Floyd or his own lifelong identification
with Native Americans, but because it is such a respectful, loving
portrayal of the man’s work.” Details: Box 10464, Marina del Rey, CA
90295, 310/827-3604 or floydredcrowwesterman.com.
