Luther Standing Bear

Michelle Raheja (University of California, Riverside)
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Luther Standing Bear is a remarkable figure in Native American literature, film, history, and politics. He was born ca. 1868 in what is now known as South Dakota to an Oglala Lakota family. His family named him

Ota K'Te

(Plenty Kill), but he later took his father's first name as his surname. Raised in a traditional manner, Standing Bear learned how to hunt buffalo with his father until, at the age of eleven, he was sent to Carlisle Indian Industrial School, a federal boarding school for Native American children in Pennsylvania, and became a member of the school's first graduating class.

The trip from his home on the Plains to Pennsylvania was a long and arduous one that exposed him to non-Indians for the first time, but Standing Bear did not view his transition from a stable, traditional

1114 words

Citation: Raheja, Michelle. "Luther Standing Bear". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 October 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4189, accessed 19 March 2024.]

4189 Luther Standing Bear 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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