Brave Eagle

Today Native Americans are nearly invisible on the broadcast television networks, cable channels, and streaming services. This was not the case in the Fifties. The boom in Westerns that started in the Fifties that Native American characters would appear form time to time on various shows. There would even be two shows that would feature Native American characters as their leads: Brave Eagle, Broken Arrow, and Law of the Plainsman. The first of these was Brave Eagle. It debuted on CBS on September 28 1955. It aired its final original episode on March 14 1956.

The idea for Brave Eagle originated with Arthur Rush, who was Roy Rogers's manager. Mr. Rush came up with the idea of a Western told from a Native American point of view. He brought the idea to Roy Rogers, whose company Frontier Productions produced the show. Arthur Rush served as the executive producer of Brave Eagle. Mike North would later be added as another executive producer. Roy Rogers also had the title of executive producer, although he had very little to do with the day to day running of the show. That having been said, much of Brave Eagle was shot at Roy Rogers's ranch in Chatsworth, California. It was also shot at the Corriganville Ranch in Simi Valley.

Brave Eagle centred on the fictional Cheyenne chief of that name. As was often the case in the Fifties, a non-Native was cast in the role of Brave Eagle. Keith Larsen was Scottish, Danish, and Spanish in descent. He had appeared in such films as Hiawatha(1952) and Son of Belle Star (1953), and had starred in the short-lived espionage series The Hunter. He would later star on the shows Northwest Passage and The Aquanauts. While Keith Larsen was not indigenous in descent, others in the show's cast were. Kim Winona, who played Brave Eagle's love interest Morning Star, was Sioux in descent. Brave Eagle's adopted son Keena was played by Keena Nomkeena (birth name Anthony Numkena), who was Hopi and Karuk. Totally miscast as the halfbreed Smokey Joe was Bert Wheeler of Wheeler and Woolsey fame. Bert Wheeler was no more an American Indian than Keith Larsen was.

In many ways Brave Eagle was unique among Westerns beyond the fact that it featured a Native American as its hero. White characters very rarely appeared on Brave Eagle. Instead the show focused on the various issues the Cheyenne faced from day to day. When shows featured antagonists, it was usually the Apache (one of the historical opponents of the Cheyenne). The show was also unique in portraying Native Americans sympathetically. Even when the Apache appeared as the Cheyenne's opponents on the show, they were presented as human beings rather than cardboard villains. If there is one criticism that could be directed at Brave Eagle, it's that Brave Eagle occasionally assisted the U.S. Army against other Native American tribes. That having been said, this did happen historically.

Like many Westerns made primarily for children at the time, Brave Eagle generated a good deal of merchandise. Dell Comics published a Brave Eagle comic book. There were Little Golden Books, a lunch box, and other bits of merchandise.

While Brave Eagle would generate a good deal of merchandising, it was not successful in the ratings. The show had the misfortune of being scheduled against Disneyland on ABC. Not only did Disneyland appeal to the same young audience for whom Brave Eagle was made, but it ranked no. 4 for the season. Brave Eagle then went off the air with the end of the 1955-1956 season.

While some of its casting left a bit to be desired, Brave Eagle was in many ways a revolutionary show. It was ahead of its time in its portrayal of Native Americans. Given the fact that Native Americans are so rarely seen on American television even now, in some ways it is ahead of this time. While Brave Eagle was not a perfect show, it was the first television show to attempt to present Native Americans realistically.