In 1873, Luther Standing Bear saw the Sioux warriors return from the large-scale attack on a big hunting group of Pawnee in Massacre Canyon, Nebraska.

Standing Bear wrote to John Wanamaker to inquire about establishing a post office on the reservation, but was told that Native Americans were not legally permitted to serve as postmaster.

[10] Later, Standing Bear and his brother Ellis opened a dry goods store at Pass Creek and started a small ranch raising horses and cattle.

[13] After returning to Pine Ridge, Standing Bear was chosen as a chief of the Oglala Lakota on July 4, 1905,[14][non-primary source needed] but he decided to leave later that year, writing that he "was no longer willing to endure existence under the control of an overseer.

[16] After a brief job doing rodeo performances with Miller Brothers 101 Ranch in Oklahoma, he moved to California to seek full-time employment in the motion picture industry.

[17] In 1912, Standing Bear moved to California and was recruited as a consultant by motion picture director Thomas H. Ince because of his experience as a performer with Buffalo Bill's Wild West.

From 1912 to the 1930s, he was employed in the motion picture industry, working alongside Tom Mix, Douglas Fairbanks and William S. Hart on early Hollywood Westerns.

Standing Bear's commentaries challenged government policies regarding education, assimilation, freedom of religion, tribal sovereignty, return of lands and efforts to convert the Lakota into sedentary farmers.

[citation needed] The campaign began in 1928 with the publication of Standing Bear's book My People the Sioux and the release of John Collier's Meriam Report.

During this period, Standing Bear published four books and numerous articles to educate the public about Lakota culture, and toured the forums of the American lecture circuit building critical support for an Indian New Deal.

He was so distressed by the desperate plight of his people that he wrote "The Tragedy of the Sioux" in American Mercury condemning federal Indian policy for the continued destruction of the Lakota.

Standing Bear was at the forefront of the Progressive movement, and he joined with advocate John Collier, the Indian Rights Association, and others to protect Native American religion and sovereignty.

[citation needed] In 1928, Standing Bear's My People the Sioux and the Meriam Report were published, launching an organized campaign to challenge government policies limiting Native American religion and sovereignty.

[27] Between 1928 and 1934, Luther Standing Bear published four books and numerous articles to educate the public about Lakota culture, and toured the forums of the American lecture circuit building critical support for an Indian New Deal.

[29] Standing Bear's essay "The Tragedy of the Sioux" and his book Land of Spotted Eagle were published near the end of the Progressive campaign and had wide impact influencing Collier's Indian New Deal policies and fighting to restore tribal culture and sovereignty.