Nipo T. Strongheart (May 15, 1891 – December 31, 1966) was an American performer in Wild West shows, technical advisor to Hollywood film producers, and lecturer on the Chautauqua circuit.

"[36] Chautauqua events were called "the most American thing in America" and according to Andrew C. Rieser, were tailored to "appeal to the patriotic, churchgoing, white, native-born, mostly Protestant, northern and Midwestern middle classes".

[40] One of Strongheart's programs, entitled "From Peace Pipe to War Trail and Back Again", highlighted the "nobility, patience, inherent goodness, romance, traditions, faith and suffering of his people".

[41] Other programs he developed were "Tales of the First Americans", "The Past and Present of a Vanishing Race" – in which he dwelt on the effects of many decades under the Bureau of Indian Affairs,[42] – and "My People the Yakima".

He included elements referring to the Yakama nation and had the hero succeed in preserving Indian fishing rights,[5] a topic of some recent interest.

[90] In February Strongheart continued in Pennsylvania,[91] before going to Ohio to promote the film Braveheart and to give a performance at the theatre[92] and the local high school,[93] which resulted in further publicity for his cause.

[97] In late May he attended a pow wow in the Culver City area in honor of Oglala Lakota Chief[98] Luther Standing Bear.

He spoke for two and a half hours to a good house, and the attention was wonderful until the last word, and then we had what is a very unusual custom here, that is for the people to want to speak to the lecturer and compliment him on his work.

[131] In January 1933 he spoke to a Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) meeting at the Hollywood Studio Club,[132] followed by a series of performances in April,[133] May[134] and August[135] in Eagle Rock, California, while he was in the process of divorcing Marion Campbell.

[12][142][143] Strongheart gained publicity from his consulting work, and in late 1936 he was thanked for assisting Dan L. McGrath in a major biography of Chief Joseph.

[5] Next came Across the Wide Missouri,[5][157] Strongheart translated the script, coached the stars, and worked with Lakota actors representing the nations of Blackfoot, Shoshone and Nez Perce.

[139] At times in his performing career, Strongheart had appeared at lyceums held at several Christian church venues[97][109][158] and Jewish temples,[122] as well as Theosophical[136] and Masonic lodges.

After watching for some time, they heard the word of the Great Spirit ordering each to make a pipe, smoke, and exchange with his neighbor, as a sign of peace between them.

[104] During an appearance at the Yakama reservation in 1921, he said "that the 'Great Spirit' and 'Jesus Christ' were different names for the same God, who looked upon all His children" (paraphrased by scholar Lori Lynn Muntz).[7]: pp.

[163] In late February 1963, in a private capacity rather than as a performer, Strongheart attended a gathering of Indian Baháʼís in Arizona for a "Great Council Fire."

[168] Strongheart died on December 31, 1966, aged 75, at the Motion Picture Country Hospital[33][169] in Woodland Hills, California and was buried with a Yakima ceremony at Smohalla Cemetery on the reservation.

His performance piece "From Peace Pipe to War Trail and Back Again" was characterized as evoking the "nobility, patience, inherent goodness, romance, traditions, faith and suffering of his people."

'sixty years ago the government granted the franchise to the colored race which is denied to the original Americans which now owing to their enforced stay on reservations have now dwindled to 196,000 Indians.

[190] In January 1922, Jane Zane Gordon sought to establish an "American Indian Arts & Crafts Foundation"[191] and met with President Warren Harding.

A number of passers-by stopped, watched her; some of the so-called white men remarked in a most insulting manner, and laughed at the expense of our poor beloved people ... One old, old man was there.

He becomes a renegade, an outlaw, or at best a shiftless drifter without ambition to overcome the odds against him ... [he calls for the end of educational system enforced on them and then outlines the patriotism of Indian service in WWI for the United States, he continues] This is the only country on earth for them ... and if they are willing to shed their blood for it, they should be good enough to share equally in the advantages that are given to every other race within our borders.

'[87][193]In a 1927 talk to a church group Strongheart " ... made an eloquent appeal that the Indian now be given the same chance in life as the white man, in education, in freedom, and in opportunity ...

[195] He also garnered several columns of space and two articles reviewing his views of Native culture and standards: The young Indian is taught the lesson of life through the careful training of his parents, the mother devoting her entire time to her children and the father teaching his son to hunt and fish, taking him with him as a companion.

Before an Indian is permitted to consider marriage with a young girl he must have attained three feathers, each with a meaning, one for patience, courage and bravery, and two additional ones for honor must be added before he may be married.

It is the hope that the Senate investigation committee will during this summer visit the isolated settlement of the Alabama and Coushata Indians, who are now living in a most pitiful state of existence, and observe the suffering these people have to ensure that no white man would ever tolerate under any circumstances ...

[104]Strongheart practised his activism broadly across his career, addressing stereotypes about indigenous peoples of North America and racism in early American film.

According to Michelle H. Raheja, "Strongheart played primarily uncredited minor roles in films; however, his work off-screen is critical to understanding how Native American actors operated within a visual sovereignty paradigm. ...

[142] Scholar Joanna Hearne wrote, "Throughout his career in Hollywood, he worked as a translator, language coach, and casting agent for Westerns when directors sought to include realistic elements in their films ... in some cases he was able to use this position to agitate for changes, even suggesting the additions of specific characters".

'"[69] A second specific case came late in Strongheart's career, on Pony Soldier, for which he wrote a critical review of the proposed screenplay, even though other departments of the studio had begun work on it.

In fact, if the history of [Los Angeles] Indian groups had any common thread, it was produced by this organization'"[143] Still early in his transition to Hollywood Strongheart also aided directly in the founding of the National Congress of American Indians in 1944, in response to termination and assimilation policies that the U.S. government forced upon the tribal governments in contravention of their treaty rights and status as sovereign entities.