Dawn Little Sky, Indigenous Actress and Disney Artist, Dies at 95

She bridged on-screen work with Disney cel artistry before moving home to lead cultural programs in South Dakota.

Overview

Her family said she died Oct. 24 at Monument Health Hospital in Rapid City, South Dakota.
She appeared in Gypsy, The Apple Dumpling Gang and Rawhide, and acted in Westerns alongside her husband, Eddie Little Sky.
She worked at Disneyland’s Frontierland and colored animation cels at Walt Disney Studios, according to contemporaneous accounts.
Some outlets, citing her obituary, report she was the first Native artist to color Disney cels, a distinction not broadly documented in public records.
After returning to South Dakota in the late 1970s, she directed a cultural center in Eagle Butte, taught art, and later received the state’s Indian Living Treasure Award; she is survived by three children and many grandchildren.