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ROB MCCLENDON: WELL WHEN IT COMES TO NATIVE AMERICAN ROLES, WES
STUDI'S FACE IS PROBABLY THE MOST RECOGNIZED IN FILM.
GROWING UP IN NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA, STUDI SPOKE ONLY THE CHEROKEE LANGUAGE
UNTIL HE WENT TO BOARDING SCHOOL; AND EVEN TODAY, IS RECOGNIZED FOR HIS WORK IN
PRESERVING NATIVE TONGUES.
BUT IT IS HIS WORK IN TELEVISION AND IN FILM THAT LED TO STUDI'S
INDUCTION INTO THE NATIONAL COWBOY AND WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM'S
HALL OF GREAT WESTERN PERFORMERS.
DURING A LEGENDARY ACTING CAREER, WES STUDI HAS PORTRAYED GREAT FICTIONAL
WARRIORS LIKE THE VENGEFUL HERON MAGUA IN THE 1992 FILM "THE LAST OF THE
MOHICANS."
[MUSIC].
HE HAS ALSO PLAYED GREAT HISTORIC WARRIORS, NONE GREATER THAN IN "GERONIMO,
AN AMERICAN LEGEND;" A ROLE FOR WHICH HE AND HIS CASTMATES WERE HONORED
WITH THE WESTERN HERITAGE AWARD.
[MOVIE EXERPT: I CAN'T LET YOU KILL ANY OF THOSE MEN; GUNSHOT; THAT WAS A GREAT
SHOT; NOT SO GREAT, I AIMED FOR HIS HEAD; GUNSHOT].
WES GREW UP FAR FROM FAMOUS; BORN IN A SPOT THAT WAS MORE OF A PLACE,
THAN A TOWN.
WES STUDI: MY MOTHER GREW UP IN AN AREA CALLED MILFIRE HOLLOW WHICH IS IN
NORTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA CHEROKEE NATION.
HIS FAMILY MOVED TO AVANTE IN THE OSAGE, AND AS WES BEGAN THE THIRD GRADE HE
DIDN'T KNOW ANYBODY SO HE STARTED LEARNING THE ACTING SKILLS HE WOULD PUT
TO USE YEARS LATER.
STUDI: MY CHILDHOOD, AT THAT POINT IN TIME, WAS PRETTY ISOLATED.
I WAS UH, UNLESS WE WENT HOME TO THE FAMILY AND ALL, YOU KNOW, WE WEREN'T
AROUND ANY OTHER CHEROKEES.
AND SO, I DEVELOPED A PRETTY GOOD IMAGINATION ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ABOUT
PLAYING BY MYSELF, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE ALL OF MY YOUNGER BROTHERS WERE LIKE
A LITTLE TO YOUNG FOR ME, FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO PLAY AT MY LEVEL, YOU
KNOW.
[MOVIE EXCERPT: SOME APACHES A GOOD FARMER; OTHERS MISS THE OLD WAY;
I'M NOT GOOD FARMER, GATEWOOD].
LIKE WARRIOR GERONIMO, YOUNG WES STUDI HAD NO INTEREST IN FARMING, HE
WAS A DREAMER AND MOVIE THEATERS WERE HIS MAGIC CARPET.
STUDI: I MAINLY WENT TO THEM BY MYSELF, BUT YOU KNOW, I WAS THE LONE GUY
SITTING THERE WATCHING THE HORSES RUN AND EVERYTHING.
IT WAS HUH, I REMEMBER THE MOVIES BEING A REAL ESCAPE, A REST YOU KNOW,
FROM DAILY LIFE.
AT CHILOCCO INDIAN SCHOOL HE SIGNED UP FOR THE NATIONAL GUARD.
STUDI: I ENJOYED IT MAINLY BECAUSE WE GOT TO DRESS UP IN FATIGUES AND MARCH ON
SATURDAY MORNINGS [LAUGH].
AND HE ENDED UP BECOMING A REAL LIFE WARRIOR IN THE U S ARMY, RIGHT IN THE
MIDDLE OF THE VIETNAM WAR.
STUDI: IT ALL SEEMED LIKE SUCH A GREAT ADVENTURE, TO THE POINT THAT I THOUGHT,
GEEZ, I'D REALLY LIKE TO SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE IN A COMBAT AREA LIKE THAT.
THE VIETNAM EXPERIENCE CHANGED WE STUDI, AS IT DID SO MANY OTHERS.
HE RETURNED MORE SERIOUS; HE JOINED THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT.
STUDI: AND IT NEVER REALLY ENTERED MY MIND ABOUT DOING ANYTHING IN THE
ACTING WORLD UNTIL AFTER THE SOCIAL UNREST OF THE EARLY 70'S.
BUT A CLASSIC ROLE IN "DANCES WITH WOLVES" FOLLOWED WORK ON STAGE AND
IN LOCAL TV PRODUCTIONS IN TULSA.
OTHER FAMOUS ROLES QUICKLY FOLLOWED.
IN 2009, WES STUDI BROKE MORE GROUND AS ONE OF THE STARS OF THE BIGGEST
BLOCKBUSTER OF ALL TIME, "AVATAR."
[MOVIE EXCERPT: SPEAKING IN NATIVE TONGUES; WHAT'S HE SAYING; SPEAKING IN
NATIVE TONGUES].
WES STUDI IS MORE THAN ACTOR, HE'S AN ARTIST, A MUSICIAN AND AN ADVOCATE
FOR INDIAN PEOPLE.
ROB: NOW IT WASN'T UNTIL THE 1980'S THAT STUDI TURNED TO ACTING, AFTER
HELPING START A CHEROKEE NEWSPAPER AND EVEN RUNNING HIS OWN HORSE RANCH AND
WORKING AS A PROFESSIONAL HORSE TRAINER.