Dawn Little Sky circa 1958. TV Guide/Courtesy Everett Collection Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Dawn Little Sky, an actress who appeared onscreen in Gypsy, The Apple Dumpling Gang and Rawhide and worked as an artist at Walt Disney Studios, has died. She was 95. Little Sky died Oct. 24 at the Monument Health Hospital in Rapid City, South Dakota, her family announced. Her husband was late actor Eddie Little Sky, who was one of the first Native men to play Native roles on film and television. His credits included the 1970 films A Man Called Horse and Little Big Man and several episodes of Gilligan's Island, where he spoke the Siouan language Lakota. Related Stories TV Dan McGrath, Writer on 'The Simpsons' and 'King of the Hill,' Dies at 61 Music Todd Snider, Americana Singer-Songwriter Behind "Alright Guy," Dies at 59 Meanwhile, the couple acted together on episodes of The Magical World of Disney, Gunsmoke, Have Gun - Will Travel and Daniel Boone, and in such features as Chief Crazy Horse (1955), Cimarron (1960), Duel at Diablo (1966) and Journey Through Rosebud (1972). Born on April 17, 1930, in Fort Yates, North Dakota, Dawn lived on the Standing Rock Reservation (which straddles South and North Dakota) as a youngster, then attended Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. While in college, she met Eddie - he called her the "Ava Gardner of Fort Yates" - and they would marry in Roswell, New Mexico, while on the rodeo trail. They ended up in California, where she worked as an actress at Frontierland in Disneyland and as an artist for Walt Disney Studios, where she colored cels for animation projects. Her acting résumé also included the films Ten Who Dared (1960) and Billy Two Hats (1974), and her career once took her as far away as Israel, she said in a 2022 interview. In the late 1970s, she and her husband moved to South Dakota, where she served as the director of a cultural center in Eagle Butte and taught art and culture. Eddie died in 1997 at age 71. She received South Dakota's Indian Living Treasure Award in 2005. Survivors include her children, Tojan, Prairie Rose and John, and her grandchildren, Ryanne, Darryan, Britni, Makana, Abigail, Chaske, Edsel, Aleta, Kathryn, Fawn, Trae, Lakota, Duel, Winona, Sparrow, Chanda, Robert, Aspen, January, Nadine, Ardie and Ian. "Dawn lived an extraordinary life and left a positive impact on all who had the honor to interact with her," her family said. "Her life was full of so many adventures and unforgettable experiences, and she was the best storyteller with the most amazing sense of humor!" THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day Subscribe Sign Up Documentaries 'Come See Me in the Good Light' Review: Doc Tenderly Traces Poet Andrea Gibson's Final Year of Life and Love Working Title Films Box Office: Daisy Edgar-Jones' 'Sense and Sensibility' Lands September 2026 Release Date Universal 'Grinch' Turns 25: Taylor Momsen on "Otherworldly" Reunion With Jim Carrey and How the Film Led to Career Change Heat Vision "Was Bond Relevant Anymore?" How 'GoldenEye' Revamped the Franchise Nick Fuentes The Long, Thorny Path to Dasha Nekrasova's Hollywood Shunning Southland Lucy Liu Enters a Risky New Chapter: "I Need to Own My Worth" Documentaries 'Come See Me in the Good Light' Review: Doc Tenderly Traces Poet Andrea Gibson's Final Year of Life and Love Working Title Films Box Office: Daisy Edgar-Jones' 'Sense and Sensibility' Lands September 2026 Release Date Universal 'Grinch' Turns 25: Taylor Momsen on "Otherworldly" Reunion With Jim Carrey and How the Film Led to Career Change Heat Vision "Was Bond Relevant Anymore?" How 'GoldenEye' Revamped the Franchise Nick Fuentes The Long, Thorny Path to Dasha Nekrasova's Hollywood Shunning Southland Lucy Liu Enters a Risky New Chapter: "I Need to Own My Worth"