Cromwell
Ashbie Hawkins
"Red Thunder Cloud"
West
Born in Rhode Island, United States
Ancestors 
Son of Cromwell Payne West
and Roberta M Hawkins
[sibling(s) unknown]
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died
at age 76
in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States
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| Created 14 Sep 2021
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Biography
Cromwell West is Notable.
Chief Red Thunder Cloud, born Cromwell Ashbie Hawkins West, also known as Carlos Westez, was a singer, dancer, storyteller, and researcher. For a time he was promoted by anthropologists as "the last fluent speaker of the Catawba language" but he was later revealed to have learned what little he knew of the language from books.
Cromwell Ashbie Hawkins West was born in 1919. He was the son of Cromwell West and Roberta Hawkins.
Chief Red Thunder Cloud, "the last fluent speaker of the Catawba language" was praised by politicians, publishers, anthropologists, an even the Boy Scouts. He was embraced by Native American communities on Long Island, frequently appearing at powwows and public ceremonies. Many libraries and historical societies have in their collections, photographs of tribal members taken by Red Thunder Cloud. They are often annotated with ethnographic descriptions, and comments. As dancer, singer and storyteller, he performed with his Accabonac Indian Dancers in community centers, schools, and auditoriums throughout the northeast, even touring Canada and Europe with the folk ensemble Le Feux Follets.
The "Chief" however, was an imposter, a "pretendian", not a Native American. He was not Catawba or of any other indigenous tribe. He was born Cromwell Ashbie Hawkins West in Rhode Island. He'd memorized Catawba words from a book by anthropologist Frank Speck, and with a remarkable flair for showmanship, reinvented himself as Red Thunder Cloud, an expert on Native American Culture.
West was briefly married to Jean Marilyn Miller.[1]
He died in 1996[2] and is buried in Riverdale Cemetery in Northbridge, Massachusetts.[3]
Sources
- ↑ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Thunder_Cloud
- ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JPWK-G47 : 7 January 2021), Carlos Westez, 08 Jan 1996; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
- ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39666268/cromwell-ashbie_hawkins-west : accessed 24 June 2022), memorial page for Cromwell Ashbie Hawkins “Red Thunder Cloud” West (30 May 1919–8 Jan 1996), Find a Grave Memorial ID 39666268, citing Riverdale Cemetery, Northbridge, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by L.L. Scott (contributor 46809532) .
- "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJVY-155 : 3 February 2021), Cromwell A West in entry for Cromwell West, 1920.
- "Rhode Island State Census, 1935," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPRC-Q7Z : 11 March 2018), Cromwell A West, Newport, Rhode Island, United States; State Archives, Providence; FHL microfilm 1,712,311.
See also:
- Wikidata: Item Q7305170, en:Wikipedia
- familysearch profile Cromwell Ashbie Hawkins West
- A Child's Introduction To The American Indian CHIEF RED THUNDERCLOUD & CO. 1938 (LP record) - Side 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxQRMuQy0Ak
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Categories: USBH Notables, Needs More Sources | USBH Notables, Needs Biography | USBH Notables, Needs Connection | Catawba | Worcester County, Massachusetts | US Black Heritage Project Managed Profiles | Riverdale Cemetery, Northbridge, Massachusetts | Native Americans Frauds and Fabrications | African-American Notables | Notables
letter to the editor, East Hampton Star September 17, 2018
Red Thunder Cloud, a.k.a. Carlos Westez, was known as Tez to his friends. He was a singer, dancer, storyteller, and field researcher. Although he was not born of Native American descent, he was known as the last fluent speaker of the Native American Catawba language. When Red Thunder Cloud died in 1996 of a stroke at age 76, Peter Popham, a former foreign correspondent for The Independent in London, wrote “this week another language has died.”
Tez was an intelligent outspoken man, he was also a spirited, kind, and giving person who loved and embraced the Native American way of life and was eager to share his knowledge with others.
A friend of mine remembers him as a bridge between the Native Americans and other cultures. She recalled walking with Tez through the woods with her father and brother; throughout the walk Tez picked up indigenous plants and explained their herbal properties and what they could be used for. It made her realize that Native Americans were about nature, the love and respect of Mother Earth.
Another friend has fond memories of his tepee in the backyard of his home near Three Mile Harbor Road, and Tez serving up steaming cups of home-brewed sassafras tea. In local school assemblies and summer camps he taught many children about Indian culture through song, dance, and music. He was an outgoing, unique individual who exemplified the Native American spirit and was accepted by Native Americans as a brother, and was once married to an Indian woman named Pretty Pony.
Tez was involved in American Indian organizations and spent his life documenting and being a voice for all Native Americans.
He worked with anthropologist Frank Speck, collecting ethnographic data and folklore from Native American groups, and collaborated with several other academic experts on Native American cultures and languages.
Linguist and ethnologist Ives Goddard of the Smithsonian Institution validated suspicions of Red Thunder Cloud’s identity by way of public documents, letters, and publications. He has stated that in spite of the negative issues surrounding Red Thunder Cloud’s identity, he has made valuable contributions to the study of ethnography. He contributed extensively to a greater understanding and protection of the Catawba and other native cultures.
The Smithsonian Museum has a recorded collection of Red Thunder Cloud’s hunting songs and religious chants of the Catawba. He recorded a series of them in the 1940s for future generations.
Wes Taukchiray, a historian specializing in the Catawba, said, “What I’m interested in is that he learned how to speak the Catawba language conversationally. I’m not really concerned about his ethnic origin.”
Those who knew Tez have fond memories of him and his enduring energetic bigger than life spirit.
Tez babysat for me one afternoon; he was also a man of his word. A child waiting more than two weeks for a postcard to arrive seems like forever.
He did send a postcard: Tez is dancing with various tribal members performing a ceremonial dance during a powwow at the Shinnecock Indian Reservation. Red Thunder Cloud is the man on the far right wearing a striped headband with two feathers. How the spirit of a man can capture a young girl’s heart and the hearts of those who knew him.
Red Thunder Cloud was a Native American Indian in intellect, heart, and soul, and true to his spiritual beliefs. At the end of his greeting he signed his name Red Thunder Cloud, underneath his signature in parentheses he wrote (Catawba).
DONNA BROWN