The White Squaw (1956)

May Wynn is Ectay-O-Wahnee, a Sioux squaw determined to help her people find a peaceful way to co-exist with the whites.

A Sioux elder, Yellow Elk, thinks he knows how she can do it.

He reveals a long-kept secret: She’s the daughter of a white rancher, and he’s set aside $2,000 for her upon her marriage.

Since she’s yet to take a man and shows no interest in marriage, he suggests she use the money to buy cattle for the tribe.

Bob Garth (William Bishop) agrees to sell her some of his cattle, but that causes problems with fellow cattleman Sigrod Swanson (David Brian), who’s anxious to see the Indians driven from the area.

Ectay-O-Wahnee and Yellow Elk have their own problem. Yotah mistrusts the whites, is jealous over Ectay-O-Wahnee’s interest in Garth and does as much to stir up trouble with the whites as Swanson and his sons do with the Indians.

May Wynn as Ectay-O-Wahnee, the Indian girl who learns she had a white father in The White Squaw (1956)

William Bishop as Bob Garth, the rancher who runs into trouble for selling cattle to the Indians in The White Squaw (1956)

Review:

The film loses a star for ridiculous plot twists. Let’s see: Ectay-O-Wahnee’s dad (Thad Arnold) dies, leaving her half his ranch and reveals his long-kept secret to his daughter Kerry on his death bed. She decides to deny she ever learned the truth and wants nothing to do with Ectay-O-Wahnee.

Garth loses his wallet and the Indian’s money during a barroom brawl; the barkeep claims the wallet for his own. During a scuffle in an alley, a white man is killed. Ectay-O-Wahnee is caught leaning over the dead man because she won’t leave her headband behind.

Then there’s the fire-filled, far-fetched ending. Oh, and check out some of the dialogue.

David Brian as Sigrod Swanson, a rancher determined to chase Indians out of the area in The White Squaw (1956)

Paul Birch as Thad Arnold, sharing the secret of a half-Indian daughter on his death bed in The White Squaw (1956)

Directed by:
Ray Nazarro

Cast:
David Brian … Sigrod Swanson
May Wynn … Ectay-O-Wahnee
William Bishop .. Bob Garth
Nancy Hale … Kerry Arnold
William Leslie … Thor Swanson
Myron Healey … Eric Swanson
Robert C. Ross … Knute Swanson
Frank DeKova … Yellow Elk
George Keymas … Yotah
Roy Roberts … Edward Purvis
Grant Withers … Sheriff
Paul Birch … Thad Arnold
Wally Vernon … Faro Bill
Neyle Morrow … Swift Arrow
Guy Teague … Joe Hide

Runtime: 73 min.

Frank DeKova as Yellow Elk, chief of the Indians, looking for peace with the whites in The White Squaw (1956)

George Keymas as Yotah, the Indian who keeps making trouble with the whites in The White Squaw (1956)

Memorable lines:

Yellow Elk: “I told you not to shoot.”
Yotah: “Yes, you tell us. But you speak from dead guts, Yellow Elk.”

Bob Garth: “You’re very pretty. Very pretty squaw.”
Ectay-O-Wahnee: “That not sound bad. When other men call me squaw, it hurt, deep. When you say very pretty squaw sound nice.”

Faro Bill: “Well, you ain’t the first man to lose his head over an Indian squaw. Though she was prettier than a spotted pup on a yellow wagon. Wasn’t she?”
Bob Garth: “Prettier than two spotted pups.”

Yellow Elk: “Sigrod bad man. Glad he burn.”
Sheriff: “I can’t blame you for that feeling, but we try not to judge the other fella.”
Yellow Elk: “I not that good. I am still Sioux Indian. I’m glad he gone.”

Grant Withers as the sheriff and Roy Roberts and Indian agent Edward Purvis in The White Squaw (1956)

Nancy Hale as Kerry Arnold, learning from her father’s will that she has a half-Indian sister in The White Squaw (1956)

Myron Healey as Eric Swanson, William Leslie as Thor Swanson and Robert C. Ross as Knute Swanson, Sigrod’s sons in The White Squaw (1956)

May Wynn as Ectay-O-Wahnee, realizing Bob Garth is kinder than most white ranchers in The White Squaw (1956)