Dawn Little Sky who broke barriers as Disney’s first Native American artist breathed her last on October 24 at 95.
Little Sky’s family announced her passing through an official obituary on the website for the Sioux Funeral Home in Pine Ridge, S.D.
The obituary read: “Eunice 'Dawn' Elsie Little Sky was born on April 17, 1930, in Fort Yates, N.D. to John and Ethe (Bruguier) Gates.”
“Eunice made her journey to the Spirit World on October 24, 2025 at the Monument Health Hospital in Rapid City, S.D.” the statement continued.
The actress grew up on the Standing Rock Reservation surrounded by Sioux traditions.
She attended college at Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas where she found her love, Eddie Little Sky.
She then moved to California to become the ‘first Native American artist to color Disney cells’.
Little Sky entered into Disney’s Frontierland as the artist at Walt Disney Studios.
Her contributions helped shape Disney animation and Hollywood’s Western era.
Dawn stepped in front of the camera appearing in classics like Cimarron and TV staples including Gunsmoke, Rawhide, and Daniel Boone.
Both Little Skys often appeared side by side in multiple projects including The Magical World of Disney and Have Gun — Will Travel, as well as films like Journey Through Rosebud, Crazy Horse, and the Gregory Peck-starring Western Billy Two Hats.
The obituary also called her the ‘best storyteller with the most amazing sense of humour’.
As per her family’s statement, her ‘warm presence and one of a kind smile’ which ‘will be missed dearly by all who knew and loved her’.
