Real Indians in "Flying A" Silent Movie?
It's doubtful if any of the actors filmed in Santa Barbara, California in this movie, who were purported to be Indians from a Navajo reservation, were actual Native Americans. Certainly, there were doubts about the ethnic background of a mysterious guy who called himself Lone Star Dietz. When he wasn't playing Indian in the movies, he was coaching football in the Pacific Northwest. This group was performing in the "Flying A" serial, The Diamond From the Sky in Mission Canyon in Santa Barbara.
"Lone Star, a full-blooded American Indian, led 40 of his tribe before the camera . . . hundreds of tourists sojourning in Santa Barbara and Montecito, were permitted to enjoy the proceedings from the sidelines. A complete Indian village had been built in the canyon by Lone Star's people, who were brought from the Navajo reservation expressly for this picture." – Moving Picture World, April 3, 1915