Elwood Towner

Elwood A. Towner was a mixed blood American Indian and attorney from Portland, Oregon who was a popular speaker at German American Bund rallies. Also known as Chief Red Cloud, Towner was a leader of the Siletz tribe who attempted to recruit American Indians into joining the Bund. He traveled the American northwest and Canada telling the various tribes that the Jews were the chuck-na-gin or “children of the devil.” Towner opposed the Jews that dominated FDR’s Bureau of Indian Affairs.

At the Bund rallies Towner would appear on stage in costume, wearing a headdress of white, green and lavender feathers with a thunderbird design or swastika in the center of his forehead.

See also

• Chief New Moon