"Lil Red"
Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2024 7:23 am
In his mind, Jack Redbird still marches in front of the band and thousands of fans at University of Oklahoma football games when he listens to the radio or watches television from his wheelchair at a southwest Oklahoma City retirement village.
Redbird, 71, was a designated Indian dancer for the school band at football games 50 years ago. He said he has since been called "the first Little Red" for wearing an Indian costume long before the school officially named a Little Red mascot in the '50s.
He lives in the Reding Senior Citizen Center, mostly sitting alone in a room with a bare floor. On the wall hangs a picture of him, a hand-colored photograph of his college days when he proudly wore a headdress and a satin shirt.
On a bookstand next to his couch is a triptych-arrangement of framed photos - his wife, his son and himself - with a note near his son's signature, barely readable after so many years. Both his wife and son are dead.
Redbird was a church choir director at Angie Smith Methodist Church in south Oklahoma City until the mid-1960s. He is a retired U.S. Postal Service mailman. He is a World War II Army veteran, who served in the European war theater.
From 1939-41, Redbird was a student and a trombone player in the OU band. He said he joined the band only to play trombone. But because he was an Indian, Redbird was asked by then band director William R. Wehrend to dress in tribal costume and dance as one of the marching band leaders during football games.
He marched in a headdress and carried a baton, but only while the band was on the field, not during the entire games like following Little Red mascots. He was not actually called Little Red back then; later, when that name was established for OU's mascot, people began calling Redbird the first one.
Redbird has lived alone at the retirement center since this past June. His fondest memories are of his wife, Idalena; his son, Tony; and OU. Tony was a Green Beret in Vietnam and was wounded in action, resulting in parlysis. He died at age 39 in 1983. Redbird's wife, who worked at Eisenhower Mid-High School in the Oklahoma City school district, died in 1985.
Redbird said he is still an OU fan and listens to the games on radio and watches them on television.
Randy Palmer, Anadarko, recalls another man referred to as the "First Little Red. " A Comanche named John Bosin Jr. of Oklahoma City was also in the band and dressed in Indian costumes at football games.
Mike Dymond danced in tribal dress in 1955 at OU.
Yet, the nickname "Little Red" actually originated during the Bud Wilkinson era a few years after Dymond, according to one former dancer.
The first Indian student to be recognized as the official mascot Little Red during the 1950s was Philip Waller, a Kiowa who now lives in Oklahoma City.
Waller said he was too small to make the football team in 1957.
He was asked by athletic department officials if he would serve as an official school mascot. Waller saw it as a way to go to all the games with the team and the coach.
"It sounded good to me," Waller said.
Waller was Little Red from 1957-1960. He attended Bud Wilkinson's recent reunion and was on the field at Owen Field with other players during halftime of the University of North Texas game. He said he got to talk to Wilkinson for five "invaluable minutes. " At his retirement village, former band leader Redbird has suffered a stroke, has difficulty with his speech, and must use a wheelchair to get around.
But he wants to try to attend another OU-Texas game someday. He recalled seeing the games when he was in school and admitted that OU lost some of those games to Texas. OU won in 1939 but lost in 1940 and 1941, he recalled.
He said he is going to try to get someone to take him to a game in Norman this year. He only has one relative in Oklahoma City, his brother, William.
Redbird said he enjoyed dancing in tribal dress with the band, but he realizes Little Red is a mascot that probably will never be resurrected.
"It would be pretty hard to bring Little Red back now," Redbird said.
Redbird said he was proud to have dressed as an Indian with the band, but not everyone may feel that way.
"I think it all depends on the people of the tribe. The people I represented were all for it," he said.
Redbird, 71, was a designated Indian dancer for the school band at football games 50 years ago. He said he has since been called "the first Little Red" for wearing an Indian costume long before the school officially named a Little Red mascot in the '50s.
He lives in the Reding Senior Citizen Center, mostly sitting alone in a room with a bare floor. On the wall hangs a picture of him, a hand-colored photograph of his college days when he proudly wore a headdress and a satin shirt.
On a bookstand next to his couch is a triptych-arrangement of framed photos - his wife, his son and himself - with a note near his son's signature, barely readable after so many years. Both his wife and son are dead.
Redbird was a church choir director at Angie Smith Methodist Church in south Oklahoma City until the mid-1960s. He is a retired U.S. Postal Service mailman. He is a World War II Army veteran, who served in the European war theater.
From 1939-41, Redbird was a student and a trombone player in the OU band. He said he joined the band only to play trombone. But because he was an Indian, Redbird was asked by then band director William R. Wehrend to dress in tribal costume and dance as one of the marching band leaders during football games.
He marched in a headdress and carried a baton, but only while the band was on the field, not during the entire games like following Little Red mascots. He was not actually called Little Red back then; later, when that name was established for OU's mascot, people began calling Redbird the first one.
Redbird has lived alone at the retirement center since this past June. His fondest memories are of his wife, Idalena; his son, Tony; and OU. Tony was a Green Beret in Vietnam and was wounded in action, resulting in parlysis. He died at age 39 in 1983. Redbird's wife, who worked at Eisenhower Mid-High School in the Oklahoma City school district, died in 1985.
Redbird said he is still an OU fan and listens to the games on radio and watches them on television.
Randy Palmer, Anadarko, recalls another man referred to as the "First Little Red. " A Comanche named John Bosin Jr. of Oklahoma City was also in the band and dressed in Indian costumes at football games.
Mike Dymond danced in tribal dress in 1955 at OU.
Yet, the nickname "Little Red" actually originated during the Bud Wilkinson era a few years after Dymond, according to one former dancer.
The first Indian student to be recognized as the official mascot Little Red during the 1950s was Philip Waller, a Kiowa who now lives in Oklahoma City.
Waller said he was too small to make the football team in 1957.
He was asked by athletic department officials if he would serve as an official school mascot. Waller saw it as a way to go to all the games with the team and the coach.
"It sounded good to me," Waller said.
Waller was Little Red from 1957-1960. He attended Bud Wilkinson's recent reunion and was on the field at Owen Field with other players during halftime of the University of North Texas game. He said he got to talk to Wilkinson for five "invaluable minutes. " At his retirement village, former band leader Redbird has suffered a stroke, has difficulty with his speech, and must use a wheelchair to get around.
But he wants to try to attend another OU-Texas game someday. He recalled seeing the games when he was in school and admitted that OU lost some of those games to Texas. OU won in 1939 but lost in 1940 and 1941, he recalled.
He said he is going to try to get someone to take him to a game in Norman this year. He only has one relative in Oklahoma City, his brother, William.
Redbird said he enjoyed dancing in tribal dress with the band, but he realizes Little Red is a mascot that probably will never be resurrected.
"It would be pretty hard to bring Little Red back now," Redbird said.
Redbird said he was proud to have dressed as an Indian with the band, but not everyone may feel that way.
"I think it all depends on the people of the tribe. The people I represented were all for it," he said.
