- How does a Lakota boy from the reservation make it to performing in some of the biggest concert halls in the world?

Join us as we meet White Eagle, a Lakota Sioux Indian who beat the odds and followed his dream as we present.

How sweet The sound - Funding for this program was made possible, in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting through the Central educational Network by Native American public telecommunications and by annual support from viewers like you, - Who's broad stripes and brides through the past.

- He was born with the true spirit of a Lakota warrior.

He stood before the leaders of the world never forgetting his roots, his people, or his personal faith in God.

Life on the stage became White Eagle's, second home.

His voice was unforgettable, his appearance was striking.

This Lakota tenor gave the world of music a new look and a sound that was unforgettable long before the sold out performances at famous concert halls.

And the empowering sound of applause, the story of White Eagle began here in a much more humble setting.

Hi, I'm Larry Gatlin here in the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in South Central, South Dakota is the town of Mission for White Eagle.

This was home.

You won't find any concert halls here or sold out performances.

What you will find is a place more important to the Lakota tenor than any stage he would ever perform on anywhere else in the world.

White Eagle was born to the Reverend Morals and Francis Moore on September 6th, 1951.

As Destiny would have it, or as he saw it, divine preparation.

He was born into this world.

The son of a traveling Christian evangelist.

- As a child, he was always playful and enjoyed.

Just enjoyed being a, a kid, enjoyed having friends and, and having his friends over.

And it was just a joy to have him around the home.

Probably when he was about five years old, he started singing in churches.

We were in revival meetings a lot - Eagle, as referred to by his family, including brothers.

Robert and Jack accepted his place in the much larger Te Paer or family unit that exists in Lakota society to the larger community.

His family served as a constant chorus for the Ballad, which was to become his life's song.

- From our perspective, our family is not much different than most families.

Maybe we appear to be a little different because of a rather unique sense of togetherness that we have developed over a a long period of time.

We, we do things together as a family.

We support each other as a family.

We criticize each other as a family.

We, we accept criticism from each other as a family, and so we do things that, that some families just don't do.

We love each other.

We care for each other, and we, we honor each other, and I think that makes a big difference.

- Being a brother to White Eagle has been very, very rewarding.

There are times when growing up, when he used to tease me, UNM mercilessly because I was the baby, and we kind of grew up together.

He is about 12 years older than I.

So I used to get teased a lot by him growing up.

And as I got older, we began to become friends.

And as I watched him perform and watched him grow in his life and do the things that he wanted to do in his life, it certainly gave me some inspiration and hope as well, gave me an idea of what I wanted to do with my life.

Gave me some, some direction.

- The year was 1956 and the world was unaware of the inspiration young white Eagle Moore was receiving in a small trailer house in Rapid City, South Dakota.

- He knew from the time he was just a small boy, he was gonna sing.

That was his dream.

And as he has told at his concerts in different places, when he heard a singer on tv, he was about five years old and was watching a TV show and it was a musical.

And he heard this singing and he said, that's exactly what I wanna do, what I wanna be.

And it happened to be Mario Lonza who was on stage at that moment.

And so he knew from the time he was real little that that's what he wanted to do.

- We were all sitting in the place that the trailer people called a living room.

It was smaller than this piano, I'm sure, probably about half, and watch that old black and white, white plastic, 19 inch television.

And we sat and watched and, and I wasn't paying too much attention until I saw a man at the top of a long flight of stairs.

And he started down the stairs and he was singing.

Now I don't remember the name of the song, but that doesn't matter.

I do remember how I felt, and I do remember the passion with which he sang, and the strength and the purity of the color of his voice.

And I remember knowing at that moment, that's what I'm gonna do.

- He sang at almost all the gatherings he attended because everybody wanted to hear him.

He did have a strong voice.

Other people used microphones and PA systems.

He didn't do it.

He, he could.

He had a very strong voice and people appreciated him.

And so he sang in many of the churches here and at memorials and, and gatherings of all kinds.

People appreciated him very, very much like welcoming a, a victorious sun home.

And we were happy for that - Early on.

And still today, song is a favorite method of expression for the Moore family.

They sing for their congregation during worship.

They perform at community gatherings.

They take every opportunity to share their gift and love with others.

While every member of the family enjoys distinct musical ability, there was no question that white Eagle's talents were unique.

- I think that music plays a great part in people's lives if they will allow it.

Music is an expression of the whole gamut of human feelings, sadness, excitement, victory, vigor, power, loneliness.

It's a voice of the spirit.

And all three of our sons seem to possess that ability to express their feelings in their music.

And Eagles one of them.

And I think that with a little encouragement, any child can develop that, but it has to be developed.

They have to have a direction.

And our feeling was that our boys should be directed to express to their fullest extent, their abilities, their talents, their hopes, their dreams.

And I think Eagle did that too.

- White Eagle followed his dream and was accepted in the Marola opera program at the San Francisco Opera Company.

Later Eagle moved to New York City where he studied and performed under the direction of Franco Igl.

Although now beginning his opera career, Eagle never forgot his spiritual roots.

- And there was a small opera company that needed a tenor, and he hadn't done any opera before this up to this.

And so he went for a tryout, and he didn't know any opera aria or anything like that.

So he was singing How Great Thou Art.

Anyway, he got the part, and that's when he began to fall in love with opera.

And he loved it.

Ever since - Eagle's professional opera career included performances with different opera companies throughout the United States.

One of his favorite concert halls was right here in his home state of South Dakota at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.

As he became increasingly famous in the opera world, white Eagle's schedule didn't allow him to come home very often.

So wherever he traveled, Eagle made the stage his home.

- Barbara and I will never forget when he so proudly sang for us during the 1989 inaugural festivities and at the dedication of Mount Rushmore, white Eagle possessed a remarkable singing voice and his wonderful talent brought great joy to all who were privileged to hear and perform.

- Thank you, Mr. President.

Mrs. Butch.

I'm honored to sing for you again only this time.

It's in my home state.

My father is here today.

As a child, he would sit on that hill and watch as these faces were being carved into this mountain.

My father is Lakota, the indigenous people of this land.

- For many, the unexpected price tag for fame has come in the form of spiritual imbalance or bankruptcy.

This wasn't the case for White Eagle.

It was his physical mortality that was tested by a battle with chemical dependence.

Eagle admitted himself into an alcohol treatment program, a decision that not only saved his career, but saved his life.

- I think he'd say the young people, you know, I've been there, I've done it.

It ain't worth it.

Hope you don't have to find it out the way I did.

No need for you to do that.

You know, everybody always says, everybody's doing it.

You're not everybody, you're, you do your thing.

And you're better than going that route.

Not preachy, but just, Hey, this is the way it is.

You know?

And then the hope that regardless of what happens to us, that with faith, if you've got a supportive family like he has and had, and you're willing to get honest, get with it, life is truly worth living.

- White Eagle left the treatment center with a greater personal faith in God and a strong determination to continue his opera career.

White Eagle went on to take the opera world by storm, selling out concert halls and performing on stage and screen - What makes the rain to fall?

I'll never know what makes the grass so tall.

I won't lean.

There ain't no law at all without - I've gotten my t troubles of wo, but short as I know, the Jordan will - Ro - I'll get along as long as a song.

- What makes the rain?

I'll never What makes the grass?

I, - A white eagle didn't allow his new found fame to take him away from his roots.

Whenever he could, he would come home to the Rosebud Indian Reservation and talk to young people about how their own dreams were also within reach.

- It made a lot of us, if not all of us, a lot prouder of who we are.

That's something we seem to have lost over the years, is a lot of the pride.

And he helped reestablish that his message had a lot of hope in it.

Hope that you can, you have a dream, and if you get out there and you work hard enough and, and stay with your dream, it'll happen for you.

- Eagle made an impact on whomever he met when South Dakota was suffering from the aftermath of a tragic plane crash that killed then Governor George Michelson and seven business leaders.

The state turned to their own white eagle for comfort - Is the king and the poor.

- He was a person who had come to have a lot of meaning in our lives.

We had really sought out every opportunity to hear him after that initial exposure and, and to encourage other people to, to have him also when he was available.

And it just, it just seemed like such a fitting, such a fitting tribute.

- It was here at the foot of Harney Peak in the Black Hills of South Dakota, that white eagle, as a young boy would venture out with his father to study life and enjoy the beauty - We started climbing and we came to a rock that was probably six feet high, and he was having a little struggle with it, so I was gonna help him.

And he pushed my hands away and he said, no, I wanna do it myself.

After a little while, he became tired and I took his hand and I said, let me help you.

And he said, no, I want to do it myself.

Suddenly, I, I recognized a fire in his voice and in his eyes, and so I knew to let him go, and he start climbing.

It took him several hours to climb.

But when he finally reached the top, he looked around and saw the great planes.

I could see him feel having reached the summit.

And he took several deep breaths and he said, I did it.

I did it.

And I looked at a magnificence that was blooming in his mind at that moment and his spirit.

And it seemed to set the pace for the rest of his life.

When he saw obstacles, he wanted to break them.

- It was also here that white eagle took time to reflect not only on his career, but on other things that were taking place in his life.

Justice White Eagle's career was soaring higher than ever before.

He learned of yet another challenge that had to be faced.

- We were sitting in the living room of our house, and dad had gone to visit White Eagle in New York in the hospital.

And Eagle's doctor, Dr. Gum prick called to talk to mom and I about what was wrong with White Eagle.

And Mom, I think, had always known that there was something more than just pneumonia.

And, and she might've thought that maybe there might've been, you know, tuberculosis or something like that, that, you know, seemed fairly treatable.

But when the doctor called and said that White Eagle did have aids, I remember holding mom's hand and sort of holding onto the other phone, the phone with the other hand by him and people.

And, and I realized then that, that I had, you know, had to be strong.

- And I, I think quickly, I, I focused on the impact that, that his tragedy would be having on his family through my years of working with people and became so conscious that when there's a tragedy in a family, it isn't just the tragic victim, it's the tragedy that affects the people.

Him.

And as I got to know his parents, the mores, I could see the tremendous love and dedication and, and support that they had for Eagle and I.

And being a parent, I could just, you know, all get teary thinking about how, how, how they must feel in knowing what was the discomfort that their son was going through.

- One of the things about Wide eagles, he never did anything in a small way.

Everything he did was big.

When he'd enter a room, it would never be casually, it would always be with a song or with something that people certainly knew he was in the room.

And that's the way he did this.

You know, that's the way he took care of his alcohol.

That's the way he faced AIDS was big.

- It has been said that for South Dakota Eagle put a face on the disease of aids.

While he took this responsibility seriously, he also had to deal personally with the adverse effects on his career as a result of going public with his disease.

- We also lose things.

You know, I was a regular guest artist at the Crystal Cathedral for a long time.

Through a series of events that we don't need to go into here.

They found out that I had aids.

Someone told them, someone who I told in confidence.

So that hurt.

First of all, I talked with Dr. Schuler on the phone for about 45 minutes, and he questioned me about everything.

And at the end of our conversation, he said, this will not change our relationship one bit.

I took him at his word.

But from that day to this, that was in May of 1990, from that day to this, I've not had one card, not one phone call, not one.

How are you?

I was out there to do, my agent died.

And so I was out there and I sang at her funeral, and the CHUs were there, and I was in the same room with them at a, at a reception.

And I stood this close to them.

They wouldn't even talk to me.

So we lose things too.

- As white Eagle's health began to fade.

Performing wasn't as easy for the Lakota tenor.

It wasn't long before Eagle packed up his life and career in New York and returned home to the Rosebud Reservation.

- I never felt embarrassed or ashamed or any of the things that sometimes people feel when a a, a situation like this occurs.

I ne it never crossed my mind to do that because Eagle was my brother.

I loved him very dearly.

And, and our father, I think, instilled that in us.

He told us, and he told me personally, I'm sure he told Eagle, and I'm sure he told Robert the same thing.

He said, you're my son.

He said, it doesn't matter what you do, where you go, what you say, what happens to you?

I will always love you because you're my son.

And I felt the same way about, about White Eagle - Surrounded by his family.

On July 7th, 1995, white Eagle's performance here on Earth came to an end.

- The obvious.

He missed to say, I miss his life.

I miss his greatness because his greatness was born out of one word that affected every aspect of Eagle's life.

And that word is integrity.

His music had integrity.

His spirit had integrity.

His generosity, what you saw on TV is the way he was.

Even his humor had integrity.

He was a very real, gentle, humble person.

- While Eagle's time on earth may be over, the impact this Lakota tenor has made on not only his community, but the entire nation is still being felt.

- I think of him with his smile, with his direct look, with his, but his voice and how hard he, I found out and I discovered that he worked to become what he was and how proud he was of that and the power of his voice.

It seemed to me that he sang with such feeling and so much energy, and yet such a genuine feeling that always there was a lot of meaning.

When I heard him perform - His talent was, was of course obvious.

He, he was a masterful singer, but his talent went far beyond his ability to sing.

His real talent was his ability through music to communicate.

And he communicated life.

He, he communicated care.

He communicated responsibility.

He, he did all of those things through his voice, not only through his voice, but through the simple act of touch.

Through the simple act of, of listening.

He could.

I, I watched him so many times after a concert that he'd given and he'd be totally exhausted, but yet would spend time with somebody who just wanted to shake his hand and just wanted to congratulate him and tell him how good he did.

But his attentiveness to each person's life and to each person's needs was absolutely incredible.

So I think that's what made his talent, his ability to communicate and feel what people felt.

- White eagle graced famous stages throughout his career.

But for all of his popularity throughout the opera world, Eagle saw himself as a Lakota sun from a small South Dakota home, a place that resonates not only with his faith and his spirit, but with his music.

I'm Larry Gatlin.

Wow.

And I'm proud to say that White Eagle was my friend.

- I see rumors and I have is grace me.

I grace, when we and thousand years bright, shine, shining the god's and when we first and.