> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.gwawrestling.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Chief Black Hawk - URL: https://www.gwawrestling.com/chief-black-hawk/ - Published: 2026-11-02T14:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-02T13:59:59.000Z - Description: A Ute fire-crew man from southern Colorado who became the most popular wrestler in the Rocky Mountain territory, held the Great Western Championship from 1981 into 1982, and asked every Native wrestler in the West to stand together. - Author: Josh Schairbaum - Tags: Profiles, wrestlers, Rocky Mountain, Pacific Coast, Great Plains, Expansion Era (1969-1975), Golden Era (1976-1987), Traditions Era (1988-1993) *Chief Black Hawk came off a wildland fire crew in southern Colorado and became the most popular wrestler in the* [*Rocky Mountain*](https://www.gwawrestling.com/tag/territory-rocky-mountain/) *territory. He held the Rocky Mountain Championship in 1976 and the Great Western Championship from 1981 into 1982, and in every interview he asked the Native wrestlers of the West to stand together.* ## **AT A GLANCE** - **Born:** 1946, Southern Ute reservation, Ignacio, Colorado - **Billed from:** Ignacio, Colorado - **Height:** 6'3" - **Weight:** 250 lbs - **Active:** 1975 to 1993 - **Territories:** [Rocky Mountain](https://www.gwawrestling.com/tag/territory-rocky-mountain/), [Pacific Coast](https://www.gwawrestling.com/tag/territory-pacific-coast/), [Great Plains](https://www.gwawrestling.com/tag/territory-great-plains/) - **Finisher:** A spinning powerslam - **Championships:** GWA Rocky Mountain Championship, GWA Great Western Championship ## **EARLY LIFE** He was born in 1946 on the Southern Ute reservation at Ignacio, Colorado. Before he wrestled he worked on a wildland fire crew across the Four Corners and the San Juan Mountains. He learned to wrestle in Denver. ## **CAREER** ### Rocky Mountain (1975 to 1980) He debuted in the Rocky Mountain territory in 1975, billed as Chief Black Hawk. By 1976 he was the most popular man on the circuit. That April he won the Rocky Mountain Championship, and in June [Mark "Mountain Man" Jensen](https://www.gwawrestling.com/mountain-man-mark-jensen/) took it back. Jensen called himself the spirit of the mountains. Black Hawk's people had lived in those mountains first, and the two of them met across the territory for the rest of the year. He spent the late 1970s on the Rocky Mountain loop and in matches on *GWA High Noon*. In his interviews he asked Native wrestlers in every territory to stand together and to refuse to be matched against each other. He called it All Nations. ### Pacific Coast and the Great Western Championship (1981 to 1982) In 1981 he began taking [Pacific Coast](https://www.gwawrestling.com/tag/territory-pacific-coast/) dates alongside the Rocky Mountain loop. That August he beat [Nikolai Gregorovich](https://www.gwawrestling.com/nikolai-gregorovich/) for the Great Western Championship. He held it through the winter, beating Bobby Ray Rhodes at Crossroads III in Los Angeles on the last night of 1981\. He worked out of the Pacific Coast in 1982 until [Jamal "Jive" Jackson](https://www.gwawrestling.com/jive-jackson/) took the belt from him in June. ### Rocky Mountain (1983 to 1993) He went back to the Rocky Mountain territory in 1983 and worked it through 1993, taking [Great Plains](https://www.gwawrestling.com/tag/territory-great-plains/) dates along the way. ## **CHAMPIONSHIPS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS** - GWA Rocky Mountain Championship (1976) - GWA Great Western Championship (1981 to 1982) ## **IN THE RING** ![Chief Black Hawk, a tall Native American wrestler with a long black braid tied in red cloth, roaring with both fists overhead and a red wool blanket spread wide behind him, in a blue tank top with a black hawk crest and fringed tan tights.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e1/2a/e12a6d47-8023-4862-bf2c-4dc09b758c7c/content/images/2026/10/chief-black-hawk-promo.jpg) Chief Black Hawk. He came to the ring to Billy Thunderhawk's Spirit Call drum, in a red wool blanket with a black border over his shoulders. He walked at an even pace, stopped at the apron to raise one hand to the crowd, and folded the blanket for his second before the bell. After 1979, with no band, he walked to the crowd's own rhythm on the bleachers. Under the blanket: a royal-blue tank top with a black hawk crest across the chest, full-length tan tights with fringe down the outside of each leg, and tan lace-up boots. His long black hair hung in a single braid tied off with red cloth. He wore no war bonnet and did no war dance. He was a big man who wrestled long matches. Shoulder blocks, a backbreaker, and a bear hug when he wanted to slow things down. He started slow and took long stretches of punishment, and the crowd knew the turn was coming when he got to his feet on his own. He won with a spinning powerslam, catching a charging man, turning once and driving him into the mat. Fast technical wrestlers gave him the most trouble. He offered a handshake before every bell. ## **IN HIS OWN WORDS** Denver, 1976, before a match against Mark Jensen: > "Mark Jensen says he is the mountains. He came out of Aspen and he says he is the mountains. My people lived in these mountains before anybody drew a town called Aspen. I don't need to tell this man he is a liar. I need him in the ring at the Coliseum, and I need you there. Bring your boys. Bring the people from Ignacio, from Towaoc, from Fort Duchesne. Mark Jensen likes to say what a town smells like. Let him find out what a full building sounds like." ## **LEGACY** When he started his comeback, Rocky Mountain crowds took up the Spirit Call rhythm, stomping it on the bleachers. Kids learned it in school yards, and crowds kept it going after the band was gone. In his interviews he named the towns and the reservations, and Native families drove hours to his cards in Denver and Salt Lake City. More [GWA wrestler profiles](https://www.gwawrestling.com/wrestlers/).