A funny man named Charlie Hill died today, the end of a long battle against lymphoma. Charlie was the first Native comedian to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He was Oneida, Mohawk and Cree and was diagnosed with the cancer in 2012.
Like I said, he was a funny man. He was funny in the parts of his act that dealt with his Indian heritage and he had some very incisive, important things to say about what it meant to be a Native American in this country in the modern era. He was also funny in the parts of his act that dealt with non-Indian topics.
I didn't know Charlie well but I'd see him up at the Comedy Store often when I was hanging around there, and a bunch of us would go out after for burgers or sandwiches. I liked the guy on stage and I liked him sitting around a table, eating and talking. Here he is doing what he did so well…