List of Native Americans of the United States
This is a list of notable Native Americans from peoples indigenous to the contemporary United States, including Native Alaskans, Native Hawaiians, and Native Americans in the United States.[1][2]
A
- Nicolas de Aguilar, P'urhépecha, New Mexican official, tried by the Inquisition.
- Ai, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Southern Cheyenne, and Comanche poet
- Richard Aitson, Kiowa-Kiowa Apache bead artist and poet
- Sherman Alexie, (Spokane, Coeur d'Alene) author and comedian
- Elsie Allen, Cloverdale Pomo basketweaver
- Paula Gunn Allen, (Laguna Pueblo, Sioux) poet, literary critic, activist, and novelist
- Marcus Amerman, Choctaw multimedia artist
- Bill Anoatubby, (Chickasaw), Governor of the Chicksaw Nation since 1987
- Annie Antone, Tohono O'odham basketweaver
- William Apess, (Pequot) author and minister
- Anna Mae Aquash, (Mi'kmaq)
- Spencer Asah, Kiowa artist
- Attakullakulla, (Cherokee) chief
- James Auchiah, Kiowa artist
- Marilou Awiakta, (Eastern Band Cherokee) author and poet
B
- Jimmy Santiago Baca, Apache-Chicano author and poet
- Dennis Banks, Anishinaabe activist, teacher, lecturer, author and co-founder of the American Indian Movement
- Jim Barnes, Choctaw editor, author, poet and founder of the Chariton Review Press
- Fred Begay (Diné), nuclear physicist
- Notah Begay III, Diné PGA Tour golfer
- Betty Louise Bell, (Cherokee) author and editor
- Clyde Bellecourt (Anishinaabe), activist and co-founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM)
- Rebecca M. Benally, Navajo Nation Board of Education President and educator
- Johnny Bench, Choctaw Hall of Fame Catcher
- Chief Bender, Ojibwa Hall of Fame pitcher
- Diane E. Benson -- (Tlingit) politician, inspirational speaker, poet and author
- George Bent, Cheyenne, soldier, warrior, interpreter, and cultural informant
- Martha Berry, Cherokee Nation bead artist
- Chuck Billy, (Pomo) singer for the thrash metal band, Testament
- Lisa Johnson Billy, Chickasaw Nation - Oklahoma State Legislator and Chickasaw Tribal Legislator
- Sherwin Bitsui -- (Navajo) poet
- Black Elk -- (Oglala Lakota) holy man
- Wallace Black Elk
- Black Hawk -- (Sauk) Leader
- Black Kettle -- (Cheyenne) chief
- Andrew Blackbird -- (Ottawa) leader, historian, and author
- Kimberly M. Blaeser -- (Chippewa, Anishinaabe) author and poet
- Elias Boudinot -- (Cherokee) leader, journalist and publisher
- Billy Bowlegs, Seminole chief
- Joseph Brant -- (Mohawk) leader
- Mary Brave Bird, Brulé Lakota author and activist
- Ignatia Broker -- (Ojibway) author
- Joseph Bruchac -- (Abenaki) author and poet
- Buffalo Bird Woman -- (Hidatsa) writer
C
- Gregory Cajete (Santa Clara Pueblo), ethnobotanist, author, and educator
- Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Northern Cheyenne chief, U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and silversmith
- Mary Katherine Campbell, Muscogee Creek, Cree, Mi'kmaq- former Miss America winner
- Canonicus, Narragansett chief
- Rob Capriccioso, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, journalist and writer
- Captain Jack, Modoc chief
- Gladys Cardiff, writer and poet of Eastern Cherokee descent
- Lorna Dee Cervantes, Chicana writer and poet
- Chainbreaker, Seneca) war chief
- Joba Chamberlain, Ho-Chunk pitcher for the New York Yankees
- Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, (Lakota) medicine man, actor
- Chris Chavis, (Lumbee) professional wrestler
- Kelly Church, (Grand Traverse Band Odawa-Ojibwe) basketweaver, painter, and educator
- Chrystos -- (Menominee) activist and poet
- Cochise, Chiricahua Apache chief
- Radmilla Cody, (Navajo)
- Holmes Colbert -- (Chickasaw) government official
- Tom Cole, Chickasaw Congressman from Oklahoma
- Robert J. Conley,- Cherokee Nation-United Keetoowah Band author
- Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, Crow Creek Sioux author, poet, editor, and co-founder of the Wicazo Sa Review
- Polly Cooper, Oneida Tribe aid to the Continental Army during the American Revolution at Valley Forge
- Cornplanter -- (Seneca) chief
- Jesse Cornplanter -- (Seneca) author and artist
- Leonard Crow Dog
- Amanda Crowe, Eastern Band Cherokee woodcarver and educator
- Crazy Horse -- (Oglala Lakota) chief
- Pierre Cruzatte -- (Omaha) member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
- Rod Curl, (Wintu) PGA tour golfer
- Charles Curtis, (Kaw, Osage, Potawatomi) U.S. Senator and 31st Vice President of the United States
- David Cusick, Tuscarora illustrator and author, ca.1780-ca.1831
- Dennis Cusick, Tuscarora painter, ca. 1800-1824
D
- Nora Marks Dauenhauer -- (Tlingit) author and poet
- Brent Michael Davids -- (Stockbridge Mohican) composer and flutist
- Susan Deer Cloud -- (Blackfoot, Seneca, Mohawk) author and poet
- Deganawida, (Haudenosaunee), founder of the Iroquois Confederacy, more respectfully called The Great Peacemaker
- Delaware Prophet -- (Lenni Lenape) religious leader
- Ella Cara Deloria -- (Yankton Sioux) educator, anthropologist, ethnographer, linguist, and novelist
- Vine Deloria, Jr., Yankton-Standing Rock Sioux theologian, historian, writer and activist
- Micky Dolenz, actor/musician
- Michael Dorris, Modoc writer
- Dragging Canoe, Cherokee war chief
- Frank Dufina (Mackinac Band of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians), professional golfer
E
F
G
H
- Janet Campbell Hale, Coeur d'Alene-Ktunaxa-Cree writer
- Handsome Lake -- (Seneca) religious leader
- Enoch Kelly Haney -- (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma), tribal leader, Oklahoma state legislator, and artist
- Terri Crawford Hansen -- Ho-Chunk-Potawatomi, journalist, and author
- Joy Harjo, Muscogee Creek-Cherokee poet, musician, and author
- Ira Hayes -- (Pima) One of five Marines, along with a United States Navy corpsman, immortalized in the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima.
- William Least Heat-Moon -- (Osage) writer
- Allison Hedge Coke
- Gordon Henry -- (Chippewa) writer
- John Herrington -- (Chickasaw) NASA astronaut .
- Hiawatha -- (Onondaga, Mohawk) chief was credited as the founder of the Iroquois confederacy
- Linda Hogan -- (Chickasaw) poet, storyteller, academic, environmentalist and writer.
- Janel Horton, professional wrestler known as "Alere Little Feather"
- LeAnne Howe -- (Choctaw) author and scholar
- Al Hunter -- (Anishinaabe) writer and poet
I
- Ishi, Yana) educator and last member of his tribe
J
K
L
M
- Major Ridge - Cherokee chief, led Lighthorse Patrol and signed the Treaty of New Echota.
- Mangas Coloradas - Apache chief
- Wilma Mankiller - Cherokee Nation chief
- Joseph Marshall III
- María Martínez, San Ildefonso Pueblo potter
- Massasoit - Wampanoag chief
- John Joseph Mathews
- Janet McAdams
- Edward "Wahoo" McDaniel, Choctaw-Chickasaw professional wrestler
- Alexander McGillivray, Muscogee Creek chief
- William McIntosh, Muscogee Creek chief
- D'Arcy McNickle
- Mardi Oakley Medawar
- Russell Means, Lakota activist and actor
- Joe Medicine Crow (Crow Nation), anthropologist
- Miantonomo, Narragansett chief
- Devon A. Mihesuah
- Billy Mills, Oglala Lakota athlete
- Deborah A. Miranda
- N. Scott Momaday, Kiowa-Cherokee poet, author, scholar, and painter
- Irvin Morris
- Mountain Wolf Woman
- Mourning Dove
N
O
- St. David Pendleton Oakerhater, Cheyenne warrior, artist, deacon, and saint in the Episcopal church
- Samson Occom - Mohegan clergyman
- Old Tom - Blackfoot shaman
- Opechancanough - Pamunkey Indian chief
- Oratam - sachem of the Hackensack Indians
- Simon J. Ortiz, Acoma Pueblo poet
- Osceola, Seminole leader
- Chief Oshkosh, Menominee leader
- Chief Ouray, Ute Tribe leader
- Louis Owens, Choctaw-Cherokee author
- Owl Woman, Cheyenne negotiator, peace-maker, Colorado Women's Hall of Fame
P
- Ely S. Parker - U.S. Army Brigadier General
- Quanah Parker, Comanche chief
- Elise Paschen
- Pawhuska, Osage Chief
- Leonard Peltier, Ojibwa-Lakota activist
- William S. Penn
- Robert L. Perea
- Lori Piestewa, Hopi veteran, Died in the 2003 invasion of Iraq
- Lawrence Plamondon, Odawa-Ojibwe activist and storyteller
- Pocahontas, Powhatan diplomat
- Leopold Pokagon, Potawatomi
- Simon Pokagon, Potawatomi
- Chief Pontiac, Odawa chief
- Popé, Ohkay Owingeh religious and military lear
- Susan Power, Standing Rock Sioux author
- Powhatan, Powhatan chief
- Pushmataha, Choctaw chief and U.S. Army Brigadier General
Q
R
S
- Juan Sabeata, Jumano chief
- Sacajawea, Shoshone interpreter
- Samoset, Algonquian Abenaki leader
- Carol Lee Sanchez
- William Sanders
- Greg Sarris, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria tribal chairman, author, and professor
- Jane Johnston Schoolcraft
- Chief Seattle, Suquamish leader
- Selena, (Cherokee) legendary Latin pop singer
- Sequoyah (Cherokee), inventor of the Cherokee syllabary
- The Prohet, Shawnee religious leader
- Leslie Marmon Silko, Laguna Pueblo poet and novelist
- Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Lakota chief
- Chad Smith, Principal Chief of Cherokee Nation
- Andrea Smith
- Cynthia Leitich Smith
- Keely Smith, (Cherokee) singer
- Smohalla, Wanapum chief and religious leader
- Sonuk Mikko, Captain in the Indian Home Guard during the American Civil War often referred to as Billy Bowlegs
- Louis Sockalexis (Penobscot), Major League Baseball player
- Ian Somerhalder, (Choctaw) actor
- Eddie Spears, (Lakota)
- Michael Spears, (Lakota)
- Squanto, Patuxet interpreter
- Standing Bear, Ponca Chief
- Luther Standing Bear
- James Thomas Stevens
- Wes Studi, Cherokee Nation actor
T
- Chief Tahachee
- Maria Tallchief -- Osage Nation ballerina
- Marjorie Tallchief -- Osage Nation ballerina
- Margo Tamez
- Luci Tapahonso
- Tecumseh -- Shawnee warrior and statesman
- Kateri Tekakwitha -- Mohawk-Algonquian convert, beatified in the Roman Catholic Church
- Randy'L He-dow Teton -- Shoshone model for the US Sacagawea dollar coin, first issued in 2000. She is the first Native American woman to appear on an American coin.
- William Clyde Thompson -- Texas Choctaw leader who fought against the Dawes Commission for Choctaw enrollment.
- Jim Thorpe (Sac and Fox Nation), Olympic Gold medalist and football and baseball player
- George Tinker
- Gordon Tootoosis
- Touch the Clouds -- (Mahpia Icahtagya), great Teton Lakota Sioux chief
- Sheila Tousey, (Menominee)
- Mark Trahant -- Shoshone-Bannock, print and broadcast journalist, and author
- Haunani-Kay Trask
- Mililani Trask
- Gail Tremblay
- David Treuer
- John Trudell -- Sioux, musician, poet, activist
- Mark Turcotte
- Richard Twiss
- E. Donald Two-Rivers
U
V
W
Y
Z
See also
References