This list of Native Americans is of notable individuals who are Native Americans in the United States, including Alaska Natives and American Indians.Notable American IndiansFamous Native Americans
Native American identity is a complex and contested issue. The Bureau of Indian Affairs defines Native American as being American Indian or Alaska Native. Legally, being Native American is defined as being enrolled in a federally recognized tribe including Alaska Native villages. Ethnologically, factors such as culture, history, language, religion, and familial kinships can influence Native American identity."IV. Our Nation's American Indian and Alaska Native Citizens." US Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs. Retrieved July 8, 2012. All individuals on this list should have Native American ancestry. Historical figures might predate tribal enrollment practices and would be included based on ethnological tribal membership.
Artists
Elsie Allen, Cloverdale Pomo basketweaver Marcus Amerman, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma multimedia artist Annie Antone, Tohono O'odham basketweaver Spencer Asah, Kiowa artist James Auchiah, Kiowa artist Martha Berry, Cherokee Nation beadwork artist Kelly Church, (Pottawatomi/Odawa/Ojibwe) basket maker, painter, and educator Amanda Crowe, Eastern Band Cherokee woodcarver and educator Dennis Cusick, Tuscarora painter, ca. 1800–1824 Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty, Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux quillworker and beadwork artist Edmonia Lewis, African-American/Mississauga Ojibwe-descendent sculptor Litefoot, Cherokee Nation actor, hip hop artist María Martínez, San Ildefonso Pueblo potter Nampeyo, Hopi-Tewa potter Nora Naranjo-Morse, Santa Clara Pueblo artist Jeri Redcorn, Caddo/Citizen Potawatomi b. ca. 1940) potter Lawney Reyes, Confederated Colville Tribes (Sinixt) artist, author, and curator Carol Lee Sanchez, Laguna Pueblo author and artist
Chiefs and other leaders Ahaya (ca. 1710 – 1783), first recorded chief of the Alachua band of the Seminole tribe. Attakullakulla, Cherokee chief Henry Thompson Malone, Cherokees of the Old South Awashonks, Sakonnet 17th century female chief Bill John Baker, Principal Chief of the Cherokee NationJouzapavicius, Justin. "Cherokee Nation: Challenger wins chief election." Associated Press. 11 Oct 2011 (retrieved 12 Oct 2011) Black Hawk, Sauk chief Black Kettle, Cheyenne chief Andrew Blackbird, Odawa leader, historian, and author Kimberly M. Blaeser, (White Earth Ojibwe) author and poet Elias Boudinot, Cherokee leader, journalist and publisher Billy Bowlegs, Seminole chief Joseph Brant, Mohawk leader Carlos (Calusa) (died 1567), king of the Calusa people of Southwest Florida Canonicus, Narragansett chief Chief Gall, (Hunkpapa Lakota) chief Cinon Duro Mataweer chief Cochise, Chiricahua Apache chief Colorow, Ute chief Cornplanter, Seneca chief and diplomat Crazy Horse, Oglala Lakota chief Cuerno Verde, Spanish name for Tavibo Naritgant, a leader of the Comanche, likely of the Kotsoteka Comanche, in the late 18th century. Logan Fontenelle, Omaha chief and interpreter Geronimo, Chiricahua Apache leader Captain Jack, Modoc chief Red Jacket, Seneca Nation chief Overton James, Chickasaw, educator, former Governor of the Chickasaw Nation Old Chief Joseph, Nez Perce former chieftain, father of Chief Joseph Chief Joseph, Nez Percé chief, war leader, and humanitarian Juanillo, chief of the Guale Nchiefdom Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, first female chief of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, also a publisher Hiawatha, Onondaga-Mohawk chief was credited as the founder of the Iroquois confederacy John Horse, African-American leader of the Black Seminole. David Hill (Mohawk), Mohawk chief during the American Revolution Keokuk, (Sauk, Meskwaki) chief King Hagler, Catawba chief Little Turkey was First Beloved Man of the Cherokee people, becoming the first Principal Chief of a united Cherokee Nation in 1794 Little Turtle, Miami chief Lone Wolf the Elder, Kiowa chief Lone Wolf the Younger, Kiowa leader Major Ridge, Cherokee chief, led Lighthorse Patrol and signed the Treaty of New Echota. Mangas Coloradas, Apache chief Wilma Mankiller, Cherokee Nation chief Manuelito, Navajo chief, diplomat, and warrior. Massasoit, Wampanoag chief Alexander McGillivray, Muscogee Creek Nation chief William McIntosh, Muscogee Creek Nation chief Peter McQueen, Muscogee Creek Nation chief, prophet, trader and warrior from Talisi (Tallassee, among the Upper Towns in present-day Alabama). Metacomet, Wampanoag chief Miantonomo, Narragansett chief Olotoraca (1548–1573), subchief of a tribe of Fort San Mateo, Florida. Oratam, sachem of the Hackensack Indians Osceola, Seminole leader Chief Oshkosh, Menominee leader Chief Ouray, Ute Tribe leader Opechancanough, Pamunkey chief Quaiapen, Narragansett/Niantic sunksqua (female sachem/chief) Quanah Parker, Comanche chief Pawhuska, Osage Chief Thomas Perryman, Creek leader in Georgia Peter Chartier, Pekowi chief Powhatan, Pamunkey chief Chief Pontiac, Odawa chief Red Cloud, Oglala Lakota chief Chief G. Anne Richardson (Chief of the Rappahannock tribe – first female chief in Virginia since the 18th century) Qualchan, 19th-century Yakama chief John Ross, Cherokee chief Juan Sabeata, Jumano chief Greg Sarris, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria tribal chairman, author, and professor Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Lakota chief Chad Smith, former Principal Chief of Cherokee Nation Samoset (Abenaki, 1590–1653), first Indigenous American leader to contact the Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts (March 16, 1621) Smohalla, Wanapum chief and religious leader Saturiwa, chief of the Saturiwa (a Mocama tribe of Timucua people, located in St. Johns River in Florida), during the 16th century Seattle, Suquamish/Duwamish leader Standing Bear, Ponca chief Touch the Clouds, (Mahpia Icahtagya), Teton Lakota chief Tuskaloosa, paramount chief of a Mississippian chiefdom in Alabama Uncas, Mohegan chief Victorio, Chiricahua Apache chief Weetamoo, Pocasset Wampanoag, 17th-century female chief White Plume, Kaw chief Yellow Bird, Walla Walla chief Yonaguska, Cherokee chief William Weatherford, Muscogee Creek chief White Hair (Pawhuska), the name of several Osage chiefs
Warriors and military Chainbreaker, Seneca war chief Roy Benavidez, (Yaqui), decorated U.S. Army Master sergeant and Medal of Honor recipient Ollokot, Nez Perce war chieftain Ira Hayes, (Akimel O'odham) one of five Marines, along with a United States Navy corpsman, immortalized in the iconic photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima John Horse (Black Seminole), warrior in the Second Seminole War in Florida Kilma S. Lattin, (Pala Band of Mission Indians), decorated U.S. Army former First Lieutenant and Soldiers Medal recipient Clayton J. Lonetree, Winnebago/Navajo U.S. Marine and convicted KGB spy Louis Gonzaga Mendez, Jr. (Navajo-descent), highly decorated WWII United States Army officer of the 82nd Airborne Division Ely S. Parker, (Seneca) U.S. Army Brigadier General Lori Piestewa, Hopi veteran, died in the 2003 invasion of Iraq Popé, Ohkay Owingeh religious and military leader Santa Anna (Comanche war chief) Sonuk Mikko, Seminole, Captain in the Indian Home Guard during the American Civil War often referred to as Billy Bowlegs Tecumseh, Shawnee warrior and statesman William Clyde Thompson, Texas Choctaw leader who fought against the Dawes Commission for Choctaw enrollment Luis Tupatu, Pueblo leader of the northern pueblos following the Pueblo revolt Nancy Ward, Cherokee warrior, diplomat, and "Beloved Woman" Washakie, Shoshone warrior, diplomat, chief, leader Stand Watie, Cherokee leader and a brigadier general of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War John Watts (also known as Young Tassel), a leader of the Chickamauga Cherokee (or "Lower Cherokee") during the Cherokee-American wars Dragging Canoe, Cherokee war chief Pushmataha, Choctaw chief and U.S. Army Brigadier General José Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo), warrior who fought in the Spanish troops against the Apaches and participated in the Villasur expedition
Politicians
Bill Anoatubby, (Chickasaw Nation), Governor of the Chicksaw Nation since 1987 Diane E. Benson, (Tlingit) politician, inspirational speaker, poet and author Lisa Johnson Billy, Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma State Legislator and Chickasaw Tribal Legislator Ada E. Brown, Choctaw Nation, Federal Judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Northern Cheyenne chief, U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and silversmith Brad Carson, Cherokee Nation, former Democratic U.S. congressman from Oklahoma Holmes Colbert, Chickasaw government official Tom Cole, Chickasaw Nation, Congressman from Oklahoma Charles Curtis, (Kaw/Osage/Prairie Band Potawatomi) U.S. Senator and 31st Vice President of the United States Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, U.S. Representative from Kansas Affie Burnside Ellis, Navajo, first Native American to serve in the Wyoming Senate Peggy Flanagan, White Earth Nation (Ojibwe), Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota Todd Gloria, Tlingit, 37th mayor of San Diego, first person of color and openly queer to do so. Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, U.S. Representative from New Mexico, 54th United States Secretary of the Interior Diane Humetewa, Hopi, Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona Enoch Kelly Haney, (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma), tribal leader, Oklahoma state legislator, and artist Keith Harper, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, U.S. representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva Larry Echo Hawk, Pawnee Nation, former Democratic Attorney General of Idaho and former United States Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Yvette Herrell, Cherokee Nation, Congresswoman from New Mexico Chuck Hoskin, Cherokee Nation, member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from the 6th district Shane Jett, Cherokee Nation, member of the Oklahoma Senate from the 17th district Andi LeBeau, Northern Arapaho from Wyoming Myron Lizer, Navajo / Comanche, Vice President of the Navajo Nation Byron Mallott, (Tlingit), former Lieutenant Governor of Alaska Green McCurtain, Choctaw Nation chief, Vice President of the Sequoyah Constitutional Convention David T. McCoy, Turtle Mountain Chippewa state politician and attorney Markwayne Mullin, Cherokee Nation, current Secretary of Homeland Security and former congressman from Oklahoma Mary Peltola, Yup'ik, Congresswoman from Alaska; first Alaska Native member of Congress, first woman to represent Alaska in the House, first representative from Alaska to have been born in the state Ben Reifel, Sicangu Lakota, activist and Congressman from South Dakota Michael J. Stickman, Alaska Athabascan, first Chief of the Nuwato Tribal Council Kimberly Teehee, Cherokee Nation, Democratic White House Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs Claire Valdez, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo state assemblymember James Vann, Cherokee businessman and politician Peterson Zah, Navajo politician
Religious leaders William Apess, (Pequot) Methodist minister Black Elk, Oglala Lakota religious leader William "Hawk" Birdshead Episcopal Church, Spiritual Teacher Charles J. Chaput (Prairie Potawatomi), Roman Catholic bishop Neolin, (Lenni Lenape) religious leader George Tinker, Osage Nation theologian Kennekuk, Kickapoo spiritual leader Handsome Lake, Seneca religious leader Samson Occom, Mohegan clergyman St. David Pendleton Oakerhater, Southern Cheyenne warrior, artist, deacon, and saint in the Episcopal Church Oral Roberts, Choctaw Nation preacher John Slocum, Squaxin Island Tribe, founder of the Indian Shaker Church Kateri Tekakwitha, Mohawk/Algonquian convert, canonized saint in the Roman Catholic Church Peter the Aleut (Unangax), also known as Cungagnaq, martyr and saint in some jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Tenskwatawa, Shawnee religious leader