This is a list of notable Native American women of the United States. It should contain only Native women of the United States and its territories, not First Nations women or Native women of Central and South America. Native American identity is a complex and contested issue. The Bureau of Indian Affairs defines Native American as having American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry.
Legally, being Native American is defined as being enrolled in a federally recognized tribe or Alaskan village. These entities establish their own membership rules, and they vary. Each must be understood independently.
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 8 July 2012.
All individuals on this list should have Native American ancestry. Historical figures might predate tribal enrollment practices and may be included based on reliable sources that document ethnological tribal membership.
Any contemporary individuals should either be enrolled members of federally recognized tribes, or have cited Native American ancestry and be recognized as Native American by their respective tribes. Contemporary individuals who are not enrolled in a tribe but are documented as having tribal descent are listed as being "of descent" from a tribe.
A
Louise Abeita (E-Yeh-Shure', Blue Corn) (born 1926), Isleta Pueblo authorBataille and Lisa 1 Alberta Schenck Adams (1928–2009), Iñupiaq civil rights activist Aguilar sisters, Kewa Pueblo potters Tahnee Ahtone, Kiowa/Muscogee/Seminole curator, museum professional, beadwork artist, textile artist Elsie Allen, Cloverdale Pomo basket weaverBataille and Lisa 6 Paula Gunn Allen (1939–2008), Laguna Pueblo/Sioux/Lebanese poet, activist, literary critic, and novelistBataille and Lisa 9 Tammie Allen (Walking Spirit), Jicarilla Apache, potter Queen Alliquippa (died 1754), Seneca Nation leader Lori Alvord, Navajo, first Navajo woman to be certified in surgery Princess Angeline (Suquamish/Duwamish, ca. 1820–1896), daughter of Chief Seattle Queen Ann (ca. 1650–ca. 1725), chief of the Pamunkey tribe Annie Antone, Tohono O'odham basket weaver Nicole Anunapu Mann, Round Valley Indian Tribes, astronaut Annette Arkeketa, Otoe-Missouria poet, playwright Tara Astigarraga, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, engineer, inventor Anna Mae Pictou Aquash (1945–1976), Mi'qmaq Indians rights activistBataille and Lisa 15 Awashonks (fl. mid- to late 17th c.), chief of the Sakonett tribeIndian Woman Chief Annette Arkeketa, Otoe-Missouria/Muscogee writerHypatia. Project Muse. 18:2, Spring 2003 . Retrieved 1 March 2009.
B
Margarete Bagshaw (Santa Clara Pueblo-descent, born 1964), painter and gallerist Natalie Ball, Klamath/Modoc, born 1980, interdisciplinary artist Joyce Begay-Foss, Navajo textile weaver, educator, and curator Diane E. Benson (born 1954), Tlingit author Mary Knight Benson, Pomo basket weaver Martha Berry, Cherokee Nation bead artist and educator Peggy Berryhill, Muscogee broadcast journalist Carrie Bethel, Mono Lake Paiute basket weaver, 1898–1974 Gloria Bird, Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation poet and criticBataille and Lisa 34-35 Mary Holiday Black (ca. 1934), Navajo basket maker and textile artist Black Buffalo Woman (Lakota), first wife of Crazy Horse Black Shawl (Lakota, died 1920), second wife of Crazy Horse Kimberley M. Blaeser (born 1955), White Earth Ojibwe writerMcClinton-Temple and Velie 58 Blue Corn (ca. 1920–1999), San Ildefonso Pueblo potter Rita Pitka Blumenstein (1936–2021), Yup'ik traditional healer, founding member of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers Bowdash, Kootenai two-spirit warrior Beth Brant (born 1941), Bay of Quinte Mohawk Mary Brant, Mohawk leader Mary Brave Bird (1953–2013), Brulé Lakota writer and activistPorter and Roemer 136 Bras Piqué, Natchez woman who tried to warn the French of her tribe's plans to attack them Ignatia Broker (1919–1987), Ojibwa writer Ticasuk Brown (1904–1982), Iñupiaq educator, poet and writer Vee F. Browne, Navajo author Buffalo Bird Woman, Hidatsa author Buffalo Calf Road Woman, Cheyenne cultural hero Olivia Ward Bush-Banks (Montaukett, 1869–1944) author, poet, and journalist of African-American and Native American descent
C Sophia Alice Callahan (1868–1894) Muscogee novelist and teacher Caroline Cannon, Iñupiaq environmental activist, 2012 Goldman Environmental Prize winner, mayor of Point Hope, Alaska 1998–2001 Gladys Cardiff (born 1942), poet and academic of Eastern Band Cherokee descent Poldine Carlo (1920–2018), Koyukon activist and writer Kathleen Carlo-Kendall, Koyukon artist, daughter of Poldine Carlo Tonantzin Carmelo, Tongva/Kumeyaay-descent actress"Record breaking crowds at Autry National Center." Indian Country Today. 16 Nov 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2011. Lorna Dee Cervantes (born 1954), Chicana/Chumash-descent Nellie Charlie (1867–1965) Mono Lake Paiute basketweaver Quannah Chasinghorse (born 2002), model and land protector Karletta Chief, Diné, hydrologist Marie Z. Chino, Acoma Pueblo potter Vera Chino, Acoma Pueblo potter Chipeta (1843/4–1924), Kiowa Apache, beadwork artist and wife of Chief Ouray Yvonne Chouteau (1929–2016), Shawnee Tribe ballerina Kelly Church, Gun Lake Potawatomi/Odawa/Ojibwe basket maker, birch bark biter, painter, and environmental activist Chrystos (born 1946), Menominee-descent two-spirit poet Mildred Cleghorn (Fort Sill Apache Tribe, 1910–1997), tribal chairperson, doll maker Elouise Cobell (Blackfeet), executive director of the Native American Community Development Corporation Radmilla Cody (Navajo/African American), Navajo language singer, 46th Miss Navajo NationLargo, Jim. "Offerings to the Holy People: Former Miss Navajo Radmilla Cody takes speaking tour to Berkeley." Navajo Times. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2012. Colestah, Yakama, wife of Chief Kamiakin Lyda Conley (Wyandot, 1874–1946), first Native American female attorney, and first Native American woman admitted to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Wyandot Nation activist and attorney Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, Crow Creek Sioux poet and novelist Hilda Coriz, Kewa Pueblo potter Cuhtahlatah, 18th-century Cherokee heroine
D Dahteste, Apache fighter and compatriot to Geronimo Carrie Dann, Western Shoshone activist Mary Dann (died 2005), Western Shoshone activist Nora Marks Dauenhauer (Tlingit, 1927–2017), poet and ethnolinguist Alice Brown Davis (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, 1852–1935), Principal Chief Jenny L. Davis, Chickasaw author, linguist, and anthropologist Angel De Cora, Ho-Chunk artist and lecturer Ada Deer, Menominee author, activist, and the first Native American woman to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs Andrea Delgado-Olson, Ione Miwok, computer scientist Ella Cara Deloria (Yankton Dakota, 1888–1971), educator, anthropologist, ethnographer, linguist, and novelist Natalie Diaz (Mojave/Pima, born 1978), poet, language activist, former professional basketball player, and educator Mavis Doering, Cherokee Nation (1929–2007) basket weaver Do-Hum-Me, Sac entertainer Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, Brulé Lakota writer and educator Juanita Suazo Dubray, Taos Pueblo potter Joyce Dugan (Eastern Band Cherokee), first female elected chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
E Eagle of Delight (Otoe, c. 1795–1822), emissary Chief Earth Woman, Ojibwa warrior Ehyophsta, Cheyenne warrior Heid E. Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Ojibweborn 1963), writer and editor of poetry, short stories, and nonfiction, and maker of poem films. Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe, born 1954), writer
F Corine Fairbanks, Oglala Lakota author and activist Larissa FastHorse, Sicangu Lakota playwright and choreographer Fidelia Fielding (1827–1908), last native speaker of the Mohegan Pequot language Cecilia Fire Thunder (Oglala Lakota, born 1946), former president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Te Ata Fisher (1895–1995), Chickasaw Nation storyteller and actress Elaine Fleming, Leech Lake Ojibwe mayor of Cass Lake, Minnesota Jennifer Foerster, Muscogee poet L. Frank, Tongva/Ajachmen Indian artist, tribal scholar, and activist Kalyn Free, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma lawyer and activist
G Nanibaa' Garrison, Navajo, bioethicist, geneticist, and academic Martha George (1892–1987), Suquamish tribal chairman Glory of the Morning (born 1709), Ho-Chunk chief Nicolle Gonzales (born 1980), Navajo certified midwife Rose Gonzales (ca. 1900–1989), Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo potter Shan Goshorn (Eastern Band Cherokee, 1957–2018), visual artist Katherine Gottlieb (born ca. 1952), Alutiiq health care executive and 2004 MacArthur Fellow Janice Gould, Koyangk'auwi Maidu writer Gouyen, Apache warrior Dorothy Grant, Alaska-born Haida fashion designer active in Canada Teri Greeves, Kiowa beadwork artist Linda LeGarde Grover (Bois Forte Chippewa), novelist and short story writer Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty, Assiniboine/Sioux bead worker and quill worker Margaret Gutierrez, Santa Clara Pueblo potter
H Janet Campbell Hale, Coeur d'Alene-Kootenay-Cree-Irish writer Hanging Cloud, Ojibwa warrior Helen Hardin, Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh (1934–1984), Santa Clara Pueblo painter Joy Harjo, Muscogee poet, lecturer, and musician Suzan Shown Harjo, Southern Cheyenne/Muscogee activist LaDonna Harris, Comanche president of Americans for Indian Opportunity Ernestine Hayes (Tlingit, born 1945), memoirist Robbie Hedges, first elected woman chief of the Peoria tribe Rosella Hightower, Choctaw-Shawnee Tribe, born 1920, ballerina Joan Hill (Muscogee (Creek) Nation/Cherokee, 1930–2020), painter Linda Hogan (Chickasaw, born 1947), poet, storyteller, academic, playwright, novelist, environmentalist and writer of short stories. Minnie Hollow Wood, Lakota woman who fought at the Battle of Little Big Horn Hononegah (Ho-Chunk, ca. 1814–1847), pioneer Robbie E. Hood, Cherokee, atmospheric scientist LeAnne Howe, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma writer Diane Humetewa, Hopi federal judge Pamela Rae Huteson (born 1957), Haida/Tlingit, born 1957) artist, disc jockey and writer
I Debora Iyall (born 1954), Cowlitz-descent singer and printmaker
J Sarah James (born 1946), Gwich'in environmental activist, 2002 Goldman Environmental Prize winner Jana (born 1980), Lumbee singer Viola Jimulla (1878–1966), Yavapai, chief of the Prescott Yavapai tribe Betty Mae Tiger Jumper (Florida Seminole, also known as Potackee (1923–2011), chairwoman, Florida Seminole Tribe (1967–1971), last matriarch of Snake Clan. Marie Smith Jones (1918–2008), Eyak activist and honorary chief, last known living speaker of the Eyak language Juana Maria (Nicoleño, died 1853), last member of her tribe
K Yvonne Kauger (born 1937), Cheyenne-Arapaho Oklahoma Supreme Court justice Geraldine Keams (born 1951), Navajo Nation actress Adrienne Keene (born 1985), Cherokee Nation academic, writer, activist, and podcaster Maude Kegg (1906–1996), Ojibwa bead worker and traditionalist Louisa Keyser Dat So La Lee (ca. 1829–1925), Washoe basket weaver Loretta Kelsey, last living speaker of Elem Pomo Edith Kilbuck, Lenape missionary Mary Killman, Citizen Potawatomi, Olympic synchronized swimmer, b. 1991"Get Ready to Cheer on These Native Athletes at the 2012 London Olympics." Indian Country Today. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012. Robin Wall Kimmerer, a Potawatomi biologist, activist, and bestselling author Kuiliy, Pend d'Oreille warrior Kimberly Tilsen-Brave Heart, an Oglala Lakota and Jewish businesswoman and chef from South Dakota.
L Madeline La Framboise (1740–1846), Odawa fur trader Winona LaDuke (born 1959), White Earth Ojibwe activist, environmentalist, economist, and writer Carole LaFavor, two-spirit Ojibwa novelist and activist