This is a list of Native American firsts. Native American people were the first people to live in the area that is now known as the United States. This is a chronological list of the first accomplishments that Native Americans have achieved both through their tribal identities and also through the culture of the United States over time. It includes individuals and groups of people who are indigenous to contemporary United States. This includes Native Americans in the United States, which includes American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians.
16th century
1530s 1539 Indigenous peoples of Florida have first contact with the Hernando de Soto Expedition, marking first contact with Spaniards and African people for many Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands.
1580s 1581 The Navajo make first contact with the Spanish.
1587 First recorded Protestant christianing of a Native American: Christening of Manteo (Croatan).
17th century
1610s 1615 First Native American received as royalty by English royalty: Pocahontas (Powhatan). The Wendat (Huron) people first act as middlemen for French traders and other Native American tribes.
1620s First Native American in New England to meet with settlers leading to ratify a peace treaty: Massaoit (Wampanoag).
1630s 1638 First American Indian reservation established: Quinnipiac Nation.
1660s
1663 First published writing by a Native American in the Americas: Honoratissimi Benefactores by Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck (Wampanoag). First Bible published in the Americas: The Eliot Indian Bible is printed in Natick and one of the translators, James Printer (Nipmuc) became the first Native American to use a printing press.
1665 First Native American graduate of Harvard University: Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck (Wampanoag).
1670s 1670 First Native American ordained as a Christian clergy member: Hiacoomes (Wampanoag). 1672 Native Americans served as first mail couriers between New York City and Albany.
18th century
1760s 1765 First Native American recorded as preaching Christianity to a non-Native audience: Samson Occom (Mohegan).
1770s 1772 First published literary work by a Native American: A Sermon Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul, an Indian by Samson Occom (Mohegan).
1790s 1794 First Native American published, written report of other Native American peoples in the English language: A Short Narration of My Last Journey to the Western Country by Hendrick Aupaumut (Mohican).
19th century
1810s 1812 First Native American commissioned brigadier general in the United States Army: William McIntosh (Muscogee).
1820s 1821 Cherokee syllabary is first adopted by the Cherokee Nation general council: created by Sequoyah (Cherokee, ca. 1770–1843)
1822 First Native American admitted to West Point and first Native American graduate: David Moniac (Muscogee). 1825 First Haudenosaunee person to publish the oral histories of the Haudenosaunee: David Cusick (Tuscarora) in Sketches of the Ancient History of the Six Nations.
1827 The Cherokee Nation adopts its first modern constitution.
1828 First Native American newspaper and first newspaper published in an Indigenous language: The Cherokee Phoenix. First editor of the paper was Buck Watie (Cherokee).
1829 First full-length autobiography published by a Native American: A Son of the Forest by William Apess (Pequot). First book published using the Cherokee syllabary: Cherokee Hymn Book printed by Elias Boudinot (Cherokee) and a New England missionary.
1840s
1844 First known Native American person to earn a Western medical degree from Western college: Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk (Cayuga).
1847 First full-length travelog by a Native American: The Life, History, and Travels of Kah-ge-ga-gah-bowh by George Copway (Ojibwe).
1850s 1854 First novel published by a Native American: The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murietta by John Rollin Ridge (Cherokee). First Native American student periodical publication, A Wreath of Cherokee Rose Buds.
1856 First governor of the Chickasaw Nation after the adoption of the new constitution: Cyrus Harris (Chickasaw). First Native American ordained as a Roman Catholic priest: James Bouchard (Lenape). 1857 First Native American editor of mainstream newspaper: John Rollin Ridge (Cherokee) who was the founding editor of the Sacramento Bee.
1860s 1861 First Native American professional track athlete: Louis "Deerfoot" Bennett (Seneca).
1865 First person to ride the Chisholm Trail: Jesse Chisholm (Cherokee). 1867 First Native American to earn the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army: Ely Samuel Parker (Seneca).
1869 First Native American to be awarded the Medal of Honor: Co-Rux-Te-Chod-Ish (Pawnee). First Native American to work as the Commissioner for Indian Affairs: Ely Samuel Parker (Seneca).
1870s 1870 First Native American elected as a United States Senator: Hiram Rhodes Revels (Lumbee).
1875 First independent Cherokee-owned newspaper published: The Indian Progress and owned by Elias C. Boudinot (Cherokee). 1878 First Choctaw tribal newspaper: The Choctaw News. 1879 First Native American declared "a person within the meaning of the law" in the United States: Standing Bear (Ponca).
1880s 1881 First Native American anthropologist: Francis La Flesche (Omaha).
1883 First Native American woman to publish a book, Sarah Winnemucca (Northern Paiute), who published Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims. 1886 First privately owned Chippewa periodical: The Progress founded by Theodore H. Beaulieu and Gustave Beaulieu (Chippewa/Ojibwe).
1889 First Native American woman to earn a Western medical degree from a Western college: Susan La Flesche (Omaha). First documented Native American U.S. Army nurses: Susan Bordeaux, Ella Clark, Anna B. Pleets, Josephine Two Bears (all Lakota).
1890s 1891 First novel published by a Native American woman: Wynema: A Child of the Forest by Sophia Alice Callahan (Muscogee).
1892 First Native American elected to the United States House of Representatives: Charles Curtis (Kaw/Osage/Potawatomi). First Native American playwright: Gowongo Mohawk (Seneca), author of Wep-Ton-No-Mah, The Indian Mail Carrier (1892). 1893 First independent periodical published by and for the Osage people: The Wah-sha-she founded by George E. Tinker (Osage). First Native American woman to publish and edit a newspaper: Norma E. Standley Smiser (Choctaw). 1897 First Native American to play on a major league baseball team: Louis Sockalexis (Penobscot). 1898 First Native American to graduate from Stanford University: John Milton Oskison (Cherokee).
20th century
1900s 1902 First Native American appointed to the office of United States Marshal: Benjamin (Ben) Horace Colbert (Chickasaw Nation).https://hof.chickasaw.net/Members/2023/Benjamin-(Ben)-Horace-Colbert
1903 First tribal newspaper published by the White Earth Ojibwe: The Tomahawk.
1904 First Native American to compete for the United States in the Olympic Games: Frank Pierce (Seneca Nation of Indians).https://olympics.com/en/athletes/frank-pierce
1908 First tribal newspaper published for the Quileute people: The Quileute Independent created by Webster Hudson (Quileute). First paniolos to win at the Frontier Days rodeo competition: Ikua Purdy (Native Hawaiian), Archie Ka'au'a (Native Hawaiian), and Jack Low (Native Hawaiian). 1909 First Native American film actor: James Young Deer (Nanticoke, 1876–1946). First Native American lawyer to argue a case before the Supreme Court: Lyda Conley (Wyandot Nation of Kansas, unrecognized).
1910s 1910 First Native American to graduate from Yale: Henry Roe Cloud (Ho-Chunk).
1911 First Native American to play in the NFL: Jim Thorpe (Sac & Fox Nation). First US national Native American rights and Progressive Era participation organization managed by Native Americans for Native Americans, the Society of American Indians (1911–1923)
1912 First Native American to win gold medals for the United States in the Olympic Games: Jim Thorpe (Sac & Fox Nation). First American to win an Olympic medal (silver) in the 10,000 meter run: Lewis Tewanima (Hopi).
1913 First Native American to attend the United States Naval Academy: Joseph J. Clark (Cherokee Nation). First person documented as having reached the summit of Denali: Walter Harper (Koyukon Athabascan). First Native American head coach of a college sports team: Albert Andrew Exendine (Delaware Tribe). 1916 First American Indian Day celebrated in May 1916. The day was created by Red Fox James (Blackfeet Tribe).
1918 First known use of Indigenous Code Talkers as part of a U.S. military effort: Choctaw, Cherokee, and Navajo were all Code Talkers in World War I.
1920s 1921 First all-Native American National Guard: Haskell unit of the Kansas National Guard. First Native American woman pilot: Bessie Coleman (Cherokee descent heritage).
1922
First Native American student recorded to take part in a world conference: Ruth Muskrat Bronson (Cherokee Nation). First woman to serve as chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma: Alice Brown Davis (Seminole). 1923 First chair of the Navajo Tribal Council: Henry Chee Dodge (Navajo). 1924 First Navajo person to earn a law degree: Thomas Henry Dodge (Navajo). First all-Native American cavalry created in the United States: Troop C, 114th Cavalry. First Native American to captain the United States Hockey Team: Clarence Abel (Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa). First Native American woman elected to a state legislature: Cora Belle Reynolds Anderson (L'Anse Chippewa). First Alaska Native elected to the Alaskan Territorial Legislature: William L. Paul (Tlingit). First Native American to play in the Winter Olympics, and win a medal in the Winter Olympics (silver medal): Clarence "Taffy" Abel (Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa)
1926 First United States–born Native American player to become an NHL regular, which he did with the New York Rangers beginning on November 16, 1926: Clarence "Taffy" Abel (Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa). First Native American woman to hold state office in Oklahoma: Jessie Elizabeth Randolph Moore (Chickasaw). First national reform group with only Native American membership: National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) by Zitkala-Sa (Yankton Dakota) and Raymond Bonnin (Yankton Dakota).
1927 First Native American to earn a degree as a registered nurse: Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail (Crow).
1929 First Native American to serve as Vice President of the United States: Charles Curtis (Kaw/Osage/Potawatomi).
1930s 1930 First accredited nursing program for Native Americans: Sage Memorial Hospital School of Nursing. First enrolled Native American woman to earn a pilot's license: Mary Riddle (Clatsop/Quinault).
1932 First Native American woman elected to the Montana State Legislature: Dolly Smith Akers (Fort Peck Assiniboine). First Native American to open the Olympic Games: Charles Curtis (Kaw/Osage/Potawatomi).
1935 First Native American woman elected as president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs: Roberta Campbell Lawson (Delaware Tribe). 1939 First Native American to win national and international level boxing]championships: Chester L. Ellis (Seneca Nation of Indians).
1940s 1941 First Native American commissioned in the American Chaplain Corps: James C. Ottipoby (Comanche). First Native American Miss America contestant: Mifauny Shunatona (Otoe/Pawnee), Miss Oklahoma
1942
First Native American to become a major general in the U.S. Air Force: Clarence L. Tinker (Osage). First American to dance with the Paris Opera and receive the title of prima ballerina: Maria Tallchief (Osage). First Native American woman to work for Lockheed, and probably first Native American woman aeronautical engineer: Mary Golda Ross (Cherokee Nation). First Native American commissioned pilot in the United States Navy: Tom Oxendine (Lumbee).
1943