Famous Native Americans

Whilst this is not an exhaustive list, hopefully some of these names and/or faces will be familiar to you.

 

Adam Beach (Actor)
1972, Salteaux-Ojibwa

Alex(andrea) Kawisenhawe Rice (Actress)
Mohawk

 

Arvel Bird (Musician)
1961?, Shivwit Paiute / Metis

 

August Schellenberg (Actor)
Mohawk

 

Benjamin Bratt (Actor)
1963, Quechua / Peruvian tribe

 

Bill Miller (Musician)
Mohican

Bill Reid (Carver, Poet)
1920-1998, Haida

 

Billy Mills (1964 Olympic Gold Medallist, Author, Spokesperson)
1938, Oglala Lakota

Billy Two Rivers (Wrestler, Politician)
1935, Mohawk

 

Blackfire (Musician)
Navajo (Clayson, Jeneda and Klee Bennaly)

 

Branscombe Richmond (Actor, Musician)
1956, Aleutian

 

Brule (Musician)
Paul LaRoche: Lower Brule Lakota
Nicole LaRoche: Lower Brule Lakota
John Lone Eagle: Apache / Cherokee
Shane: Lower Brule Lakota

 

Buffalo Child (Actor)
Plains Cree

 

Buffy Sainte-Marie (Musician)
1941, Cree

 

Chris Eyre (Director, Producer, Actor)
1968, Cheyenne-Arapaho

Clan/Destine (Musician)
Frank Poocha: Pima / Hopi (Keyboads, Vocals)
Chuck Harris: Hopi / Papago (Guitarist)
David A. Montour: Mohawk / Cayuga / Potawatomi / Ottawa (Bass, Flute, Vocals)
Juan Sanchez: Oglala Lakota / Pueblo (Vocals, Percussion)
Steve Gatlin: Caucasian (Drummer)
Derrick "Suwaima" Davis: Hopi / Choctaw (Hoop Dancer)

Cody Lightning (Actor)
1986, Plains Cree

 

Crystle Lightning (Actress, Model)
1981, Plains Cree

 

Dakota House (Actor)
1974, Cree

Daphne Odjig (Painter)
1919, Odawa / Potawatomi / Ojibwa

Darrell Dennis (Actor, Comedian, Writer)
Shushwap

 

Dennis Banks (Civil Rights Activist, Leader, Author, co-founder of the AIM)
1937, Ojibwa

 

Don Shanks (Actor)
1950, Cherokee / Illinois / Choctaw descent

 

Duane Loken (Actor)
Comanche

 

Eddie Hatcher (Political Prisoner)
1957, Tuscarora

Eddie Spears (Actor)
1982, Lakota

 

Elaine Miles (Actress)
1960, Cayuse / Nez Perce (and a member of the Umatilla tribe)

 

Eric Schweig (Actor, Carver)
1967, Inuit / Chippewa

Evan Adams (Actor, Author, Award Winner, Doctor: Obstetrician)
1966, Coast Salish

 

Floyd Red Crow Westerman (Actor, Musician: Singer, Poet)
1936-2007 Dakota (see home page for my own personal tribute)

Gary Farmer (Actor)
1953, Cayuga

 

George Leach (Actor, Musician: Singer/Guitarist/Songwriter, Visual Artist)
Sta'atl'imx

Gerald Auger (Director, Actor, Model, Fashion designer)
Cree

 

Gordon Tootoosis (Actor)
Cree / Stoney descent

 

Graham Greene (Actor, Director)
1952, Oneida

Gregg Rainwater (Actor)
1966, Osage / Cherokee

Irene Bedard (Actress, Musician)
1967, Inuit / Cree

Jennifer Podemski (Actress, Producer)
1974?, Salteaux-Ojibwa

Joanne Shenandoah (Musician: Singer/Songwriter/Performer/Composer)
Oneida

 

John Bennett Herrington (Former NASA Astronaut)
1958, Chickasaw

 

John Trudell (Musician)
1946, Santee

 

Johnny Cash (Musician)
1932-2003, Cherokee (Unconfirmed)

 

Jonathon Brewer (Actor)
1977, Blood Blackfeet

 

Joseph Firecrow (Musician)
1959, Northern Cheyenne

 

Keith Secola (Musician)
1957, Ojibwa

 

Kevin Locke (Hoop Dancer, Musician)
Hunkpapa Lakota / Chippewa

 

Kimberly Norris-Guerrero (Actress)
Colville / Salish-Kootenai / Cherokee

Leonard Peltier (Political Prisoner)
1944, Chippewa / Lakota

Litefoot (Actor, Rapper, Motivational Speaker)
1969, Cherokee

 

Loma L. Mathias (TV Host, Musician, Song- & Script-Writer, Producer)
Ojibwa / Metis

 

Lou Diamond Phillips (Actor, Director, Writer)
1962, Filipino / Hawaiian / Chinese / Spanish / Scottish-Irish / eighth Cherokee

 

Louise Erdrich (Writer)
1954, Chippewa

Maria Tallchief (Dancer, Teacher)
1925, Osage

Mariel Belanger (Model, Actress, Host)
1973, Okanagan

 

Mark (Redsky) Prior (Actor, Artist)
1964?, Ojibwa

Michael Greyeyes (Actor, Choreographer)
1967, Plains Cree

Michael Horse (Actor, Artist, Activist)
1951?, Yaqui / Zuni / Mescalero Apache descent

 

Michael Spears (Actor)
1977, Lakota

Michelle Thrush (Actress)
Cree

Mishi Donovan (Musician: Singer/Songwriter, Actress)
Chippewa / Cree

 

N. Scott Momaday (Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Artist, Professor of english & american literature)
1934, Kiowa

Naomi Lang (Ice Dancer)
1978, Karuk

Nathaniel Arcand (Actor)
1971, Plains Cree

Noah Watts (Actor)
Crow / Blackfeet descent

 

Pato Hoffmann (Actor)
Aymara / Quechua

 

R. Carlos Nakai (Musician)
1946, Navajo / Ute

Rita Coolidge (Musician, Actress) >>> Walela
1945, Cherokee

 

Robert Mirabal (Musician)
1966, Taos Pueblo

Rodney A. Grant (Actor)
1959, Omaha

 

Russell Means (Civil Rights Activist, Actor, Politician)
1939, Oglala Lakota

 

Ryan Black (Actor)
1973, Salteaux-Ojibwa

 

Saginaw Grant (Dancer, Actor, Writer)
1936, Sac and Fox / Iowa / Otoe / Ponca

 

Santee Smith (Dancer, Choreographer, Artistic director)
1971, Mohawk

 

Sarah Podemski (Actress, Dancer)
1982/83?, Salteaux-Ojibwa

 

Sean Wei Mah (Actor)
1976, Cree

 

Shania Twain (Singer)
1965 Cree

 

Shawn Michael Perry (Actor, Musician: Singer/Songwriter, Educator, Activist)
Salish / Panamanian (of Mayan ancestry)

 

Sheila Tousey (Actress)
Menominee / Stockbridge-Munsee

 

Sherman Alexie (Writer, Director, Producer)
1966, Spokane / Coeur d'Alene

Simon Baker (Actor)
1986, Cree

 

Steve Reevis (Actor)
Blackfeet

 

Tamara Podemski (Actress, Musician: Singer/Songwriter)
1977, Salteaux-Ojibwa

Tantoo Cardinal (Actress)
1950, Cree / Metis

 

Tomson Highway (Writer, Director, Musician)
1951, Cree

Tristan Thunderbolt (Actor, Comedian, Dancer, Writer)
1961?, Ojibwa

 

Ulali (Musician)
Pura Fé: Tuscarora
Soni Moreno: Apache / Yaqui / Mayan
Jennifer Kreisberg: Tuscarora

 

Walela (Musician)
Rita Coolidge: Cherokee
Laura Satterfield: Cherokee
Priscilla Coolidge: Cherokee

 

Wayne "Gino" Odjik (Former Hockey Player)
1970, Algonquin

Wayquay (Musician: Singer/Songwriter, Actress)
Ojibwa

Wes Studi (Actor, Musician, Director)
1947, Cherokee

Wilma Mankiller (Chief of the Cherokee Nation)
1945, Cherokee

Zahn McClarnon (Actor)
Hunkpapa Lakota

 

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(Music "Spirit In The Lake" by Elan Michaels)