INDIGENOUS CHANGEMAKERS
STORIES • LEADERSHIP • CREATIVITY • SERVICE
Indigenous changemakers are artists, leaders, scientists, veterans, athletes, educators, writers, advocates, and community builders—past and present. Choose someone who makes you curious, then follow the research.
Every ★ marks a person with enough vetted material for a strong student research project.
Choose How You Want to Explore
Find a Story That Makes You Curious
Explore leaders, artists, writers, scientists, educators, veterans, athletes, advocates, language keepers, and community builders. Find a Changemaker: Search any name, nation, or keyword. Use Ctrl + F on Chromebook/Windows or Command + F on Mac. Try keywords such as Ho-Chunk, leader, artist, writer, science, NASA, medicine, teacher, language, veteran, sports, environment, or activist.
Browse by interest: Leadership & Service • Arts & Writing • Science & Medicine • Education & Language • Military & Veterans • Sports • Advocacy & Environment.
Ctrl + F on Chromebook/Windows or Command + F on Mac. Every card gives you a quick introduction and a vetted place to begin your research.
Featured Collection: Winnebago Changemakers
Explore 49 changemakers connected with the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk community, past and present.
Angel De Cora
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Artist, illustrator, educator, and designer who brought Ho-Chunk identity and Native art into books, classrooms, and national conversations.
★ Great for a Research Project
Henry Roe Cloud
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Educator, reformer, and the first Native American graduate of Yale; he later founded a college-preparatory school for Native students and helped shape national Indian education policy.
★ Great for a Research Project
Reuben A. Snake Jr.
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago leader, educator, and advocate who worked nationally for Native religious freedom, education, and tribal leadership.
★ Great for a Research Project
Frank LaMere
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago activist and community leader known for decades of advocacy on Native rights, public health, and justice, including the long campaign focused on Whiteclay.
★ Great for a Research Project
Lillian St. Cyr
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Ho-Chunk actress, lecturer, and advocate who became one of the earliest Native American stars of the silent-film era.
★ Great for a Research Project
John Raymond Rice
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago soldier who served in World War II and Korea; after a cemetery refused his burial because he was Native American, President Truman directed that he be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
★ Great for a Research Project
Genevieve May Lowry-Johnson
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago Bear Clan woman and U.S. Navy veteran who served during World War II and later became the first woman commander of the LaMere-Greencrow-Rice American Legion Post.
★ Great for a Research Project
Joba Chamberlain
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska member who became a Major League Baseball pitcher and World Series champion after starring at the University of Nebraska.
★ Great for a Research Project
Henry Payer
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Ho-Chunk multidisciplinary artist from Winnebago, Nebraska, whose paintings and mixed-media work explore Ho-Chunk history, removal, place, and the continuing relationship between people and land.
★ Great for a Research Project
Lewis “Bleu” St. Cyr
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago cultural leader who directed Ho-Chunk Renaissance and worked to strengthen language, traditional activities, and ways of life for younger generations and the wider community.
★ Great for a Research Project
Herman Brown Jr.
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Lifelong Winnebago community member, Army veteran, police dispatcher, recovery-program worker, and fluent Ho-Chunk teacher and advisor whose service touched generations of people in his community.
★ Great for a Research Project
John “Jack” Frederick LaMere
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago elder, U.S. Coast Guard veteran, and community leader who served his Tribe through veterans activities and community-development work focused on strengthening opportunities for Winnebago people.
★ Great for a Research Project
Louis LaRose
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago Tribe member and Bear Clan member who helped develop and operate WinnaVegas in the early 1990s and later became a named plaintiff in the Cobell trust-fund litigation.
★ Great for a Research Project
Chief Little Priest
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago leader who served as a U.S. Army scout during the 1860s and is remembered by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska in the name of Little Priest Tribal College.
★ Great for a Research Project
Ann Marie Bledsoe Downes
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Enrolled Winnebago Tribe member, attorney, and public-service leader whose career has included tribal, state, and federal roles in law, education, policy, and Native affairs.
★ Great for a Research Project
Lance Morgan
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago lawyer and business leader who founded Ho-Chunk, Inc., helping build jobs, businesses, and economic opportunity for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.
★ Great for a Research Project
Aaron LaPointe
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Enrolled Winnebago Tribe member and business leader who was named a Native American 40 Under 40 honoree while serving as Senior Director of Business Operations for Ho-Chunk, Inc.
★ Great for a Research Project
Danelle Smith
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago Tribe member, attorney, and longtime tribal legal counsel who helped lead the Tribe’s move to take over its hospital from the Indian Health Service and build a tribally governed healthcare system.
★ Great for a Research Project
Anna Berridge
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Enrolled Winnebago Tribe member and manager of the Tribe’s Environmental Protection Department who oversees EPA-funded programs and works with tribal, state, and federal partners on environmental protection.
★ Great for a Research Project
Carolyn Fiscus
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Ho-Chunk educator and Army Reserve veteran who taught at the tribal community college and later in Native American Studies at the University of Nebraska Omaha; she was named the National Indian Education Association’s 2019 Elder of the Year.
★ Great for a Research Project
Amy LaPointe-Houghton
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago education leader whose work has included Head Start, Educare Winnebago, tribal education, and leadership supporting Native students and families.
★ Great for a Research Project
Sunshine Thomas-Bear
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago Tribe member, educator, and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer who has worked in education and now helps lead the Tribe’s historic-preservation and repatriation work.
★ Great for a Research Project
Angel M. Hinzo
Ho-Chunk / Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
Ho-Chunk historian and Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska citizen whose research and teaching focus on Ho-Chunk history, federal Indian law, Native women’s history, and Indigenous self-determination.
★ Great for a Research Project
Renya K. Ramirez
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago scholar and author whose research explores Native identity, belonging, community, and the experiences of urban Native people.
★ Great for a Research Project
Carmen Snow
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago Tribe member, artist, and WCHS Women, Infant, and Children program Vendor Manager whose Ho-Chunk ribbon-work-inspired applique design was selected to help visually represent the Tribe’s healthcare system.
★ Great for a Research Project
Gregory Bass II
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Enrolled Winnebago Tribe member and former CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Hocak Nisoc Haci who led fundraising and development of a new youth facility reflecting Winnebago culture and values.
★ Great for a Research Project
Jennifer Hardeman
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Enrolled Winnebago Tribe member and Injury Prevention Coordinator at Winnebago Comprehensive Healthcare System who has worked in the community for more than 15 years, including programs that help elders prevent falls and injuries.
★ Great for a Research Project
Caden Cleveland
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Enrolled Winnebago Tribe member and Ho-Chunk, Inc. Community Programs Coordinator who leads an apprenticeship partnership with the Tribe’s Education Department and Winnebago Public School and supports students through education and career-development programs.
★ Great for a Research Project
David Smith
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Longtime Winnebago Tribal historian, founding Ho-Chunk, Inc. board member, and Director of Indian Studies at Little Priest Tribal College who also represented the Tribe in NAGPRA work and commissioned portraits of Winnebago leaders for future generations.
★ Great for a Research Project
Michelle Free-LaMere
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago Tribe member and Ho-Chunk Language Academy instructor who connects Ho-Chunk language and culture with science, environmental learning, health, and community experiences for young students.
★ Great for a Research Project
Gerben Dwayne Earth
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago Army veteran, longtime tribal personnel officer, and former Tribal Chairman who served the Tribe for decades after serving with the 82nd Airborne during the Vietnam War.
★ Great for a Research Project
Anthony “Tony” Snake
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago Tribal veteran whose service is recognized in the Winnebago Indian News and at community events honoring Winnebago veterans.
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Sean Bear
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago Wildlife & Parks employee and Buffalo Project Conservation Officer who was named the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska’s 2024 Employee of the Year for service that went above and beyond his daily duties.
★ Great for a Research Project
David Wingett Jr.
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago Tribe member and basketball player who scored more than 2,200 points in high school, played at Memphis and South Dakota State, and later continued his college career at Peru State.
★ Great for a Research Project
Anpao Petite-Fowler
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Enrolled Winnebago Tribe member, business student, entrepreneur, and founder developing culturally grounded assisted-living and behavioral-health care designed to help Winnebago community members remain close to home.
★ Great for a Research Project
Sarah Snake
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago cultural educator who shares knowledge about Winnebago tribal culture and powwow traditions with community members and visitors.
★ Great for a Research Project
Terri Crawford Hansen
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Enrolled Winnebago Tribe member and longtime journalist who reported on environment, climate, science, and issues affecting tribal and Indigenous communities for Native and national publications.
★ Great for a Research Project
Laurie Houseman-Whitehawk
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Enrolled Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska member with Santee Sioux heritage whose paintings and murals explore Native people, family, culture, and identity; her work is held in the Great Plains Art Museum and Museum of Nebraska Art collections.
★ Great for a Research Project
Jordana Bass
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago community journalist who served as editor of the Winnebago Indian News, the official newspaper of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.
★ Great for a Research Project
Mary Merrick
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Thunder Clan Ho-Chunk language instructor who has served HoChunk Renaissance for 25 years, helping students learn Ho-Chunk and supporting the Tribe’s language-revitalization work.
★ Great for a Research Project
Velma Alaniz
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago elder and Ho-Chunk language contributor who translated and narrated early-childhood books so young learners and families can hear and read stories in the Ho-Chunk language.
★ Great for a Research Project
Bethani Redhorn
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago community communicator, writer, and U.S. Navy veteran who became editor of the Winnebago Indian News after years of work in the Tribe’s Communications Department.
★ Great for a Research Project
Oliver LaMere
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago scholar whose writing documented clan organization, traditions, ceremonies, and social life, leaving an important historical record of Winnebago knowledge.
★ Great for a Research Project
Jim Snow
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago leader whose service has included work as a community health representative and multiple periods on the Winnebago Tribal Council, including service as Council Vice-Chairman.
★ Great for a Research Project
Lauren Buchanan
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago Tribal member from the Wolf Clan who works in Child & Family Services and has served on the Tribal Tax Commission for more than five years, bringing community experience to tribal service.
★ Great for a Research Project
Tyler Free-LaMere
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Young Winnebago musician and composer whose award-winning work combines Ho-Chunk language, Indigenous pride, and culturally responsible music education for students.
★ Great for a Research Project
Lynelle Blackhawk
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Enrolled Winnebago Tribe member and business leader who has served as the Tribe’s Chief Administrative Officer, on the Ho-Chunk, Inc. Board of Directors, and now as Ho-Chunk, Inc.’s Senior Director of Administration.
★ Great for a Research Project
Kaira Wolfe
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Winnebago Tribe member and educator who studied Ho-Chunk language and brought that learning into her classroom so young children could see and use their language at school.
★ Great for a Research Project
Lexie Wakan LaMere
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska / Ho-Chunk
Young Winnebago woman and Creighton University student who spoke before the Nebraska Legislature in 2011, identifying herself as being from the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and urging lawmakers to consider equality and the effects of immigration legislation.
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Changemakers Across North America
Explore 103 Indigenous changemakers from many Native nations, communities, homelands, fields, and generations across North America.
Wilma Mankiller
Cherokee Nation
Cherokee Nation leader and activist who became the Nation’s first woman Principal Chief and expanded community-centered work in healthcare, education, housing, and self-government.
★ Great for a Research Project
Sitting Bull
Hunkpapa Lakota
Hunkpapa Lakota leader, spiritual figure, and defender of his people during a period of intense U.S. expansion onto Lakota lands.
★ Great for a Research Project
Chief Joseph
Nez Perce
Nez Perce leader remembered for guiding his people during the 1877 conflict and for speaking powerfully about justice, homeland, and peace.
★ Great for a Research Project
Tecumseh
Shawnee
Shawnee leader who worked to build a broad alliance of Native nations to defend their homelands and political independence.
★ Great for a Research Project
Sequoyah
Cherokee
Cherokee scholar who created a writing system for the Cherokee language, making widespread Cherokee reading and writing possible.
★ Great for a Research Project
Red Cloud
Oglala Lakota
Oglala Lakota leader who resisted U.S. military expansion and later negotiated for his people during a period of enormous change.
★ Great for a Research Project
Geronimo
Chiricahua Apache
Chiricahua Apache leader and warrior who resisted forced removal and became an enduring figure in Apache and U.S. history.
★ Great for a Research Project
Quanah Parker
Comanche
Comanche leader who navigated major changes on the southern Plains and became an influential advocate for his people.
★ Great for a Research Project
Black Elk
Oglala Lakota
Oglala Lakota holy man whose teachings and life story became an important record of Lakota spirituality, history, and cultural survival.
★ Great for a Research Project
Nanye’hi / Nancy Ward
Cherokee
Cherokee leader and diplomat who held the respected title of Beloved Woman and participated in major political decisions and negotiations.
★ Great for a Research Project
Sarah Winnemucca
Northern Paiute
Northern Paiute writer, interpreter, educator, and activist who used writing and public speaking to expose injustice and advocate for her people’s land and rights.
★ Great for a Research Project
Standing Bear
Ponca
Ponca leader whose 1879 court case, Standing Bear v. Crook, established that Native Americans were persons entitled to habeas corpus protections under U.S. law.
★ Great for a Research Project
Susan La Flesche Picotte
Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
Omaha physician who became the first American Indian to earn a medical degree and returned home to provide medical care across the Omaha Reservation.
★ Great for a Research Project
Francis La Flesche
Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
Omaha scholar, ethnologist, and writer who documented Omaha and Osage language, music, traditions, and history.
★ Great for a Research Project
Susette La Flesche Tibbles
Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
Omaha writer, interpreter, and activist who advocated nationally for Native rights and helped bring attention to Standing Bear’s case.
★ Great for a Research Project
Zitkala-Ša
Yankton Dakota
Yankton Dakota writer, musician, educator, and activist who advocated for Native civil rights and women’s voting rights and helped organize national Native political advocacy.
★ Great for a Research Project
Dennis Banks
Ojibwe
Ojibwe activist and co-founder of the American Indian Movement who organized around treaty rights, sovereignty, and Native justice.
★ Great for a Research Project
Clyde Bellecourt
White Earth Ojibwe
White Earth Ojibwe activist and co-founder of the American Indian Movement who spent decades working on Native rights, education, and community issues.
★ Great for a Research Project
Russell Means
Oglala Lakota
Oglala Lakota activist, speaker, and actor who became a prominent national voice in the American Indian Movement.
★ Great for a Research Project
LaDonna Harris
Comanche
Comanche leader and activist who founded Americans for Indian Opportunity and worked for decades to strengthen Indigenous leadership and self-determination.
★ Great for a Research Project
Winona LaDuke
White Earth Ojibwe
White Earth Ojibwe author and environmental advocate whose work focuses on Indigenous lands, sustainable communities, food systems, and cultural renewal.
★ Great for a Research Project
Billy Frank Jr.
Nisqually
Nisqually fisherman and treaty-rights activist whose decades of advocacy helped affirm tribal fishing rights in the Pacific Northwest.
★ Great for a Research Project
Elouise Cobell
Blackfeet Nation
Blackfeet banker, rancher, and activist who led a long legal fight over federal mismanagement of Native trust accounts, resulting in a historic settlement and a scholarship fund for Native students.
★ Great for a Research Project
Madonna Thunder Hawk
Cheyenne River Lakota
Cheyenne River Lakota organizer and activist who has worked for Native sovereignty, women, families, and protection of land and water.
★ Great for a Research Project
Vine Deloria Jr.
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
Standing Rock Sioux scholar, writer, lawyer, theologian, and Native-rights advocate whose influential books and leadership challenged federal Indian policy and strengthened the study of Indigenous nationhood.
★ Great for a Research Project
Ada Deer
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
Menominee leader, activist, and public servant who helped reverse federal termination of the Menominee Tribe and later became the first woman to lead the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
★ Great for a Research Project
Deb Haaland
Laguna Pueblo
Laguna Pueblo public official who became the first Native American to serve as a U.S. Cabinet secretary.
★ Great for a Research Project
Sharice Davids
Ho-Chunk Nation
Ho-Chunk Nation attorney and public official who became one of the first two Native American women elected to the U.S. Congress.
★ Great for a Research Project
Chase Iron Eyes
Standing Rock Sioux
Standing Rock Sioux attorney and advocate known for work on Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and protection of land and water.
★ Great for a Research Project
Mary Golda Ross
Cherokee Nation
Cherokee mathematician and aerospace engineer who worked on advanced aircraft, missiles, and early spaceflight projects and later encouraged Native students and girls to pursue STEM careers.
★ Great for a Research Project
John Herrington
Chickasaw Nation
Chickasaw Nation citizen, U.S. Navy aviator, and NASA astronaut who became the first enrolled member of a Native American tribe to fly in space and completed three spacewalks.
★ Great for a Research Project
Lori Arviso Alvord
Navajo Nation / Diné
Diné physician and Stanford-trained surgeon who became the first Navajo woman board-certified in surgery and has worked to bring Navajo understandings of healing together with Western medicine.
★ Great for a Research Project
Jani Ingram
Navajo Nation
Navajo chemist and professor whose environmental research examines the effects of mining and contamination on Native lands and communities.
★ Great for a Research Project
Otakuye Conroy-Ben
Oglala Lakota
Oglala Lakota environmental engineer and professor whose research focuses on water quality, health, and environmental issues affecting tribal communities.
★ Great for a Research Project
Fred Begay
Navajo Nation
Navajo nuclear physicist who connected modern physics with ideas he learned growing up in Navajo culture and worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
★ Great for a Research Project
Marigold Linton
Cahuilla-Cupeño
Cahuilla-Cupeño psychologist and educator who became one of the first Native American women to earn a doctorate in psychology and helped expand opportunities for Native students in science.
★ Great for a Research Project
Bertha Parker Pallan Cody
Abenaki/Seneca
Archaeologist of Abenaki and Seneca heritage who became one of the earliest Native American women to work professionally in archaeology.
★ Great for a Research Project
Annie Dodge Wauneka
Navajo Nation / Diné
Diné public-health leader and Navajo Tribal Council member who fought tuberculosis, created an English-Navajo medical dictionary, and used radio and education to improve health while respecting traditional cultural values.
★ Great for a Research Project
Joy Harjo
Muscogee (Creek) Nation
Muscogee poet, musician, author, and the first Native American U.S. Poet Laureate, whose writing brings Indigenous histories, voices, and contemporary life into American literature.
★ Great for a Research Project
N. Scott Momaday
Kiowa
Kiowa author, poet, artist, and professor whose Pulitzer Prize-winning writing helped bring Native oral tradition, place, and identity to a wide national audience.
★ Great for a Research Project
Louise Erdrich
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa
Turtle Mountain Chippewa author whose novels, poetry, and children’s books explore Native families, communities, history, and contemporary life.
★ Great for a Research Project
Leslie Marmon Silko
Laguna Pueblo
Laguna Pueblo writer whose fiction and poetry weave Indigenous storytelling, history, place, and contemporary experience.
★ Great for a Research Project
Tommy Orange
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes
Cheyenne and Arapaho author whose fiction centers contemporary urban Native lives and challenges stereotypes about what Native identity looks like today.
★ Great for a Research Project
Angeline Boulley
Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa author whose young-adult novels combine mystery with Ojibwe community, culture, language, and contemporary issues.
★ Great for a Research Project
Traci Sorell
Cherokee Nation
Cherokee Nation author who writes children’s books that center contemporary Native families, community, language, and history.
★ Great for a Research Project
Joseph Bruchac
Nulhegan Abenaki
Author and storyteller whose many books for young readers draw on Native stories and histories; students should also understand that claims about his Abenaki ancestry have been publicly disputed.
★ Great for a Research Project
Anton Treuer
Leech Lake Ojibwe
Leech Lake Ojibwe scholar, author, and language advocate whose work supports Ojibwe language revitalization and helps explain Native history and contemporary issues.
★ Great for a Research Project
Maria Martinez
San Ildefonso Pueblo / Tewa
San Ildefonso Pueblo potter who, with family collaborators including her husband Julian, developed internationally celebrated black-on-black pottery while carrying Pueblo pottery knowledge forward through generations.
★ Great for a Research Project
Allan Houser
Chiricahua Apache
Chiricahua Apache sculptor and painter whose influential modern art brought Native subjects and artistic innovation to museums around the world.
★ Great for a Research Project
Oscar Howe
Yanktonai Dakota
Yanktonai Dakota artist and professor who challenged narrow expectations of Indian art and helped open space for modern Native artists.
★ Great for a Research Project
T.C. Cannon
Kiowa/Caddo
Kiowa and Caddo painter, poet, and musician whose bold modern art combined Native experience with contemporary styles and social commentary.
★ Great for a Research Project
Wes Studi
Cherokee Nation
Cherokee actor and Vietnam veteran whose film career brought complex Native characters to major American movies.
★ Great for a Research Project
Sterlin Harjo
Seminole/Muscogee
Seminole and Muscogee filmmaker who co-created Reservation Dogs, bringing contemporary Native humor, community, and young people to a major television audience.
★ Great for a Research Project
Sydney Freeland
Navajo
Navajo filmmaker and director whose work tells contemporary Native stories in film and television.
★ Great for a Research Project
R. Carlos Nakai
Navajo/Ute
Navajo-Ute musician whose recordings helped bring the Native American flute to audiences around the world.
★ Great for a Research Project
Notah Begay III
Navajo/San Felipe/Isleta Pueblo
Navajo, San Felipe, and Isleta Pueblo professional golfer who later created programs focused on health and opportunity for Native youth.
★ Great for a Research Project
Jim Thorpe
Sac and Fox Nation
Sac and Fox athlete who won Olympic gold medals and became a star in professional football and baseball, making him one of the most celebrated all-around athletes in U.S. history.
★ Great for a Research Project
Billy Mills
Oglala Lakota
Oglala Lakota runner and U.S. Marine who won Olympic gold in the 10,000 meters in 1964 and later helped create programs supporting Native youth and communities.
★ Great for a Research Project
Shoni Schimmel
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Basketball player from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation who became a college and WNBA star and inspired many Native young athletes.
★ Great for a Research Project
Bronson Koenig
Ho-Chunk Nation
Ho-Chunk basketball player who starred at the University of Wisconsin and used his platform to speak about Native identity and issues.
★ Great for a Research Project
Madison Hammond
Navajo/San Felipe Pueblo
Professional soccer player of Navajo and San Felipe Pueblo heritage who became the first Native American player in the National Women’s Soccer League.
★ Great for a Research Project
Louis Tewanima
Hopi
Hopi distance runner who won an Olympic silver medal in 1912 and became one of the great American distance runners of his era.
★ Great for a Research Project
Ellison “Tarzan” Brown
Narragansett
Narragansett distance runner who won the Boston Marathon twice and became one of the leading American marathoners of the 1930s.
★ Great for a Research Project
Chester Nez
Navajo Nation
Navajo Marine and one of the original Navajo Code Talkers who helped develop the code used for secure U.S. military communications during World War II.
★ Great for a Research Project
Peter MacDonald Sr.
Navajo Nation
Navajo Code Talker and longtime public speaker who helped teach later generations about the Code Talkers’ World War II service.
★ Great for a Research Project
Ernest Childers
Muscogee Nation
Muscogee soldier who received the Medal of Honor for extraordinary bravery during World War II.
★ Great for a Research Project
Jack C. Montgomery
Cherokee Nation
Cherokee soldier who received the Medal of Honor for extraordinary bravery during World War II.
★ Great for a Research Project
Mitchell Red Cloud Jr.
Ho-Chunk Nation
Ho-Chunk soldier who received the Medal of Honor after giving his life while defending his unit during the Korean War.
★ Great for a Research Project
Autumn Peltier
Wiikwemkoong First Nation
Anishinaabe water advocate from Wiikwemkoong First Nation who began speaking internationally as a young person about clean water and protecting the Great Lakes.
★ Great for a Research Project
Aaron Yazzie
Navajo Nation / Diné
Diné mechanical engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory whose work has supported Mars missions including Curiosity and Perseverance and who encourages Indigenous students to see themselves in STEM.
★ Great for a Research Project
Nicole Aunapu Mann
Wailacki / Round Valley Indian Tribes
NASA astronaut, Marine Corps colonel, combat pilot, and test pilot who became the first Indigenous woman from NASA to travel to space and commanded the Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station.
★ Great for a Research Project
Quannah ChasingHorse
Hän Gwich’in and Oglala Lakota
Hän Gwich’in and Oglala Lakota model and land protector who uses fashion and public advocacy to bring attention to Indigenous identity and environmental issues.
★ Great for a Research Project
Sean Sherman
Oglala Lakota
Oglala Lakota chef and educator known as The Sioux Chef who promotes Indigenous foods, food knowledge, and Native food sovereignty.
★ Great for a Research Project
Crystal Echo Hawk
Pawnee Nation
Pawnee leader and advocate who founded IllumiNative to challenge stereotypes and increase accurate, contemporary representation of Native peoples.
★ Great for a Research Project
Dallas Goldtooth
Dakota/Diné
Dakota and Diné organizer, comedian, and environmental advocate who combines activism and storytelling to address climate and Indigenous issues.
★ Great for a Research Project
Carl Gorman
Navajo Nation
Navajo Marine and World War II Code Talker who helped use the Navajo language to create secure military communications in the Pacific.
★ Great for a Research Project
Charles Chibitty
Comanche
Comanche World War II Code Talker who helped develop a military code based on the Comanche language and served in major European battles including D-Day.
★ Great for a Research Project
Po’pay
Ohkay Owingeh
Tewa leader from Ohkay Owingeh who organized the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, a coordinated uprising that drove Spanish colonizers from New Mexico for more than a decade.
★ Great for a Research Project
Jordin Tootoo
Inuit
Inuit hockey player who became the first Inuk to play in the National Hockey League and later used his platform to support youth and mental-health awareness.
★ Great for a Research Project
Joanne Shenandoah
Oneida Nation
Oneida singer and composer whose award-winning music shared Haudenosaunee culture, spirituality, and contemporary Native experience with audiences around the world.
★ Great for a Research Project
Cindy Blackstock
Gitxsan First Nation
Advocates for the rights and well-being of First Nations children in Canada.
★ Great for a Research Project
Sheila Watt-Cloutier
Inuk / Nunavik
Inuit leader, author, and environmental advocate connecting climate change with culture and human rights.
★ Great for a Research Project
Murray Sinclair
Anishinaabe
Anishinaabe judge and senator who chaired Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and helped bring residential-school history and survivors’ experiences to national attention.
★ Great for a Research Project
Edith Kanakaʻole
Native Hawaiian
Native Hawaiian teacher, composer, chanter, and cultural practitioner whose work strengthened Hawaiian language, hula, and traditional knowledge.
★ Great for a Research Project
Pualani Kanakaʻole Kanahele
Native Hawaiian
Native Hawaiian scholar, teacher, and cultural practitioner whose work has helped sustain Hawaiian language, hula, environmental knowledge, and traditional learning.
★ Great for a Research Project
Jane Johnston Schoolcraft
Ojibwe
Ojibwe poet, writer, translator, and language-preservation trailblazer.
★ Great for a Research Project
Elizabeth Peratrovich
Tlingit
Tlingit civil-rights leader and Alaska Native Sisterhood Grand President whose advocacy helped win passage of Alaska’s 1945 Anti-Discrimination Act.
★ Great for a Research Project
Preston Singletary
Tlingit
Tlingit glass artist whose internationally exhibited work combines Northwest Coast design, stories, and cultural identity with contemporary glassmaking.
★ Great for a Research Project
Joe Medicine Crow
Crow Tribe (Apsáalooke)
Crow historian, anthropologist, World War II veteran, and tribal war chief who preserved Crow history through scholarship, oral history, and community service.
★ Great for a Research Project
Duke Kahanamoku
Native Hawaiian
Native Hawaiian Olympic swimmer and waterman who helped popularize surfing around the world.
★ Great for a Research Project
Edmonia Lewis
Mississauga/Ojibwe and African American
Sculptor of African American and Native American ancestry who became the first artist of African American and Native American descent to achieve international recognition in sculpture.
★ Great for a Research Project
Raven Chacon
Diné
Diné composer and artist whose experimental music and visual work earned major national recognition, including a Pulitzer Prize for music.
★ Great for a Research Project
Kenojuak Ashevak
Inuk
Pioneering Inuit artist whose drawings and prints helped bring Inuit art to audiences around the world.
★ Great for a Research Project
Bill Reid
Haida
Haida artist, carver, and jewelry maker whose work helped renew and bring international attention to Haida visual traditions.
★ Great for a Research Project
Katie John
Ahtna Athabascan
Ahtna Athabascan elder whose long legal fight helped protect Alaska Native subsistence fishing rights and traditional ways of life.
★ Great for a Research Project
Queen Liliʻuokalani
Native Hawaiian
The last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, a composer and leader who defended Hawaiian sovereignty during the overthrow of her government.
★ Great for a Research Project
Bernice Pauahi Bishop
Native Hawaiian
Native Hawaiian aliʻi whose will created the Kamehameha Schools to support the education of Native Hawaiian children.
★ Great for a Research Project
Sven Haakanson
Sugpiaq / Alutiiq
Sugpiaq scholar and museum leader whose work supports the return, documentation, and revitalization of Alutiiq cultural knowledge and objects.
★ Great for a Research Project
Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa / Métis
Turtle Mountain Chippewa and Métis lawyer, federal employee, suffragist, and Native-rights advocate who worked for treaty rights and became the first woman of color to graduate from Washington College of Law.
★ Great for a Research Project
Charlene Teters
Spokane Tribe
Spokane artist, educator, and activist whose art and organizing helped challenge harmful Native stereotypes and Native-themed sports mascots.
★ Great for a Research Project
Robbie Hood
Cherokee family heritage
Atmospheric scientist whose 21-year NASA career used research aircraft to study hurricanes and tropical weather; NASA also documents her family’s Cherokee Nation roots and later work with tribal partners on unmanned aircraft research.
★ Great for a Research Project
Buffalo Calf Road Woman
Northern Cheyenne
Northern Cheyenne woman remembered for riding into the Battle of the Rosebud to rescue her wounded brother, an act so important that the Northern Cheyenne remember the fight as Where the Girl Saved Her Brother.
★ Great for a Research Project
Mary Brave Bird
Sicangu Lakota / Rosebud Sioux Tribe
Sicangu Lakota writer and activist whose memoir Lakota Woman tells about growing up on the Rosebud Reservation and participating in the American Indian Movement and the 1973 occupation at Wounded Knee.
★ Great for a Research Project
Research With Respect
Indigenous peoples are living, diverse communities—not just people from the past. Use each person’s nation or community name when it is known. Learn from tribal, Indigenous-led, museum, university, government, and other carefully selected sources. Avoid stereotypes, costumes, invented symbols, or treating all Native nations as if they are the same.
★ Great for a Research Project means carefully selected material is available for a student to build a strong research project.