Jim Thorpe 1888-1953

American athlete, born near Prague, Okla. Thorpe was probably the greatest all-round male athlete the United States has ever produced. His mother, a Sac, named him Bright Path, and in 1907 he entered the Carlisle Indian School at Carlisle, Pa. He joined (1908) the Carlisle football team, coached by Glenn ("Pop") Warner, and in 1911-12 Thorpe, playing left halfback, led Carlisle in startling upsets over such highly rated teams as Harvard, Army, and the Univ. of Pennsylvania. In 1912, Thorpe took part in the Olympic games held at Stockholm, Sweden, and performed magnificently. He won the broad jump and the 200-meter and 1,500-meter runs of the pentathlon; won the shot put, the 1,500-meter run, and the hurdle race of the decathlon; and was the runner-up in the other events of the pentathlon and decathlon. In 1913, however, Thorpe surrendered his awards, at the request of the Amateur Athletic Union and the insistence of Glenn Warner, to the Olympic headquarters in Switzerland; it had been discovered that Thorpe had played (1909-10) semiprofessional baseball with the Rocky Mount, N.C., team of the North Carolina Eastern League. The medals were restored posthumously in 1982. In 1919, Thorpe played briefly with the New York Giants baseball team. He afterward played professional football with the Canton (Ohio) Bulldogs and other teams and later became supervisor of recreation for the Chicago parks. Jim Thorpe, Pa., where he was buried in 1954, is named in his honor.
 

Wilma Mankiller 1945-2010

As the powerful, visionary first woman Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller is responsible for 139,000 people and a $69 million budget. Mankiller spent her formative years in San Francisco, where she learned about the women's movement and organizing. When she returned to her native Oklahoma, Mankiller used her skills to help the Cherokee Nation, starting community self-help programs and teaching people ways out of poverty. In 1983 she ran for deputy chief of the Nation, and in 1985 Mankiller became Principal Chief, a position she holds today. Mankiller has brought about important strides for the Cherokees, including improved health care, education, utilities management and tribal government. Future plans call for attracting higher-paying industry to the area, improving adult literacy, supporting women returning to school and more. Mankiller also lives in the larger world, active in civil rights matters, lobbying the federal government and supporting women's activities and issues. She says: "We've had daunting problems in many critical areas, but I believe in the old Cherokee injunction to 'be of a good mind.' Today it's called positive thinking."
 

LaDonna Harris 1931-

LaDonna Harris, Comanche, Oklahoma. Has worked for decades on behalf of Indian tribes, civil rights, and world peace. Her public service career began as the wife of Senator Fred Harris; the Harrises were complementary partners in many initiatives. Developing her own political momentum, she founded Oklahomans for Indian Opportunity. In 1970 she founded Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO),a multi-tribal organization that is a catalyst for new opportunities for Indian people. Today her passion is the Ambassadors program of AIO, which trains and sends young people to observe indigenous governments first hand.
 

Maria TallChief 1925-

Born Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief to an Osage Nation father, she became an eventually well-know ballerina. In 1947 Maria began dancing with the New York City Ballet until her retirement in 1965. Soon after she founded the Chicago City Ballet and remained it's artistic director for many years. Since 1997 she has been an adviser in the Chicago dance schools and continues to astound future dancers with her always-ahead-of-her-skill abilities and will be featured in a PBS special from 2007-2010.
 

Ben Nighthorse Campbell 1933-

The only American Indian in Congress, Republican senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell is also a Northern Cheyenne chief. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado in 1987 and served in the U.S. Senate from 1992-2004. Campbell was a leader in policy dealing with natural resources and public lands and initiated legislation to found the National Museum of the American Indian within the Smithsonian Institution. He declined running for a third term in the Senate, citing health and personal reasons. A three-time U.S. judo champion, Campbell was captain of the U.S. Olympic judo team in 1964. He is also a rancher, horse trainer, and jewelry designer.
 

IRA HAMILTON HAYES 1923 - 1955

Ira Hamilton Hayes is a full blood Pima Indian and was born in Sacaton, Arizona, on the Pima Reservation on Jan 12, 1923. His parents Joe E. and Nancy W. Hayes were both farming people. Ira Hayes was a noted World War ll hero. Although he had a normal childhood on his reservation, his life changed dramatically when war broke out and he joined the Marine Corps. After he completed courses under the U.S. Marine Corps Parachutist School at San Diego, California. He was lovingly dubbed "Chief Falling Cloud." Ira Hayes was assigned to a parachute battalion of the fleet Marine Force. By the beginning of 1945, he was part of the American invasion force that attacked the Japanese stronghold of Iwo Jima. On Feb. 23, 1945 to signal the end of control, Hayes and five other's raised the U. S. flag atop Mount Auribuchi on the island of Iwo Jima. Three of the six men were killed while raising the flag. This heroic act was photographed by Joe Rosenthal, and it transformed Ira Hayes' life for ever. Subsequently a commemorative postage stamp was created as well as bronze statue in Washington DC. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the brave survivors of the flag raising back to the United States to aid a war bond drive. They were shuttled from one city to another for publicity purposes with questionable sincerity on the part of the American military. Ira Hayes asked to be sent back to the front lines, stating that "sometimes I wish that guy had never made that picture". At the conclusion of World War ll he returned to his reservation, disillusioned by what he felt was unwarranted adoration. He began to drink heavily resulting from well-meaning friends offering drink's in their appreciation of his "Heroism". He was never able to get his life back in balance again. Ira Hayes died of exposure at the age of thirty-three on Jan, 24th 1955. He was memoralized by the Pima people and characterized as "a hero to everyone but himself". He is buried in Arlington Cemetery. He never married.
 

Red Cloud 1822-1909

Perhaps one of the most capable warriors from the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) tribesmen ever faced by the US military, Makhpiya Luta, his Sioux name, led his people in what is known as Red Cloud's War. This battle was for the rights to the area known as Powder River Country in Northern Wyoming and Southern Montana. Eventually he led his people during their time on reservation.
 

Cochise 1815-1874

Though actually pronounced K-you Ch-Ish, this Apache leader is second only to Geronimo when it comes to that tribe's historical significance. Often described as having the classical Indian frame; muscular, large for the time, and known to wear his long, black hair in a traditional pony tail, Cochise aided in the uprising to resist intrusions by Mexicans and American in the 19th century.
 

Squanto 1581-1622

Assisting the Pilgrims during their first, harsh winter, the Patuxet, Tasquantum (Squanto) befriended the group in order to see them safely through to spring. In 1608, alas, Squanto and several others were kidnapped by Georgie Weymouth and taken aboard ship to England. Though eventually earning a living and learning the English language, Squanto made his return home in 1613 aboard John Smith's ship only to find his tribe completely wiped out by the plague.
 

Crazy Horse 1840-1877

With a name in his tribe, Lakota: Thasuka Witko, that literally means "His-Horse-is-Crazy", this Native American was actually born with the name: Cha-O-Ha meaning in Lakotan, "In the Wilderness", and he was often called Curly due to his hair. In the Great Sioux War of 1876, Crazy Horse led a combined group of nearly 1,500 Lakota and Cheyenne in a surprise attack against General George Crook's force of 1,000 English men and 300 Crow and Shoshone warriors. The battle, though not substantial in terms of lives lost, nearly prevented Crook from joining up with General Custer, ensuring Custer's subsequent defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Crazy Horse went on to oppose the US Government in their various decisions on how to handle Indian affairs.
 

Sacajawea 1788-1812

Sacajawea is most well know for accompanying Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their Corps of Discovery of the Western United States in 1806. She was born in a Shoshone tribe as Agaidika, or "Salmon Eater" in 1788. In February of 1805, just after meeting Lewis and Clark, Lewis assisted in the birth of her son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. Her face now appears in the dollar coin.
 

Pontiac 1720-1769

Known in his Ottawa tongue as Obwandiyag, Chief Pontiac is most well known for his defense of the Great Lakes Region of the US from the British Troop invasion and occupation. In 1763, Pontiac and 300 of his followers attempted to take Fort Detroit by surprise. Eventually the revolt rose to 900 plus Natives and they eventually took the Fort at The Battle of Bloody Run. Though historically a prominent figure, many are still unsure as to his real importance and to whether or not he was a mere follower rather than a leader. Increasingly ostracized, in 1769 he was assassinated by a Peoria Indian in Illinois.
 

Geronimo 1829-1909

Geronimo (Chiricahua: "one who yawns", often spelled Goyathlay or Goyahkla in English) was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who defended his people against the encroachment of the US on their tribal lands for over 25 years. While Geronimo said he was never actually a chief, he was rather a military leader. As a Chiricahua Apache, this meant he was also a spiritual leader. He consistently urged raids and war upon many Mexican and later U.S. groups. Geronimo eventually went on to marry 6 wives, an Apache tradition. He staged what was to be the last great Native American uprising, and eventually moved to a reservation often giving permissions to appear at fairs and schools.
 

Tecumseh 1768-1813

A Shawnee leader whose name means, "Panther in the Sky", Tecumseh became well known for taking disparate tribes folk and maintaining hold on the land that was rightfully theirs. In 1805, a religious native rebirth led by Tenskwatawa emerged. Tenskwatawa urged natives to reject the ways of the English, and to stop handing over land to the United States. Opposing Tenskwatawa was the Shawnee leader, Black Hoof who was working to maintain a peaceful relationship with the United States. By 1808, tensions built and compelled Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh to move further northwest and establish the village of Prophetstown near Battle Ground, Indiana. He died in the War of 1812.
 

Sitting Bull 1831-1890

Sitting Bull (Sioux: Tatanka Iyotake first named Slon-he, or, literally, slow), was a Hunkpapa Lakota medicine man and holy man. He is famous in both American and Native American history mostly for his major victory at the Battle of Little Bighorn against Custer, where his premonition of defeating them became reality. Even today, his name is synonymous with Native American culture, and he is considered to be one of the most famous Native Americans ever.
 

Black Hawk 1767-1838

Though not a traditional tribe chief, even after inheriting a very important medicine bundle, Black Hawk would become more well known as a War Chief. In his tribe's (Sauk's) tongue, his name, Makataimeshekiakiak, means, "Be a large black hawk". During the War of 1812 Black Hawk, so name-shortened by the English, became a fierce and powerful opponent. First fighting on the side of the British, Black Hawk eventually led a band of Sauk and Fox against settlers in Illinois and Wisconsin, eventually dying in Iowa. His legend is kept alive by many claiming to be directly related, like Jim Thorpe. This is, however, myth.
 

Sequoiah 1767-1843

Though the exact location of Sequoiah's birth and death are unknown due to historically inaccurate writings, he is well known through translation and spoken accounts of having grown up with his mother in Tuskegee, Tennessee. Sequoyah ( S-si-quo-ya in Cherokee) known as George Guess, Guest or Gist, was a silversmith who invented the Cherokee Syllabry, thus earning him a place on the list of inventors of writing systems as well.
 

Pocahontas 1595-1617

Having taken many liberties with her overall appearance, Disney created the image many of us believe to be what Pocahontas may have looked like. This is far from accurate. Though the film's history is similarly flawed, it does hold some truths. Pocahontas was a Native American woman who married an Englishman called John Rolfe and became a celebrity in London in the last year of her life. She was a daughter of Wahunsunacock (also known as Chief or Emperor Powhatan), who presided over an area comprised of almost all of the neighboring tribes in Virginia (called Tenakomakah then). Her formal names were Matoaka and Amonute; Pocahontas was a childhood nickname referring to her frolicsome nature. In her last days she went by Rebecca Rolfe, choosing to live an English life by abandoning her Native American heritage.
 

Hiawatha 1550-1600

Hiawatha who lived (depending on the version of the story) in the 1400s, or 1500s, he was variously a leader of the Onondaga and Mohawk nations of Native Americans. Hiawatha was a follower of The Great Peacemaker, a prophet and spiritual leader who was credited as the founder of the Iroquois confederacy, (referred to as Haudenosaunee by the people). If The Great Peacemaker was the man of ideas, Hiawatha was the politician who actually put the plan into practice. Hiawatha was a skilled and charismatic orator, and was instrumental in persuading the Iroquois peoples, the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Mohawks, a group of Native North Americans who shared similar languages, to accept The Great Peacemaker's vision and band together to become the Five Nations of the Iroquois confederacy. (Later, in 1721, the Tuscarora nation joined the Iroquois confederacy, and they became the Six Nations).
 

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