Biography of famous indians in american
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The brief profiles below spotlight eight widely recognized individuals. Their lives remind us that Indigenous history is not confined to the past; it is evolving daily in courtrooms, studios, sports arenas, and government halls.
Were you already familiar with all of these trailblazers?
Tell us in the comments which figures surprised you—and, more importantly, which other Native Americans you believe deserve the spotlight.
The treaty also helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter in the New World, as Massasoit and his people provided them with food and supplies.
Massasoit remained a loyal friend to the Pilgrims for many years. Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse was a Lakota tribe war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century.
1628–1701
As with Powhatan, little is known of Tamanend’s life beyond his encounters with 17th century English settlers. He was a skilled military leader, and he led many successful raids against American settlements. He was later seen at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and riding in President Theodore Roosevelt’s inaugural parade.
CHIEF JOSEPH
Nez Perce leader Chief Joseph (1840-1904) led his people on a 1,200-mile fighting retreat toward Canada before surrendering just 40 miles from the border with his famous speech, “I will fight no more forever.”
RED CLOUD
Oglala Lakota chief Red Cloud (1822-1909) won Red Cloud's War against the U.S.
Army. He carried his writing tools everywhere—even into battle—testing his 85 symbols with his daughter.
TECUMSEH
Shawnee leader Tecumseh (1768-1813) united tribes across the Great Lakes to resist U.S. expansion and could recite entire treaties from memory.
CHIEF SEATTLE
Suquamish and Duwamish leader Chief Seattle (1786-1866) delivered a speech on environmental stewardship that inspired the founding of the city bearing his name, reportedly carrying a silver-tipped cane engraved with his Treaty of Point Elliott signature.
WILMA MANKILLER
Cherokee activist Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010) became the first female Principal Chief of her nation after surviving a near-fatal car accident she called a spiritual awakening.
Tecumseh traveled throughout the Midwest, preaching unity and resistance to white expansion.
Sacagawea (Lemhi Shoshone, c. The retreat, a deadly skirmish forcing his band of 700 people on the run from their Wallowa Valley home, came after years of resisting the U.S. government’s forced removal to a small Idaho reservation.
He was the only Native American to be promoted to the rank of brigadier general during the Civil War.
Watie was born in what is now Georgia. He died in 1520 from the assassination of the Spanish Conquistadors.
17.
He was betrayed by one of his own people and killed by English soldiers.
Metacomet's death marked the end of King Philip's War. However, the war had a profound impact on the Native Americans of New England. He was succeeded by his son Metacomet, who is better known as King Philip. He was a member of the Sac and Fox Nation, and he grew up on a reservation.
The Lower Creeks were more willing to negotiate with the Americans.
Weatherford was a leader of the Red Sticks. Wahunsenaca
Wahunsenacawh, also known as Powhatan, was the paramount chief of the Powhatan Confederacy, a group of Algonquian-speaking Native American tribes in what is now Virginia.
He was a skilled warrior and a respected leader, and he played a major role in the early history of the Virginia Colony.
Wahunsenacawh was born in what is now Virginia around 1547.
He was given the name Mahpiua Luta, which means "Red Cloud."
In 1865, Red Cloud led the Oglala and Cheyenne in a war against the United States Army. Watie's brothers were Gallagina, nicknamed "Buck" (who later took the name Elias Boudinot), and Thomas Watie.
Watie was educated at the Moravian Mission School in Springplace, Georgia. He eventually created a system of 85 characters, each of which represented a syllable in the Cherokee language.
The Cherokee syllabary was first published in 1821.