- Sherman Alexie
Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr. (born October 7, 1966 in Spokane, Washington) is an award-winning and prolific author and occasional comedian. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a modern Native American. He lives in Seattle, Washington. - Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author of the early 19th century. Best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip van Winkle" (both of which appear in his book "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon"), he was also a prolific essayist, biographer and historian. Irving and James Fenimore Cooper were the first American writers to earn acclaim in Europe, and Irving is said to have encouraged authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, … - Henry Schoolcraft
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793-December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his "discovery" in 1832 of the source of the Mississippi River. His wife's knowledge on Native American legends shared with Schoolcraft formed in part the source material for Longfellow's epic poem, "The Song of Hiawatha". - James Welch
James Welch (1940-August 4 2003), born in Browning, Montana, was an award-winning U.S. author and poet. His father was a member of the Blackfeet tribe and his mother a member of the Gros Ventre tribe. Welch was given the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres medal and full knighthood, by France in recognition of his contributions to French culture. - Richard White
Richard White (born May 28, 1947) is an American historian, a past President of the Organization of American Historians, and the author of influential books on the American West, Native American history, and environmental history. He is the Margaret Byrne Professor of American History at Stanford University, having previously taught at the University of Washington, University of Utah, and Michigan State University. - Handsome Lake
Handsome Lake or Ganioda'yo (1735 - 10 August 1815) was a Seneca religious leader of the Iroquois people. He was also half-brother to Cornplanter. Before his emergence as a prophet, Handsome Lake fought in Pontiac's Rebellion (against the British) and the American Revolutionary War (against the Americans). After struggling with alcoholism and an apparently near-fatal illness in 1799, … - Mecosta
Mecosta was a 19th century Potawatomi chief. His name means "Big Bear". Mecosta was born near what is today Big Rapids, Michigan. Mecosta County, Michigan is named for him. Mecosta is best-known as a signer of the Treaty of Washington in 1836. - Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate is an American composer and pianist. A citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, he is one of only a handful of American Indian classical composers, and his compositions show the influence of American Indian history and culture, though filtered through a modern lens, in the manner of the works of Béla Bartók. - Dale E. Kildee
Dale Edward Kildee (b. September 16 1929, Flint, Michigan) has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan since 1977, representing Michigan's 5th congressional district since 2003. Kildee earned his B.A. from Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, Michigan in 1952. He earned a teacher's certificate from the University of Detroit in 1955. - Link Wray
Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr was an American rock and roll guitar player most noted for pioneering a new sound for electric guitars in his hit 1958 instrumental "Rumble", by Link Wray and his Ray Men. Before "Rumble"', electric guitars were commonly used to produce clean sounds and jazz chords. Wray pioneered electric guitar distortions, like overdrive and fuzz, and was the first guitarist to use power chords to play a song's melody. - Elizabeth Cook-Lynn
Elizabeth Cook-Lynn (born 1930) is a Crow Creek Lakota Sioux editor, essayist, poet, novelist, and academic, whose trenchant views on Native American politics, particularly tribal sovereignty, have caused controversy. Cook-Lynn co-founded "Wicazo Sa Review", an academic journal devoted to the development of Native American studies as an academic discipline. She retired from her long academic career at Eastern Washington University in 1993, … - Charlene Teters
Charlene Teters (b. Spokane, Washington) is an American artist, writer, human rights activist, educator, and lecturer. Her paintings and art installations have been featured in over 21 major exhibitions, commissions, and collections. She is a member of the Spokane Tribe and her Spokane name is Slum Tah. She was born and raised in Spokane, Washington, near the Spokane Indian Reservation. - Bob Barker
Robert William "Bob" Barker (born December 12, 1923) is a nineteen-time Emmy Award-winning American television game show host. He is best known for hosting CBS's "The Price Is Right" since September 4, 1972, making it the longest-running daytime game show in television history. - Chief Leschi
Chief Leschi (1808 - February 19, 1858) was chief of the Nisqually Native American tribe. He was hanged for murder in 1858 and exonerated in 2004. Leschi was born in 1808 near what is today Eatonville, Washington, to a Nisqually father and a Yakama mother. He was appointed chief by Isaac Stevens, first governor of Washington Territory, to represent the Nisqually and Puyallup tribes at the Medicine Creek Treaty council of December 26, 1854, … - Frank Hamilton Cushing
Frank Hamilton Cushing July 22, 1857- April 10, 1900 was born in Northeastern Pennsylvania, later moving with his family to western New York. As a boy he took an interest in the Native American artifacts in the surrounding countryside and taught himself how to knap flint (make arrowheads and such from flint). He published his first scientific paper when he was only 17. After a brief period at Cornell University at 19, … - Yellow Thunder
Yellow Thunder (Ho-chunk name Wahkanjahzeegah also given as Wakunchakookah, born in 1774) was a chief of the Ho-Chunk tribe. Historians statethat he and his fellow chiefs were persuaded to sign their lands over to whites without realizing what they were doing. After signing over their lands, in what is now the area of Green Bay, Wisconsin, the tribe was given eight months to leave. - Carter Revard
Carter Curtis Revard (born March 25, 1931) is an American poet, writer and scholar. He is part Osage on his father's side. He is also known by his Osage name, Nom-Peh-Wah-The given to him in 1952 by his grandmother, Mrs. Josephine Jump. - Pappy Boyington
Colonel Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, USMC, (December 4, 1912 - January 11, 1988) was an American fighter ace. Boyington flew initially with the American Volunteer Group ("The Flying Tigers") in the Republic of China Air Force during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He later commanded the famous U.S. Marine Corps squadron, VMF-214 ("The Black Sheep Squadron") during World War II. Boyington became a prisoner of war later in the war. - Vi Hilbert
Vi Hilbert is a Native American tribal elder of the Upper Skagit, a tribe of the greater Puget Salish in Washington State, whose ancestors occupied the banks along the Skagit River, and is a conservationist of the Lushootseed language and culture. She was named a Washington State Living Treasure in 1989, and received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts, presented by President Bill Clinton, in 1994. - Smohalla
Smohalla (c. 1815 - 1895) "Wanapum" nineteenth-century dreamer-prophet associated with a revitalization movement among Native American people in the Pacific Northwest’s Columbia Plateau region. Born between 1815 and 1820 in the Wallula area of present-day Washington State, Smohalla belonged to the Shahaptian Wanapum (also "Wanapam"; called "Sokulk" by Lewis and Clark) tribal group. At birth he was called "Wak-wei" or "Kuk-kia", … - Chief Moses
Chief Moses (born "Kwiltalahun", later called "Sulk-stalk-scosum" - "The Sun Chief") (c. 1829-March 25, 1899) was a Native American chief of the Sin-kah-yous, in what is now Washington State. The territory of his tribe extended approximately from Waterville to White Bluffs, in the Columbia Basin. They were often in the area around Moses Lake. The tribe numbered perhaps a few hundred individuals. - Frances Benjamin Johnston
Frances "Fannie" Benjamin Johnston was one of the earliest American female photographers and photojournalists. The only surviving child of wealthy and well connected parents, she was raised in Washington D.C. and studied at the Académie Julian in Paris and the Washington Students League. - Georgia Douglas Johnson
Georgia Blanche Douglas Camp Johnson better known as Georgia Douglas Johnson (September 10, 1877 - 1966) was an American poet. She was born in Atlanta to Laura Jackson and Douglas Camp. Her father's father was a British citizen who immigrated to Marietta as a child with his wealthy parents. He died in his 30s, while enjoying a successful career as a musician. Johnson's mother was born in Marietta also. - Dawn Wells
Dawn Wells (born October 18, 1938 in Reno, Nevada) is an American actress, best known for her role as Mary Ann Summers on the sitcom "Gilligan's Island", which ran on CBS from 1964 until 1967. Wells attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, where she majored in chemistry. She later transferred to the University of Washington in Seattle, where she graduated in 1960 with a degree in theatre. She was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. - Raven Chacon
Raven Chacon (b. Fort Defiance, Navajo Nation, Arizona, United States, 1977) is an American composer and artist. He is known for being a composer of chamber music as well as being a solo performer of experimental noise music. As an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, … - Daniel Nimham
Daniel Nimham (1724-1778) was the last chief or sachem of the Wappingers and was the most prominent Native American of his time in the Hudson Valley. Prior to Henry Hudsons arrival in 1604, the Wappinger People lived on the eastern shore of the Muhheakantuck "the river that flows both ways" from the City of Manhattan, NY north to the Town of Rhinebeck, NY, east into Fairfield County, Connecticut. The Wappinger were allied with the Mohican People in the north, … - Michael Forest
Gerald Michael Charlebois, better known as Michael Forest (born April 17, 1929 in Harvey, North Dakota, USA), is an American voice actor who has voiced in many anime titles. However, one of his best-known roles was a live-action voice-over, that being the voice of Prince Olympius in "Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue". Formerly, Forest was a film and television actor in his heyday, but has since been well-known for his voice-acting roles. - Struck By The Ree
Struck by the Ree, also known as Strikes the Ree, was a chief of the Native American Yankton Sioux tribe. In 1804, a great pow-wow was held for the Lewis and Clark Expedition at Calumet Bluff/Gavins Point (near present-day Yankton, South Dakota) that included the "Shunka" sacred dog feast ceremony. During the festivities, the explorers learned that a boy had just been born, and they asked to see the infant. They wrapped the baby in an American flag, … - Lloyd Meeds
Lloyd Meeds (11 December 1927 - 18 August 2005), an American politician, served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1965 to 1979. He represented the Second Congressional District of Washington as a Democrat. Meeds was born in Dillon, Montana on 11 December, 1927. While in high school, his family moved to Monroe, Washington. - George de Forest Brush
George de Forest Brush was an American figure and portrait painter. He was born in Shelbyville, Tennessee He was a pupil of Gérome in Paris. He studied in Paris under Jean Leon Gerome, among others. His work was printed in Harpers and Century Magazines as early as 1881, including an illustrated article, An Artist Among the Indians in 1885. He taught at Cooper Union and at The Art Students League and he exhibited and was a member of the National Academy of Design. - Andrew Jackson Smith
Andrew Jackson Smith (April 28, 1815 - January 30, 1897) was a U.S. Army general during the American Civil War, rising to the command of a corps. He was most noted for routing Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest's force at the Battle of Tupelo, Mississippi, on July 14, 1864. It was the worst defeat ever suffered by the vaunted Forrest. Smith was born in rural Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1838, … - Melvin Francis
Melvin Joseph Francis (August 6, 1945-January 12 2006) was the governor of the Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation, one of two reservations in Maine of the Passamaquoddy Indian tribe, from 1980 until 1990 and again since 2002. Born and raised in Pleasant Point he attend local schools. After graduating from Shead High School he earned a journeyman's certificate and specialized in carpentry. - Eagle Of Delight
Eagle of Delight (Hayne Hudjihini) was one of the five wives of Chief Shaumonekusse of the Otoe tribe. In 1822, she accompanied her husband to Washington D.C. where she met James Monroe, the President of the United States. She was described by those who met her as beautiful and charming. Her portrait was commissioned, and was painted by Charles Bird King. She died of measles shortly after her visit. - Menawa
Menawa, was born about 1765 at the village of Oakfuskee located on or near the Tallapoosa River, the site is now covered by the lower part of Lake Martin. He was also known as Great Warrior and was a military leader of the Creek (Muscogee) people. Like many of the Creek leaders of his era, he was of mixed Scottish and American Indian ancestry. During the Creek War, he was one of the principal leaders of the "Red Sticks" or Upper Creeks, … - David Swinson Maynard
David Swinson "Doc" Maynard (March 22, 1808 - March 13, 1873) was an American pioneer and doctor, one of Seattle's founding fathers. He was an effective civic booster and, compared to other white settlers, a relative advocate of Native American rights. - Thomas Tibbles
Thomas Henry Tibbles (1838-1928) was a journalist from Omaha, Nebraska who became an activist for Native American rights in the United States during the late nineteenth century. - Martha George
Martha George was a member of the Suquamish tribe, and a descendant of Chief Seattle. She founded the Small Tribes Organization of Western Washington. From the late 1920s to the early 1940s, she was the Suquamish tribal chairman. - Patkanim
Patkanim (variously spelled Pat-ka-nam or Pat Kanim) was chief of the Snoqualmoo (Snoqualmie) and Snohomish tribe in what is now modern Washington State. During the 1850s, he lived at the largest village of his people located at "Yelhw", a fishing village at the confluence of the Tolt and Snoqualmie rivers (today, Fall City, Washington) in a complex containing sixteen longhouses. From here his control extended from Whidbey Island to Snoqualmie Pass. - Larry Echohawk
Larry Echohawk is a member of the Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma , serves as a Law Professor at Brigham Young University's J. Reuben Clark Law School. Prior to joining the BYU Law School faculty, Mr. Echohawk served as the Attorney General for the State of Idaho, the first American Indian in U.S. history elected as a state attorney general. - Yvonne Wanrow
Yvonne Wanrow, now known as Yvonne L. Swan, is a Native American woman of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation whose 1972 trial for the shooting death of a man who was attempting to molest her son became a cause célèbre of the feminist and American Indian movements. Her case reached the Washington Supreme Court, where its outcome had far-reaching effects on the manner in which juries interpret the behavior of a defendant, …
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