- Tony Hillerman
Tony Hillerman (born May 27 1925) is an award-winning American author of detective novels and non-fiction works. His mystery novels are set in the Four Corners area of New Mexico and Arizona. The protagonists are Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee of the Navajo tribal police. Lt. Leaphorn was introduced in Hillerman's first novel, "The Blessing Way" (1970). The second book in the series, "Dance Hall of the Dead" (1973), … - Tommy Singer
Tommy Singer is a well-known silversmith who specializes in Navajo jewelry. His inlaid turquoise, coral, & silver pieces incorporate the most traditional of Navajo design - designs that have endured for many years. Many of these designs are of traditional Navajo rugs and other timeless designs. Mr. Singer gained notoriety as the originator of the chip inlay design which he developed in the 1970's. Mr. Singer is a member of the Navajo tribe from Winslow, Arizona. - Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born November 26, 1939) is a 11 time Grammy Award-winning (sharing three), American Singer, Dancer, Record Producer, Executive Producer, Film Producer, Actress, Writer, Performer, Songwriter, Author and occasional Painter whose career has spanned from 1956 to present. Turner's success, dominance and popularity in Rock and Roll garnered her the title, … - R. C. Gorman
Rudolph Carl Gorman (July 26 1931 - November 3 2005) was a Native American artist of the Navajo nation. Referred to as "the Picasso of American art" by the "New York Times", his paintings are primarily of Native American women and characterized by fluid forms and vibrant colors, though he also worked in sculpture, ceramics, and stone lithography. He was also an avid lover of cuisine, authoring four cookbooks, … - R. Carlos Nakai
R. Carlos Nakai (b. Flagstaff, Arizona, April 16, 1946) is a Native American flutist of Navajo/Ute heritage. He released his first album, "Changes", in 1983 and since then his work has been universally appreciated. He has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, and two of his records, "Canyon Trilogy" and "Earth Spirit" (which are the two of the first native american flute albums to go gold), have been RIAA certified Gold. - Jacoby Ellsbury
Jacoby McCabe Ellsbury (born September 11, 1983, in Madras, Oregon) is a minor league baseball player who is currently the # 1 prospect in the Boston Red Sox organization and rated as the # 33 prospect for 2007 by Baseball America. He was originally drafted, but not signed, by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 23rd round of the 2002 MLB entry draft and in 2005 was drafted by Boston, 23rd overall, in the entry draft out of Oregon State University. - Jake Flake
Franklin Lars "Jake" Flake (born August 1935) is a Senator in the Arizona State Legislature (2004 to present). Previous to his term as State Senator, he served as a Representative in the Arizona Legislature, including a stint as the Speaker of the House. Jake Flake is a cattle rancher by profession, and he and three of his brothers have raised the Beefmaster breed. He was born in Snowflake, Arizona, and has lived in Snowflake for his entire life. - Fred Begay
Promotional photo of Dr. Fred Begay distributed as part of a 2004 press release on the occasion of his election to the New York Academy of Sciences. Credit: LeRoy N. Sanchez, Los Alamos National Laboratory.Fred Begay (born 1932), also known as Fred Young or Clever Fox is a Native American nuclear physicist. Begay was born in 1932 at Towaoc on the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation in Colorado. His mother was Navajo and Ute and his father was Navajo. - Peterson Zah
Peterson Zah (b. 1937) was the first 1st Navajo President and the last Chairman of the Navajo people. - Luci Tapahonso
Luci Tapahonso is a Navajo (Diné) poet and lecturer in Native American Studies. - Clyde Kluckhohn
Clyde Kay Maben Kluckhohn (11 January 1905, Le Mars, Iowa - 28 July 1960, near Santa Fe, New Mexico), was an American anthropologist and social theorist, best known for his long-term ethnographic work among the Navajo and his contributions to the development of theory of culture within American anthropology. - Douglas Spotted Eagle
Douglas Spotted Eagle is a Grammy-winning American musician, noted for his live and recorded performances on the traditional Native American flute, sometimes accompanied by either traditional Navajo (Diné) singers and instrumentalists or a modern band. He calls his music "modern ethnic", as it mixes jazz, new age, pop, and world beat with Native American music. Spotted Eagle received a Grammy Award for his production of "Gathering of Nations Powwow", … - Barboncito
Barboncit[o (1820-1871) was a famous Navajo political and spiritual leader. He also was known as "Hastin Dagha", "Hastin Daagi" ("Full-bearded Man"), "Bislahalani" ("the Orator"), and "Hozhooji Naata" ("Beautyway Chanter"). Barboncito was born into the Ma'iideeshgiizhnii (Coyote Pass) clan about 1820 and was a brother to Delgato. He was the signer of several treaties between the United States and Navajos, including one in 1846, … - George Gustav Heye
George Gustav Heye (1874-1957) was a collector of Native American artifacts. His collection became the core of the National Museum of the American Indian. Heye was the son of Carl Friederich Gustav Heye; and Marie Antoinette Lawrence of Hudson, New York. Carl was a German immigrant who earned his wealth in the petroleum industry. George Gustav graduated from Columbia College (now Columbia University) in 1896 with a degree in electrical engineering. - Manuelito
Manuelito was one of the principle war chiefs of the Navajo people before, during and after the Long Walk Period. Born to Bit'ahni Clan, near the Bear's Ears in southeastern Utah about 1818. As any Navajo, he was known by different names depending upon context. He was Askkii Dighin ('Holy Boy'), Dahaana Baadaane (Son-in-Law of Late Texan), Hastiin Ch'ilhaajin ("Black Weeds") and as Nabaah Jilt'aa (War Chief, "Warrior Grabbed Enemy") to other Diné, … - Richard Wetherill
Richard Wetherill (1858-1910), a member of a prominent Colorado ranching family, was an amateur explorer in the discovery, research and excavation of sites associated with the Anasazi or Ancient Pueblo peoples. Richard Wetherill is credited with the discovery of Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde and was responsible for initially selecting the term "Anasazi", Navajo for "ancient ones," as the name for these ancient people. - Michael Murphy
Michael John Murphy is a folk musician based in Omaha, Nebraska. He plays various instruments, notably the guitar and Native American flute. He is an experienced singer songwriter, having been playing guitar since the 1970's. His lyrics are often socially conscious or spiritual, but he is also very personal. He has been writing for much of that time, as noted by the lyrics to his most popular bar song, Liquor Stores, … - Notah Begay III
Notah Begay III (born September 14 1972) is an American golfer. Begay was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and graduated from high school at Albuquerque Academy. He graduated from Stanford University, where he was a 3-time All-American, and turned professional in 1995. He placed tenth on the Nike Tour money list in 1998 to win a place on the PGA Tour for 1999. He had a pair of wins in each of his first two seasons on the Tour. - Annie Dodge Wauneka
Annie Dodge Wauneka (1910 - 1997) was an influential member of the Navajo Tribe of Native Americans. She worked to improve the heath and education of the Navajo, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 Lyndon B. Johnson. - Laura Gilpin
Laura Gilpin (April 22, 1891 in Austin Bluffs, Colorado - November 30, 1979 in Santa Fe, New Mexico) was an American photographer known for her photographs of Native Americans, particularly the Navajo and Pueblo, and her Southwestern landscapes. Her birthplace is sometimes listed as Colorado Springs, which was just south of Austin Bluffs at the time. - Emmi Whitehorse
Emmi Whitehorse (born 1957) is a Native American painter. She was born in Crownpoint, New Mexico and is a member of the Navajo tribe. She currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her work is in public collections in North America, Europe, Japan, Uzbekistan and Morocco. - Hosteen Klah
Hosteen Klah was a Navajo artist and shaman. He gave information to anthropologists and others about Navajo religion and related ceremonial practices. He was also a weaver of unusual designs. Klah was important to the development of Navajo weaving. Among the Navajo, weavers are normally female, and chanters (hatali) are normally male. Hosteen Klah was both a weaver and a chanter. This was possible because of his particular gender status. - Ray Manley
Ray Manley (born September 4, 1921 in Cottonwood, Arizona, died July 15, 2006 in Tucson, Arizona) was an American photographer whose photographs of Arizona painted a picture-postcard view of the state that helped increase tourism and migration to Arizona. Manley took an early interest in photography as a Boy Scout, capturing images of the red stone formations of Verde Valley. He attended Arizona State College (now Northern Arizona University) at Flagstaff. - Fred Martinez
Fred C. Martinez, Jr. (May, 1985 - June 16, 2001) was a transgender Native American student of Navajo ancestry. Among Navajo people, a transgender like him is known as "nadleeh" or "two spirit." This is a positive term. Martinez was a student at Montezuma-Cortez High School in Cortez, Colorado, when he was attacked and beaten to death by 18-year old Shaun Murphy. - Edward T. Hall
Edward T. Hall (born May 16 1914) is a respected anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher. Born in Webster Groves, Missouri, Hall has taught at the University of Denver, Colorado, Bennington College in Vermont, Harvard Business School, Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern University in Illinois and others. - Paddy Martinez
Patricio "Paddy" Martinez (1881-1969), American prospector and sheepherder, discovered uranium at Haystack Mountain, near Grants, New Mexico in 1950. This was the first discovery in the Grants Uranium District, and led to a uranium boom that lasted almost 30 years. Martinez's discovery, on Santa Fe Railroad land, was developed into the Haystack mine. He was hired by the railroad and Anaconda Mining Company as a uranium scout for $400 per month, a good salary then. - Jay Tavare
Jay Tavare is an actor of Native American/Latino descent. He has played a number of Native Americans in movies, including a Seminole in "Adaptation", an Apache in "The Missing", a Cherokee in "Cold Mountain", and a Cheyenne in "Into the West". His mother was White Mountain Apache and his father was Navajo. - James H. Simpson
James Hervey Simpson was an officer in the U.S. Army and a member of the United States Topographical Engineers. He was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey on March 9, 1813, the son of John Simpson and Mary Brunson. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1832, and served in the Second Seminole War. In 1849 he surveyed areas in the American Southwest, between Santa Fe and the Navajo tribal lands. - Alice Corbin Henderson
Alice Corbin Henderson (16 April 1881 - 18 July 1949) was an American poet and poetry editor. Alice Corbin was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother died in 1884 and she was briefly sent to live with her father's cousin Alice Mallory Richardson in Chicago before returning to her father in Kansas after his remarriage in 1891. - Cody Sanderson
Cody Sanderson is a metalsmith based in Santa Fe, New Mexico of Navajo and Hopi decent who specializes in jewelry using traditional repousse techniques with a distictive contemporary twist. While sterling silver is his primary medium, He has expressed himself thru other materials as well, including 18k gold, aluminium, copper, and stainless steel to name a few. In 2005 Cody was recognized by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) with the Fellowship Award, … - Suzette Haden Elgin
Suzette Haden Elgin is an American science fiction author. She founded the Science Fiction Poetry Association, and is considered an important figure in the field of science fiction conlangs. Elgin also publishes non-fiction, of which the best-known is the "Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense" series Born in 1936 in Missouri, Elgin attended the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in the 1960s, and began writing science fiction in order to pay tuition. - Cory Witherill
Cory Witherill (born December 17, 1971) is a native American Navajo race car driver from Los Angeles in the Infiniti Pro Series, Indy Racing League, and ARCA series. He made an improbable bump day run on a brand new engine to qualify for the 2001 Indianapolis 500, becoming the first and only full-blooded native American to race in the Indy 500. He finished 19th. In 2002 and 2003, with the collapse of the IRL team he drove for, … - Cori Nadine
Cori Nadine is a Fitness and figure competition model and also a personal trainer who worked with Playboy in the mid-1990s. She has also appeared in fitness magazines and nude photoshoots on internet websites. Her ethnic make up includes Filipino, Irish, and Navajo Indian ancestry. Ms. Nadine's build makes it possible for her to appear very feminine, or very muscular, depending on whether she flexes her muscles or not - Nancy Bonvillain
Nancy Bonvillain is a professor of anthropology and linguistics at Bard College at Simon's Rock. She is author of over twenty books on language, culture, and gender, including a series on Native American peoples. In her field work she studied the Mohawk and Navajo, and she has published a grammar and dictionary of the Akwesasne dialect of Mohawk. She received her PhD from Columbia University in 1972 and has taught at Columbia University, The New School, … - Morris Edward Opler
Morris Edward Opler (May 3, 1907 - May 13, 1996), American anthropologist and advocate of Japanese-American civil rights, was born in Buffalo, New York. He was the brother of Marvin Opler, an anthropologist and social psychiatrist. Morris Opler's main anthropological contribution is in the ethnography of Southern Athabaskan peoples (i.e. the Apaches and Navajo), such as the Chiricahua, Mescalero, Lipan, and Jicarilla. His classic work is "An Apache Life-Way". - Don Lorenzo Hubbell
Don Lorenzo Hubbell (November 27, 1853 - November 12, 1930) was a 19th century trader instrumental in promoting the sale of Navajo art. He was also sheriff of Apache County, Arizona, a member of the Arizona Territorial Legislature, and after statehood a member of the Arizona Senate. He ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate in 1914. He was born John Lorenzo Hubbell, but gradually came to be addressed as "Don", a Spanish term of respect. - Hall Bartlett
Hall Bartlett (born November 27, 1922; died September 7, 1993) was an American film producer, director, and writer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, he graduated from Yale University Phi Beta Kappa, and was a Rhodes Scholar nominee. He served five years in Naval intelligence, then began his career with the documentary film "Navajo", the first contemporary picture to focus attention on the plight of the American Indian. - Joe Kieyoomia
Joe Kieyoomia (1925 - 1997) was a Navajo soldier in New Mexico's 200th Coast Artillery unit and was captured by the Imperial Japanese Army after the fall of the Philippines in 1942. Initially tortured because his captors thought he was Japanese-American (and therefore a traitor), Joe Kieyoomia suffered months of beatings before the Japanese accepted his claim to Navajo ancestry. He survived the Bataan Death March that killed thousands of starved U.S. soldiers. - Timothy H. O'Sullivan
Timothy H. O'Sullivan (c. 1840 - January 14 1882) was a photographer prominent for his work on subjects in the American Civil War and the Western United States. O'Sullivan was born in either Ireland or New York City. As a teenager, he was employed by Mathew Brady. When the Civil War began in early 1861, he was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Union Army and, over the next year, fought in Beaufort, Port Royal, Fort Walker, and Fort Pulaski. - Kenneth L. Hale
Kenneth Locke Hale was a linguist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studied the syntax, lexicon and phonology of a huge variety of unstudied and often endangered languages -- especially indigenous languages of North America, Central America and Australia. Languages investigated by Hale include Navajo, Tohono O'odham, Warlpiri, and Ulwa, among many others. Hale was born in Evanston, Illinois.
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