20 influential Native Americans

20 influential Indigenous Americans most Americans know nothing about

Native (pinterest.com)

(Stacker) Most Americans can count on one hand the Indigenous Americans they know contributed to the colonial history of this Native land — from Sacagawea and Geronimo to Pocahontas and Sitting Bull (not to be confused with Red Bull).

However, the reality is the one-sided [racist, white supremacist] nature of American history taught to children in the U.S. has minimized the contributions of Indigenous people, making for a challenging journey to truth and reconciliation with the Native people of this land. [They have almost been erased.]

How this land was lost: it was stolen. Blackfoot tribe members, Glacier
National Park, Montana, 1913 (Roland W. Reed, via msn.com).

Sacheen Littlefeather (Oscars)

With the discoveries of a burial site for Indigenous children in Albuquerque in September 2021 and the unmarked graves of [molested and murdered Native American] children in Canada in the summer of 2021, the world finally began reckoning with the brutal realities of the boarding school system and the insidious legacy of colonization — injustices that Indigenous activists and concerned communities have been speaking up about for years.

Speaking as an expert on a panel about Indigenous boarding schools, Dena Ned, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, stressed the importance of remembering and learning our history.

By doing so, Ned explained, we can understand why it is important for policies, systems, and institutions to recognize and respond to certain members of the community. That's starting to happen more and more.

American actor Marlon Brando as Zapata

In August 2022, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences formally apologized to Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather for what she endured when Marlon Brando famously had her decline his 1973 Best Actor Oscar due to the mistreatment of Indigenous people in Hollywood.

Author Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

By learning about the backgrounds, contributions, and sacrifices of Indigenous leaders, we can take action to break down the systems of racist oppression that threaten the rights of Indigenous peoples in the U.S. and around the world.

Backed by news articles and historical sources, Stacker.com compiled a list of 20 influential Indigenous Americans you might not know about. Read on to find out about these unsung Indigenous heroes and revolutionaries from across North America who resisted oppression, broke down barriers, and changed the course of history.

• Biggest Native American tribes in the U.S. today

Tecumseh

Native American Tecumseh

Wedged between the American expansionists and the British invaders, Tecumseh was a Shawnee Indian leader who attempted to carve out a sovereign Indigenous state in the Midwest.

Tecumseh and his spiritually enlightened brother, Tenskwatawa, were descended from a long line of Indigenous leaders who fought for the land against the [racist European] intruders.

Tecumseh strived for an alliance of all Indigenous people, including those in [the north or what is now] Canada and the [ones in what is now Mexico, around the] Gulf of Mexico, hoping they would set aside any differences or ancestral rivalries to unite to defend their lives and homelands against deadly white occupiers and colonizers.

While Tecumseh's mission failed, and he died in battle in 1813, his efforts exposed the duplicitous underbelly of the foundation of America.

His impact in the Midwest contributed to The American Indian Movement (AIM), which was started in Minneapolis in the 1960s and continues its work to this day. More

• Zeynep Guler Tuck, data work by Emilia Ruzicka, Stacker, April 2024, via MSN.com; Xochitl, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly