List of Native American actors

List of Native American actors from the United States

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For Indigenous actors from Canada, see list of Indigenous Canadian actors.

This is a list of Native American actors in the United States, including Alaskan Natives.

While Native American identity can be complex, it is rooted in political sovereignty that predates the creation of colonial nation states like the United States, Canada, and Mexico and persists into the 21st century recognized under international law by treaty. The Bureau of Indian Affairs defines Native American as having American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry. Legally, being Native American is defined as being enrolled in a federally recognized tribe, including Alaskan villages. Ethnologically, factors such as culture, history, language, religion, and familial kinships can influence Native American identity.[1] All individuals on this list should have confirmed Native American ancestry. Historical figures might predate tribal enrollment practices and would be included based on ethnological tribal membership, while any contemporary individuals should either be enrolled members of federally recognized tribes or have cited Native American ancestry and be recognized as being Native American by their respective tribes(s). Contemporary unenrolled individuals should only be listed as being of descent from a tribe if they have confirmed heritage.

Contents

* A
* B
* C
* D
* E
* F
* G
* H
* I
* J
* K
* L
* M
* N
* O
* P
* Q
* R
* S
* T
* U
* V
* W
* X
* Y
* Z

* See also
* References
* External links

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (March 2020)

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## A

[edit]

* Victor Aaron (1956–1996), Yaqui descent[citation needed]
* Apesanahkwat, Menominee Nation
* Nathan Apodaca (Northern Arapaho/Mexican-American[2]), actor, TikTok star

## B

[edit]

* Dewey Beard a.k.a. Iron Hail, Lakota, Miniconjou
* Irene Bedard, Inupiaq
* Chief John Big Tree, Seneca
* Moses Brings Plenty, Oglala Lakota[3]
* Cole Brings Plenty, nephew of Moses

## C

[edit]

* Tonantzin Carmelo, Tongva/Kumeyaay descent[4]
* Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma[5]), activist, speaker, actor
* Alaqua Cox, Menominee/Mohican[6]

## D

[edit]

* Cody Deal (born 1986), Osage Nation[7]

## E

[edit]

* Chris Eyre, Southern Cheyenne director and producer

## F

[edit]

* Abel Fernandez (1930–2016), Yaqui descent[citation needed]
* Sydney Freeland (Diné), director, filmmaker, producer, writer[8]

## G

[edit]

* Lily Gladstone, Blackfeet/Nez Perce descent actress[9]
* Dallas Goldtooth (Mdewakanton Dakota/Diné)[10])
* Forrest Goodluck, Navajo
* Kiowa Gordon (Hualapai[11])
* Rodney A. Grant, Omaha[12]
* Saginaw Grant, Sac and Fox Nation[13]
* Elva Guerra (Ponca/Mexican-American[14]), actor
* Kimberly Norris Guerrero, Colville (enrolled), Salish-Kootenai descent[15]

## H

[edit]

* Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee[16]) actor, comedian, director, writer
* Charlie Hill, Oneida Nation, Mohawk, Cree
* Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, Rosebud Lakota
* Jack Hoxie, Nez Perce[17]
* Miko Hughes, Chickasaw
* Blu Hunt \- American actress, Oglala Lakota

## I

[edit]

* Iron Hail, a.k.a. Dewey Beard, Lakota, Miniconjou

## J

[edit]

* Devery Jacobs (Kahnawà:ke Mohawk[18])
* Ben Johnson,[19][20] Cherokee, grew up on an Osage reservation

## K

[edit]

* Oscar Kawagley, Yup'ik
* Geraldine Keams (Diné[21]), actor
* Stepfanie Kramer, Eastern Band Cherokee[22]

## L

[edit]

* Eddie Little Sky, Oglala Lakota
* Phil Lucas, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma filmmaker, actor, writer, producer, director, and editor

## M

[edit]

* Randolph Mantooth, Seminole[23]
* Trixie Mattel, Ojibwe descent
* Robin Maxkii, Stockbridge-Munsee, actress
* Zahn McClarnon, Hunkpapa Lakota, actor[24]
* Russell Means, Oglala Lakota, activist, actor[25]
* Tatanka Means, Navajo, Lakota[26]
* Amber Midthunder (Fort Peck Sioux)[27]
* Cara Jade Myers (Wichita/Kiowa[28]), actor

## O

[edit]

* Sierra Teller Ornelas (Diné), writer

## P

[edit]

* Migizi Pensoneau (Ponca/Ojibwe)[29]), actor, comedian, writer
* Jon Proudstar (Pascua Yaqui[30])

## Q

[edit]

## R

[edit]

* Arthur Redcloud, Navajo
* Ryan RedCorn (Osage Nation[31])
* Red Shirt (Oglala), Lakota
* Red Wing, (Lillian St. Cyr), Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
* Steve Reevis, Blackfeet[32]
* Branscombe Richmond, Aleut[33]
* Will Rogers (1879–1935), Cherokee, film and vaudeville actor, movie producer[34]
* Ned Romero, film and television actor, Chitimacha[35]
* Lois Red Elk, enrolled member of the Ft. Peck Sioux in Montana.

## S

[edit]

* Frank Salsedo, Wappo
* Jana Schmieding (Cheyenne River Lakota[36]), actor
* Will Sampson, Muscogee (Creek) Nation[37]
* Larry Sellers, Osage, Cherokee, Lakota[38]
* Martin Sensmeier (Tlingit/Koyukon Athabascan[39]),
* Sitting Bull, Lakota, Hunkpapa
* John Sitting Bull, Lakota, Hunkpapa
* William Sitting Bull, Lakota, Hunkpapa
* Charles Soldani, Osage and Kaw actor
* Eddie Spears, Brulé[40]
* Michael Spears, Brulé
* Chaske Spencer, Sioux/Nez Perce/Cherokee/Muscogee descent[41]
* Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Lakota author and actor
* Wes Studi, Cherokee Nation[42]

## T

[edit]

* Jim Thorpe, Sac and Fox[43]
* Chief Thunderbird, Cheyenne[citation needed]
* John Trudell, Santee Dakota, activist, actor
* Sheila Tousey, Menominee, Stockbridge-Munsee
* Erica Tremblay (Seneca-Cayuga[44]), director, filmmaker
* Ernest David Tsosie III (Diné), actor[45])

## U

[edit]

* Misty Upham, Blackfeet Tribe[46]

## W

[edit]

* Noah Watts, Crow/Blackfeet
* Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate[47]
* Richard Ray Whitman (Muscogee/Yuchi[48]), actor, activist, artist
* Bobby Wilson (aka Bobby Dues) (Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota[49]), actor, comedian, writer

## Y

[edit]

* James Young Deer, Nanticoke, 1876–1946
* Chief Yowlachie, Yakama

## See also

[edit]

* List of Native Americans of the United States
* List of Indigenous Canadian actors
* Indian Actors Association

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ "IV. Our Nation’s American Indian and Alaska Native Citizens." US Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
2. ^ Thompson, Darren (October 12, 2020). "TikTok Star Nathan Apodaca Doesn't Celebrate Columbus Day". Native News Online. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
3. ^ [1] "Moses Brings Plenty is a Lakota born at Pine Ridge reservation. Young spiritual leader, he carries within him the voices of his ancestors and particularly Crazy Horse."
4. ^ Martindale, David (July 15, 2003). "Meet Tonantzin Carmelo". Tnt.tv. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
5. ^ Hagens, Nate (July 25, 2024). "Casey Camp-Horinek: "Indigenous Wisdom: Resilience, Adaptation, and Seeing Nature as Ourselves"". Resilience. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
6. ^ Vaisvillas, Frank (December 20, 2021). "Menominee actresses Alaqua Cox and Darnell Besaw star in the new Marvel 'Hawkeye' series on Disney+". Green Bay Press Gazette. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
7. ^ Polacca, Benny. "Osage actor stars in cable TV movie this year." Archived 2013-05-21 at the Wayback Machine Osage News. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
8. ^ "Sydney Freeland, writer/director/producer". Television Academy. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
9. ^ Aleiss, Angela (December 19, 2023). "From Lillian St. Cyr to Lily Gladstone: A Brief History of Hollywood Honoring Native Talent". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
10. ^ "Dallas Goldtooth". The Guardian. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
11. ^ "'Dark Winds' returns for expanded third season". Indianz.com. November 1, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
12. ^ [2][usurped] "Rodney A. Grant is a well-known celebrity in the Native Community. A Native American actor who is in support of Native American issues and is always willing to speak for the Native American people."
13. ^ Breslauer, Jan (February 20, 1996). "The Spirit Moves Him in New and Traditional Ways". Los Angeles Times.
14. ^ Bardwell, Neely (June 29, 2023). "Q&A: Two-Spirit Actor and 'Reservation Dogs' Star Elva Guerra". Retrieved March 13, 2025.
15. ^ "Kimberly Norris Guerrero jumps into romantic comedy with both feet - Indian Country News". Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
16. ^ Lillie, Vanessa (October 5, 2023). "'Reservation Dogs' Reminded Me That I Carry My Native Community with Me". WBUR. Archived from the original on September 19, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
17. ^ "Jack Hoxie". Archived from the original on June 18, 2006. Retrieved May 20, 2006. "in an interview with LeRoy Sebastian in 1963, he said "Pastor, I am an Indian, and therefore I have lived these many years believing in the Red Man's God..."
18. ^ Valdez, Ysenia (March 14, 2022). "Devery Jacobs Sees the Bigger Picture". Teen Vogue. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
19. ^ Thurman, Tom. - Ben Johnson: Third Cowboy on the Right.
20. ^ Erickson, Hal. "Ben Johnson". Allmovie.
21. ^ Aleiss, Angela (December 19, 2023). "From Lillian St. Cyr to Lily Gladstone: A Brief History of Hollywood Honoring Native Talent". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
22. ^ "Untitled Document". Archived from the original on May 9, 2006. Retrieved May 19, 2006. "Stephanie Kramer also intends to resume her music career, preparing a new album. Meanwhile, she devotes herself to Indian children. "I'm half Cherokee. I'd like so much for these children, who are a bit mine, to continue their studies. Life is hard In their land ravaged by extreme poverty. Thanks to an official organization, we can help them." The good-hearted actress has even taken a little girl from the Hopi tribe under her wing and she contributes a lot of money."
23. ^ [3] "...Randy, whose father is a Seminole Indian, "Got to make some comments I've been waiting all my life to say in a powerful picture."
24. ^ "ICT [2003/07/07] Zahn McClarnon, more than just Indian and Irish". Archived from the original on April 16, 2005. Retrieved May 19, 2006. "Over the past 12 years Zahn McClarnon (Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux) has made dozens of appearances on TV, cable network movies and feature films."
25. ^ [4] "The L.A. Times has described him as the most famous American Indian since Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse."
26. ^ "Tatanka Means Rises to Next Level with 'Tiger Eyes' - ICTMN.com". Archived from the original on May 5, 2014. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
27. ^ Sarner, Lauren (June 14, 2018). "Father/daughter duo are among rare Native American actors in Hollywood". New York Post. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
28. ^ Aleiss, Angela (December 19, 2023). "From Lillian St. Cyr to Lily Gladstone: A Brief History of Hollywood Honoring Native Talent". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
29. ^ "Migizi Pensoneau". The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
30. ^ Bailer, Bryn (February 17, 2014). "The first comic book with an all-Native American superhero team returns". High Country News. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
31. ^ Brown, Rachel (May 19, 2020). "For this Native community, photography has harmed—and healed". National Geographic. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
32. ^ "Steve Reevis - NativeCelebs profiles".
33. ^ "Branscombe Richmond's Acting Bio". Archived from the original on April 3, 2006. Retrieved April 3, 2006. "Of Aleut Indian descent, Branscombe has said, "I am a Native American first, last and always.""
34. ^ Carter, Joseph H. "Father and Cherokee Tradition Molded Will Rogers." Archived 2012-10-26 at the Wayback Machine Will Rogers Memorial Museum. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
35. ^ "Ned Romero-The Definitive Native American Actor". Wildestwesterns.com. Archived from the original on April 12, 2009. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
36. ^ Soo Hoo, Fawnia (June 16, 2022). "The Fashion on 'Rutherford Falls' Supports and Celebrated Native Design". Fashionista. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
37. ^ "Will Sampson". Archived from the original on April 26, 2006. Retrieved May 19, 2006. "Will was a Muscogee Creek Indian born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, in 1934."
38. ^ [5] "He drew on his heritage as an Osage/Cherokee/Lakota Indian to also become an educator, historian and historical consultant."
39. ^ Patil, Tulsi (September 23, 2016). "How Alaskan actor Martin Sensmeier became one of 'The Magnificent Seven'". Alaska's News Source. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
40. ^ [6] "Best Actor Native Voice Film Festival 2005 for the lead role in Black Cloud"
41. ^ "Interview with a New Moon Werewolf". BettyConfidential.com.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
42. ^ "Meeting Magua: A Wes Studi Interview". Mohicanpress.com. May 8, 1999. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
43. ^ Jim Thorpe Goes to Hollywood: 1931-1950, Signature, April 20, 2011
44. ^ Butler, Matt (June 21, 2024). "Local Seneca-Cayuga Nation director debuts first feature film ahead of major release". The Ithaca Voice. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
45. ^ Wittenberg, Alexandra (November 11, 2024). "Meet the Diné cast of "Rez Ball"". Navajo-Hopi Observer. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
46. ^ Schmidt, Rob. "Blackfeet Actress Misty Upham On Filming 'Jimmy P.' with Benicio Del Toro." Archived 2014-10-15 at the Wayback Machine Indian Country Today Media Network. 30 Sept 2013. Accessed 1 Feb 2014.
47. ^ "Native American Authors: Floyd Westerman". Ipl.org. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
48. ^ "Richard Ray Whitman". Oklahoma Arts Council. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
49. ^ "Meet 8 Indigenous Beaders Who Are Modernizing Their Craft". Vogue. April 24, 2019. Retrieved March 11, 2025.