Famous Native Americans
Meet twelve Native Americans who shaped history, from the first meetings with European settlers to the Olympic Games and the President’s Cabinet. Each biography includes an “at a glance” card, a picture study, a word match, and a quiz. The people are listed in the order they made history.
How to Read a Picture from History
A picture can teach you a lot, but only if you know where it came from. Each biography has a Look Closely box that helps you study its pictures. Read the caption, then ask:
- Who made the picture? Was it a painting, a drawing, or a photograph?
- When was it made? During the person’s life, or long after?
- Did the artist see the person, work from a photograph, or imagine them?
- What details do you notice, and what do they tell you?
First Meetings: The 1600s
Pocahontas
The daughter of Chief Powhatan, she lived through the founding of Jamestown and traveled to England.
Read Biography
Squanto (Tisquantum)
Kidnapped to Europe, he came home to an empty village and then helped the Pilgrims survive at Plymouth.
Read BiographyDefending the Homeland: 1760s–1830s
Pontiac
An Odawa war leader who united many nations against the British in 1763 in what became known as Pontiac’s War.
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Sacagawea
A young Shoshone mother who traveled with Lewis and Clark across the West to the Pacific Ocean.
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Tecumseh
A Shawnee leader who dreamed of uniting Native nations to stop American settlers from taking their land.
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Sequoyah
A Cherokee silversmith who created a way to write the Cherokee language, so thousands could read and write.
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Black Hawk
A Sauk war leader who fought to return to his homeland in Illinois in the Black Hawk War of 1832.
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Osceola
A Seminole leader who fought against forced removal from Florida in the Second Seminole War.
Read BiographyThe West: 1860s–1880s
Sitting Bull
A Lakota holy man and leader who united the Lakota against the U.S. Army and the loss of the Black Hills.
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Chief Joseph
A Nez Perce chief who led his people on a 1,170-mile journey toward Canada and spoke for peace and justice.
Read BiographyModern Times
Billy Mills
An Oglala Lakota runner who won a surprise Olympic gold medal in the 10,000-meter race in 1964.
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Deb Haaland
The first Native American to serve as a U.S. Cabinet secretary, leading the Department of the Interior.
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