© Getty Images/Public Domain

Sacheen Littlefeather -

Sacheen Littlefeather made history at the 1973 Oscars when she refused the Oscar for Best Actor on behalf of Marlon Brando, in protest of the portrayal of Native Americans in American film and television, and also the tragic events at Wounded Knee that occurred just one month prior.

© Getty Images

Sacheen Littlefeather -

Littlefeather, also the President of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee, delivered her speech with grace and dignity amid the mix of cheers, jeers, and boos from the largely white audience. While Littlefeather's speech is now revered and widely respected, the actions of popular actor John Wayne, who had to be restrained as he attempted to physically remove the activist from the stage, along with presenter Clint Eastwood's blatantly racist comments made on television immediately afterward, has caused many to regard the event as the ugliest moment in Oscars history. The Academy only offered an official apology to Littlefeather in 2022. 

© Getty Images

Red Cloud -

Born in the early 19th century, Lakota Chief Red Cloud during his younger years was a virulent fighter against the white expansionism that was pushing into the Great Plains region he called home. During these years, Red Cloud led a number of key victories against the colonialists in what historians call Red Cloud's War.

© Public Domain 

Red Cloud -

Later in life, growing tired of the horrors of war, Red Cloud became an advocate for peace. In 1868, the chief was a signatory to the Treaty of Fort Laramie, which put a temporary stop to the hostilities in the area.

© Public Domain 

Zitkala-Sa -

Born to a Sioux mother and a white father in 1879, Zitkala-Sa, later known by her Christian name Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, lived a life dedicated to cultural preservation and strove to widen the doors of opportunity for other Native American women.

© Public Domain

Zitkala-Sa -

As a polymath musician, writer, educator, and activist, Zitkala-Sa not only penned the first opera concerned with indigenous values and the native way of life, she also worked with many activists groups to create a sense of nationwide solidarity between indigenous groups in order to gain equal rights in the ever-oppressive European-American society that had near-complete control over the liberty of Native Americans by the 19th century.

© Public Domain

Sitting Bull -

One of the most famous figures in Native American history is Sitting Bull, the Dakota chief who united the Sioux Tribes against invading colonial forces and has since reached near-legendary status for his victories.

© Getty Images

Sitting Bull -

In the days leading up to some of the most pivotal battles of the area, Sitting Bull danced in ceremony for 36 hours straight, and afterward, told his tribespeople he received a vision of victory in their future. Days afterward, the chief led a number of overwhelmingly successful attacks against the invaders, including the now-historic Battle of Little Big Horn.

© Getty Images

Crazy Horse -

Fighting alongside Sitting Bull for much of the Great Sioux War of 1879 was Crazy Horse, also a chief of the Lakota tribes, who dedicated his life to defending the Black Hills of South Dakota.

© Getty Images

Crazy Horse -

Known for his bravery on the battlefield and his refusal to adopt the culture and religion of the white expansionists, Crazy Horse was a pivotal figure in the Sioux Wars and died risking his life defying a colonial mandate trying to transport his sick wife to her parents. He was immortalized in the 20th century by a massive construction of his face carved out of the Black Hills of South Dakota that he fought so hard to defend.

© Shutterstock

Geronimo -

A leader of the Chiricahua Apache tribe of the modern-day southwestern United States and Mexico, Geronimo was an accomplished warrior and led successful raids on expansionist settlements across Mexico and Southwestern North America.

© Getty Images

Geronimo -

Many supernatural legends surrounded Geronimo, some claiming he possessed the ability to slow the speed of bullets and sense the outcome of battles occurring hundreds of miles away. It took one quarter of the entire American Army, with the help of thousands more from the Mexican military, to finally capture Geronimo, who spent the last two decades of his life as a prisoner of war.

© Getty Images

Wilma Mankiller -

Wilma Mankiller was named the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation on record in 1985, and in her lifetime made incredible achievements for those subjugated to reservation life. 

© Getty Images

Wilma Mankiller -

Before, during, and after her time serving as chief of the Cherokee nation, Mankiller made direct, tangible changes in the lives of indigenous communities. In the 1980s, Mankiller organized the small community of Bell, Oklahoma, which at the time had no running water, to construct a 16-mile (25.7-kilometer) water pipeline, providing running water to over 200 indigenous families.

© Getty Images

Sequoyah -

Sequoyah's contributions to both indigenous American culture and the preservation of it cannot be overstated. Over the course of 12 years during the early 19th century, Sequoyah single-handedly invented the Cherokee syllabary.

© Getty Images

Sequoyah -

This feat, the only of its kind to take place on the North American continent, allowed all of the Cherokee nations to share a written language for the first time. Sequoyah's alphabet became so popular that by the 1850s, the Cherokee literacy rate was easily close to 100%, far above that of the European colonizers. 

© Public Domain

Susan La Flesche Picotte -

After witnessing a doctor of European descent refuse care to a sick Native American woman, Susan La Flesche Picotte became determined to become a doctor. 

© Public Domain

Susan La Flesche Picotte -

Born in 1865 to Omaha-European parents, Picotte was the first indigenous woman in the United States to earn a medical degree. Most of her life was spent as the only doctor on the 1,400-square mile (3,625-square kilometer) Omaha reservation, traveling great distances to treat Omahas and seeing many more at her home (pictured).

© Public Domain

Tocmectone (Sarah Winnemucca) -

Tocmectone, better known as Sarah Winnemucca, was a member of the Paiute tribe who called the Colorado River Basin home. While Winnemucca is best known as one of the greatest contemporary Native American writers and is widely celebrated for her 1883 novel 'Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims,' she was also an accomplished and determined activists and diplomat.

© Public Domain

Tocmectone (Sarah Winnemucca) -

Winnemucca spent time as the interpreter for government reservation agents and tried her best to foster peace and equality. She also on one occasion, during the Bannock War of 1878, rescued her father and other Piutes from captivity.

© Public Domain

Chief Powhatan -

Chief Powhatan was one of the first chiefs that European colonialists came in contact with after settling in what they called Jamestown, Virginia. Chief Powhatan at the time ruled over 30 Algonquian-speaking tribes, consisting of around 15,000 people. 

© Getty Images

Chief Powhatan -

While initially friendly and helpful towards the newcomers, war broke out between the two groups once the intentions of the colonialists became more apparent. By the time of his death in 1618, however, peace reigned due to the marriage of his daughter, Pocahontas, to Englishman John Rolfe.

© Getty Images

Tamanend -

Chief Tamanend, frequently nicknamed Tamanend the Affable, was chief of the Lenni-Lenape Clan during the 17th century, and is perhaps most famous for signing the Treaty of Penn with colonialist William of Penn.

© Public Domain

Tamanend -

Throughout his life, Tamanend was dedicated to peace and friendship between his people and the newcomers on his land. He was so successful at keeping the peace, in fact, that he earned the nickname of the Patron Saint of America.

© Getty Images

Tecumseh -

Tecumseh was well-respected not only through indigenous American communities but in European colonialist circles as well, for his unwavering resistance to westward white expansion during the early 1800s.

© Public Domain

Tecumseh -

Born the son of a chief of a Shawnee tribe in modern-day Ohio, Tecumseh organized huge numbers of tribes in the area to fight westward expansion and was largely successful for a time, until Tecumseh was killed in battle.

© Getty Images

Cochise -

Cochise, known for his uncommonly tall stature and prowess on the battlefield, was a warrior of the Chihuicahui Apache tribe that fought colonialism from both the Mexican and American fronts.

© Getty Images

Cochise -

While Cochise and his tribesmen were able to hold off the American Army until the Civil War called them back eastward, new regiments were sent back west soon afterwards, armed with better, stronger weapons, and Cochise and his warriors eventually met defeat. When Cochise finally surrendered, he was famously quoted as saying, "My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever."

© Public Domain

Victorio -

Victorio, another Apache chief praised for his battlefield prowess and knack for strategy, has been known throughout history for his impressive leadership during Victorio's War of 1879.

With a tiny band of no more than 200 warriors behind him, Victorio gained victory over American and Mexican expansionist settlements as well as countless raids and ambushes. Eventually, he and his men were cornered by Mexican authorities in 1880.

Sources: (Biography) (Britannica) (Listverse)

See also: Everyday things you didn't know were invented by indigenous peoples

© Public Domain