Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Originally elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado in 1987, Campbell left that post in 1993 after being elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until 2005. Despite deciding not to run for re-election at the end of his third term, Campbell has expressed interest of late in running for governor of Colorado come 2006.
A Korean War veteran who served in the United States Air Force, Campbell was also the captain of the 1964 US Olympic judo team and currently serves on the Council of Chiefs of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Nation.
Sitting Bull
Perhaps the most recognizable Native American figure the world has ever known, Sitting Bull is famed for leading the Dakota Sioux against General George Armstrong Custer in the Battle of Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. That battle, in which Sitting Bull defeated Custer's troops and Custer lost his life, is widely known as "Custer's Last Stand."
After the battle, Sitting Bull led his people into Canada, from which he returned, under the cloak of amnesty, in 1881. In his later years, Sitting Bull joined Buffalo Bill Cody's "Wild West Show," becoming one of the show's most popular attractions.
Russell Means
While Sitting Bull might be one of the most well-known Native Americans in history, Russell Means is arguably the best known living American Indian. A veteran of such films as "Last of the Mohicans" and "Natural Born Killers," Means first made a name for himself when he was appointed the first national director of the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1970.
Also a musician and author, Means' career has crossed over into the political arena as well, where the now 65-year-old Sioux nearly won the Libertarian Party nomination for president in 1987 before losing out to former Congressman Ron Paul.
Crazy Horse
Noted for his courage in battle, Crazy Horse was perhaps more responsible for the death of General Custer than Sitting Bull himself. Less than a week before the fated battle at Little Bighorn, Crazy Horse's men secured a small victory against General George Crook and his troops, assuring that Crook and his forces would be unable to offer reinforcement to Custer and his men.
A widely recognizable figure in American Indian history, Crazy Horse, an Oglala Sioux, was killed amidst confusion by an American soldier before reaching his 40th birthday.
Sherman Alexie
An award-winning and versatile writer, Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, first established himself as a poet when his first two volumes of poetry, "The Business of Fancydancing" and "I Would Steal Horses," were published shortly after he graduated from Washington State University in 1991.
With a handful of novels and a screenplay for the 1998 film "Smoke Signals" also to his credit, Alexie has established himself as one of the foremost American Indian literary voices today.
Geronimo
Born in 1829 into the Bedonkohe Apache tribe in what is now Arizona, Geronimo led what became the final force of independent Indian warriors to recognize the United States government in the American West.
After finally surrendering in 1886, Geronimo spent much of his older adulthood in prison. However, upon his release from prison, Geronimo enjoyed celebrity status, traveling the country and even riding along with President Teddy Roosevelt during the latter's 1905 inauguration parade. |
