List of Native American actors

This is a list of Native American actors in the United States, including Alaskan Natives and American Indians. Native American identity is a complex and contested issue rooted in political sovereignty that pre-dates the creation of colonial nation states like the U.S. and Canada 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 or Alaskan village. Ethnologically, factors such as culture, history, language, religion, and familial kinships can influence Native American identity. All individuals on this list should have 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 are listed as being of descent from a tribe.

A

 * Victor Aaron

B

 * Irene Bedard, Iñupiaq-Cree
 * Moses Brings Plenty, Oglala Lakota

C

 * Tonantzin Carmelo, Tongva

D

 * Cody Deal (born 1986), Osage Nation

E

 * Chris Eyre, Southern Cheyenne-Arapaho director and producer

F

 * Abel Fernandez, Yaqui

G

 * Forrest Goodluck, Navajo
 * Kiowa Gordon, Hualapai Tribe
 * Rodney A. Grant, Omaha
 * Saginaw Grant, member of Sac and Fox Nation
 * Kimberly Guerrero, Colville (enrolled), Salish-Kootenai, and Cherokee

H

 * Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, Lakota medicine man, actor
 * Jack Hoxie, Nez Perce

J

 * Ben Johnson, Cherokee, grew up on an Osage reservation

K

 * Oscar Kawagley, Yup'ik
 * Q'orianka Kilcher, Quechua-Huachipaeri
 * Stepfanie Kramer, Eastern Band Cherokee

L

 * Sacheen Littlefeather, White Mountain Apache-Yaqui-descent actress
 * Phil Lucas, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma filmmaker, actor, writer, producer, director, and editor

M

 * Randolph Mantooth, Seminole
 * Silva Mathis Manning, Cherokee actress/writer/director
 * Robin Maxkii, Stockbridge-Munsee, actress
 * Zahn McClarnon, Hunkpapa Lakota, actor
 * Russell Means, Pine Ridge (enrolled), Yankton Sioux, Lakota, activist, actor
 * Tatanka Means, Navajo, Lakota

Q

 * Marisa Quinn, Lipan Apache (enrolled)

R

 * Arthur Redcloud, Navajo
 * Red Wing, (Lillian St. Cyr), Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
 * Steve Reevis, Blackfeet
 * Branscombe Richmond, Aleut
 * Will Rogers (1879–1935), Cherokee, film and vaudeville actor, movie producer
 * Ned Romero, film and television actor, Chitimacha

S

 * Will Sampson, Muscogee (Creek) Nation
 * Larry Sellers, Osage, Cherokee, Lakota
 * Martin Sensmeier, Tlingit, Koyukon-Athabascan
 * Eddie Spears, Brulé
 * Michael Spears, Brulé
 * Chaske Spencer, Sioux-Nez Perce-Cherokee-Muscogee Creek-French-Dutch
 * Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Lakota author and actor
 * Wes Studi, Cherokee Nation

T

 * Chief Tahachee, Cherokee author and actor
 * Jim Thorpe, Sac and Fox
 * John Trudell, Dakota people
 * Sheila Tousey, Menominee, Stockbridge-Munsee

U

 * Misty Upham, Blackfeet Tribe

W

 * Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate

Y

 * James Young Deer, Nanticoke
 * Rudy Youngblood, Comanche, Cree, and Yaqui ancestry.