The Native American Heroes Who've Made History

Jim Thorpe

Imagine an athlete with enough prowess to not only play one or two sports professionally but three. That was Jim Thorpe, an American Indian of Pottawatomie and Sac and Fox heritage.

Thorpe overcame tragedies in his youth—the death of his twin brother as well as his mother and father—to become an Olympic sensation as well as a professional player of basketball, baseball, and football. Thorpe’s skill earned him praise from royalty and politicians alike, for his fans included King Gustav V of Sweden and President Dwight Eisenhower.

Thorpe’s life was not without controversy, however. His Olympic medals were taken away after newspapers reported that he’d played baseball for money as a student, even though the wages he made were meager.

After the Depression, Thorpe worked a series of odd jobs to support his family. He had so little money that he could not afford medical care when he developed lip cancer. Born in 1888, Thorpe died of heart failure in 1953.

Navajo Code Talkers

Considering the federal government’s atrocious treatment of American Indians, one would think that Native Americans would’ve been the last group to offer their services to the U.S. military. But during World War II, the Navajo agreed to help when the military requested their assistance in developing a code based on the Navajo language. As predicted, the Japanese intelligence experts couldn’t break the new code.

Without the help of the Navajo, World War II conflicts such as the Battle of Iwo Jima may have turned out very differently for the U.S. Because the code the Navajo created remained a top secret for decades, their efforts have only been recognized by the U.S. government in recent years. The Navajo Code Talkers are also the subject of the Hollywood motion picture “Windtalkers.”

Native American Actors

Once upon a time, Native American actors were relegated to the sidelines in Hollywood Westerns. Over the decades, however, the roles available to them have grown. In films such as “Smoke Signals”—written, produced and directed by an all-Native American team—characters of indigenous backgrounds are given the platform to express a range of emotions rather than playing stereotypes such as stoic warriors or medicine men. Thanks to notable First Nations actors such as Adam Beach, Graham Greene, Tantoo Cardinal, Irene Bedard, and Russell Means, the silver screen increasingly features complex American Indian characters.

American Indian Movement

In the 1960s and ’70s, the American Indian Movement (AIM) mobilized Native Americans across the United States to fight for their rights. These activists accused the U.S. government of ignoring longstanding treaties, denying Indian tribes their sovereignty and failing to counteract the substandard healthcare and education indigenous peoples received, not to mention the environmental toxins to which they were exposed on reservations.

By occupying the island of Alcatraz in Northern California and the town of Wounded Knee, S.D., the American Indian Movement drew more attention to the plight of Native Americans in the 20th century than any other movement.

Unfortunately, violent episodes such as the Pine Ridge Shootout sometimes reflect negatively on AIM. Although AIM still exists, U.S. agencies such as the FBI and the CIA largely neutralized the group in the 1970s.

American Indian Writers

For far too long, narratives about Native Americans have largely been in the hands of those who colonized and conquered them. American Indian writers such as Sherman Alexie, Jr., Louise Erdrich, M. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Joy Harjo have reshaped the narrative about indigenous peoples in the U.S. by writing award-winning literature that captures the humanity and complexity of Native Americans in contemporary society.

These writers have not only been praised for their craftsmanship but for helping to counteract harmful stereotypes about American Indians. Their novels, poetry, short stories, and nonfiction complicate views of Native American life.