This is a list of Native American politicians in the United States. These are Native Americans who served in the federal, state, or municipal governments. Native American identity is a complex and contested issue. The

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

defines Native American as having American Indian or

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a num ...

ancestry. Legally, being Native American is defined as being enrolled in a

federally recognized tribe This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the Unite ...

Alaskan village This list of Alaska Native tribal entities names the federally recognized tribes in the state of Alaska. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 explains how these Alaska Native villages came to be tracked this way. This version was upda ...

. These entities establish their own membership rules, and they vary. Each must be understood independently. 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 may be included based on reliable sources that document ethnological tribal membership. Any

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

individuals should either be enrolled members of federally recognized tribes, or have cited Native American ancestry and be recognized as Native American by their respective tribes(s). Contemporary individuals who are not enrolled in a tribe but are documented as having tribal descent are listed as being "of descent" from a tribe. For tribal leaders, please go to that tribe's article.

Federal offices

Executive branch

Legislative branch

State offices

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Idaho

Illinois

Kansas

Kentucky

Maine

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Mexico

North Carolina

North Dakota

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Tennessee

Utah

Washington

Wyoming

Municipal offices

Arizona

* Roberta Cano, ( Navajo, Zuni Pueblo) Winslow Mayor (2021-present)

California

* Tasha Cerda ( Tohono O'odham Nation), Gardena Mayor (2017–present), City Council (2009–2013) * Todd Gloria (

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

Haida Haida may refer to: Places * Haida, an old name for Nový Bor * Haida Gwaii, meaning "Islands of the People", formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands * Haida Islands, a different archipelago near Bella Bella, British Columbia Ships * , a ...

), San Diego Mayor (2020–present; 2013–2014 (acting)),

San Diego City Council The San Diego City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of San Diego, California. The city council was first established in San Diego in 1850. The council uses a strong mayor system with a separately elected mayor who act ...

man (2008–2016), San Diego City Council President (2012–2014) *

Mitch O'Farrell Mitch O'Farrell (born 1960) is an American politician, who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 13th district from 2013 to 2022, during which he spent eight days as President of the City Council during the 2022 Los Angeles ...

( Wyandotte), Los Angeles City Councilman (2013-2022), President of the Los Angeles City Council (2022)

Idaho

* William (Bill) Weems, (Coeur d'Alene) Plummer City Council (2012–2016) Mayor (2016–present)

Maine

* April Fournier, (Navajo)

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

Portland City Council At-Large (2021-present)

Minnesota

* Renee Van Nett, (Leech Lake Ojibwe) Duluth City Council

New Mexico

* April J. Silversmith, Navajo Democrat (Gallup, NM Magistrate Judge) * Carol Bowman Muskett, Navajo Democrat (McKinley County, NM Commissioner District I) * Genevieve Jackson, Navajo Democrat (McKinley County, NM Commissioner District II) * Harriet K. Becenti, Navajo Democrat (McKinley County, NM Clerk) * Thommy Nelson, Navajo Democrat (McKinley County, NM Probate Judge) * Felix Begay, Navajo Democrat (McKinley County, NM Sheriff) * Earnest Becenti, Navajo Democrat (Mckinley County, NM County Treasurer) * GloJean Todacheene, Navajo Democrat (San Juan County, NM Commissioner District I)

Oklahoma

John Tyler Hammons John Tyler Hammons (born September 4, 1988) is an American politician who served as the 47th Mayor of Muskogee, Oklahoma from 2008 to 2012. He gained national attention when he was elected on May 13, 2008, as a 19-year-old freshman at the Universi ...

(b. 1988,

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. ...

), mayor of

Muskogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the thirteenth-largest city in Oklahoma and the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0 percent decreas ...

(2008–2012) * David Holt (b. 1979,

Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) ( Osage: 𐓁𐒻 𐓂𐒼𐒰𐓇𐒼𐒰͘ ('), "People of the Middle Waters") is a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Great Plains. The tribe developed in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 700 BC along ...

), mayor of

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

(2018-present)

Utah

* Willie Grayeyes, Navajo Democrat (San Juan County, UT Commission * Kenneth Maryboy, Navajo Democrat (San Juan County, UT Commission ) * Robin Troxell, Hopi Tribe of Arizona (Brigham City Councilmember)

Washington

* Christopher Roberts, (b. 1978,)

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

Democrat, (

Shoreline A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

(2010–present) * Roxanne Murphy, (Nooksack) Bellingham City Council 012–2018* Debora Juarez, (Blackfeet)

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

City Council 016–present

Wisconsin

* Wahsayah Whitebird, (b. 1991)

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

, City Council of

Ashland, Wisconsin Ashland is a city in Ashland and Bayfield counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the county seat of Ashland County. The city is a port on Lake Superior, near the head of Chequamegon Bay. The population was 7,908 at the 2020 census, all ...

019-2021br>Kristie Goforth
(Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians), Monona City Council 020–present

Other offices

Diego Archuleta Brigadier General Diego Archuleta (March 27, 1814 – 1884), was a member of the Mexican Congress. He joined the Mexican Army to fight against the United States in the Mexican–American War. Later, he was appointed an Indian ( Native Americans) A ...

(1814 – 1884), Member of the Mexican Congress, soldier in the Mexican Army, in the Mexican–American War, Native American Agent by President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

, and member of the Union Army (US Army) during the American Civil War. He was the first Hispanic Brigadier General. *

Fleming Begaye Sr. Fleming Begaye Sr. (August 26, 1921 – May 10, 2019) was a Navajo code talker during World War II. He was born in Red Valley, Arizona, was a member of the Navajo Nation, and attended Fort Wingate boarding school. When he learned that the US mili ...

(1921–2019) (Navajo) – Navajo Code Talker, Honorary Chair of the Native American Coalition of the Donald J. Trump for President Campaign, 2016. *

Elias Cornelius Boudinot Elias Cornelius Boudinot (August 1, 1835September 27, 1890) was an American politician, lawyer, newspaper editor, and co-founder of the ''Arkansan'' who served as the delegate to the Confederate States House of Representatives representing the ...

(1835–1890) (Cherokee) — Tribal Representative to the Confederate Congress, 1862–65. Represented the

. * Samuel Benton Callahan (1833–1911) (Creek) — Tribal Representative to the Confederate Congress, 1864–65. Represented the Creek and

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

nations. * Plenty Coups (1848–1932) (Crow) – Representative of Native Americans for the dedication of the Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier * Robert McDonald Jones (1808–1872) (Choctaw) — Tribal Representative to the Confederate Congress, 1863–65. Represented the

and

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classif ...

nations. * Dana Loesch (born 1978) (Cherokee) — radio host, TV personality, former spokesperson for the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while cont ...

. * Peter MacDonald (born 1928) (Navajo) – Member of Richard Nixon's Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP) in 1972. *

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahom ...

(1879–1935,

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

), honorary mayor of

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

"Will Rogers Memorial Park."
''City of Beverly Hills.'' Retrieved 13 Nov 2012. * Clarence L. Tinker (1887–1942) (Osage) – Major General, highest ranking Native American officer in the Army, Commander of the 7th Air Force in Hawaii, shot down and killed during the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Political Graveyard's list of Native American politicians

Politicians A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Native American