"The Red Man Has Great Heroes, Too"

[Sharikee]

[Sharikee]

R.C. Gorman

Artist R.C. Gorman was born in Chinle, Arizona, on July 26, 1931. Descended from generations of Navajo craftsmen, holy men, and tribal leaders, he was encouraged by a teacher at a mission school to develop his talent for art. After several years in the US Navy, he attended Arizona State College (now Northern Arizona University), but it was a visit to Mexico (1958) and then a year at the Mexico City College (now University of the Americas) that fixed his desire to be an artist.

After spending several years in San Francisco developing as a painter, he moved to Taos, NM. In 1965 he received a one-man exhibition in the Manchester Gallery there, and by 1968 his work was enjoying enough success that he bought the gallery, changed its name to Navajo Gallery, and began to exhibit and sell his own and other artists' work. The gallery was the first in the United States to be owned by a Native American. It remained for many years as his residence, studio, and gallery, where he was often present to deal personally with the growing numbers of other artists and the public who came by. From the 1970s, as his reputation spread throughout the USA and abroad, he moved on from working with oil, acrylic, and pastel to lithographs, ceramics, and occasional sculptures. Although he usually drew on SW Native American themes, he transformed them by his art into more universally significant, and aesthetic, subjects.

Reputed to be a genial, accessible man, known to be interested in food and cooking, and someone at home in the worlds of both his ancestors and international museums and academies, he is arguably the first Native American to be internationally recognized as a major American artist. Gorman died November 4, 2005, at a hospital in Albuquerque.

[Sharikee]

Pushmataha

Pushmataha (1760s – December 24, 1824), the "Indian General", was one of the three regional chiefs of the major divisions of the Choctaw in the 19th century. Many historians considered him the "greatest of all Choctaw chiefs". Pushmataha was highly regarded among Native Americans, Europeans, and white Americans, for his skill and cunning in both war and diplomacy.

Rejecting the offers of alliance and reconquest proffered by Tecumseh, Pushmataha led the Choctaw to fight on the side of the United States in the War of 1812. He negotiated several treaties with the United States.

In 1824, he traveled to Washington to petition the Federal government against further cessions of Choctaw land; he met with John C. Calhoun and Marquis de Lafayette, and his portrait was painted by Charles Bird King. He died in the capital city and was buried with full military honors in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

[Sharikee]

Ellison Myers Brown

Ellison Myers Brown (September 22, 1914 - August 23, 1975), widely known as Tarzan Brown, and Deerfoot amongst his people, was a two-time winner of the Boston Marathon in 1936 and 1939 . A member and direct descendant of the royal family of the Narragansett Indian tribe of Rhode Island, he also participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. He was scheduled to participate in the 1940 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, but these were canceled due to the outbreak of World War II. Tarzan Brown is still 1 of only 2 Native Americans to have won the Boston Marathon (the other was Thomas Longboat of the Onondaga Nation in 1907) and the only Native American to have more than 1 victory in Boston. He was inducted into the American Indian Hall of Fame in 1973.

[Sharikee]

Apesanahkwat

Apesanahkwat is an enrolled member of the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin. He has been elected Tribal Chairman of his tribe 8 times, which is unprecedented. He served in the United States Marine Corps and is a Vietnam Combat Veteran. Apesanahkwat is widely considered by his peers to be one of the foremost knowledgeable originators of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), which defined the Native Nations' involvement in National Gaming as we know it today.

Apesanahkwat exemplifies the attributes of a traditionalist, as well as a progressive activist who exists for the true empowerment of his people and their well-being. An experienced orator on the political and social nuances of the Native experience in America, he is also a motivational speaker promoting language, culture and native spirituality, as well as education, anti-gangs, anti-smoking, drugs and alcohol rehabilitation.

An accomplished actor, Apesanahkwat has appeared in films and starred in numerous television shows. Apesanahkwat is also a champion Northern Traditional Dancer who competes in powwows throughout the U.S. and Canada and he is a 2nd Degree Ogitchidaa (Warrior) of the Three Fires Midawin (Medicine Lodge) Society.

[Sharikee]

Charles Norman Shay

Charles Norman Shay (born June 27, 1924) is a Penobscot tribal elder, writer, and decorated veteran of both World War II and the Korean War. Along with a Bronze Star and Silver Star, Shay was also awarded the Legion d’Honneur, making him the first Indian in Maine with the distinction of French chavalier. He was instrumental in the re-publishing of a book by his own grandfather, Joseph Nicolar: The Life and Traditions of the Red Man, originally published in 1893. He has recently written an autobiography, Project Omaha Beach: The Life and Military Service of a Penobscot Indian Elder that details his time abroad in the military. Shay is also a direct descendant of Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin.

[Sharikee]

Dirk Whitebreast

Dirk Whitebreast, a member of the Sac & Fox of the Mississippi (Meskwaki Nation). In 2003, following the tragic suicide of his sister Darcy Jo Keahna, Dirk decided to take control of his life and become a healthier, stronger leader or his family, tribe and all of Indian Country. Dirk is an avid runner and in 2011 he ran 10 marathons in 30 days. He took the challenge of running 262 miles to both honor his sister and promote the Center for Native American Youth's mission to bring awareness to Native youth suicide.

[Sharikee]

Cory Witherill
Native American, Navajo Nation
Race Car Driver
Hailing from the Navajo tribe, Cory Witherill became the first full-blooded Native American to race in the Indy 500, driving for Indy Regency Racing (placing 19 out of 33) in 2001. The following year, he went to the Infiniti Pro Series driving for Hemelgarn Johnson Motorsports, and won the Nashville Indy Pro race in 2002.

Cory's professional career, in the Indy Racing League, Infiniti Pro Series, Indy lights and Arca Series, spanned from 1997 to 2004. He is now known for his public service and charity work within the Native American community.

[Sharikee]

Notah Begay III
Notah Begay III, the only full-blooded Native American to have played on the PGA TOUR, was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Notah secured a scholarship to Stanford University where he earned a degree in Economics in addition to earning All- American Honors three times and leading the golf team to a National Championship in 1994.

In addition to winning 4 PGA TOUR tournaments, Mr. Begay became only the third player in the history of professional golf to shoot 59 in a professional event and partnered with good friend Tiger Woods in the 2000 President’s Cup.

When Mr. Begay is not on the golf course, he dedicates his time to positively impacting the Native American community. In 2005, Notah launched The Notah Begay III (NB3) Foundation. The Foundation works to battle obesity and diabetes in the Native American youth. In addition, Mr. Begay owns a golf course development firm and works exclusively with Native communities to develop world-class golf properties.

Mr. Begay was named one of Golf Magazine’s Innovators of the Year in 2009 for his philanthropic work through the NB3 Foundation and has also been named one of the Top 100 Sports Educators in the world by the Institute for International Sport. In 2012, he received the Charlie Bartlett Award from the Golf Writers Association of America for his contributions to philanthropy and his community through the NB3 Foundation. In August 2012, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation honored Mr. Begay and the NB3 Foundation with the Steve Patterson Award for excellence in Sports Philanthropy. He has recently become a golf commentator for NBC Sports and Golf Channel. Mr. Begay is also Founder and Chief Executive Officer of KivaSun Foods.

[Sharikee]

Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell

The only American Indian in Congress, Republican senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell is also a Northern Cheyenne chief. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado in 1987 and served in the U.S. Senate from 1992–2004. Campbell was a leader in policy dealing with natural resources and public lands and initiated legislation to found the National Museum of the American Indian within the Smithsonian Institution. He declined running for a third term in the Senate, citing health and personal reasons. A three-time U.S. judo champion, Campbell was captain of the U.S. Olympic judo team in 1964. He is also a rancher, horse trainer, and jewelry designer.

[Sharikee]

Mark Charles

Mark R. Charles is a Native American activist, public speaker, consultant on Native American issues, journalist, blogger, pastor, and computer programmer. He is an independent candidate for President of the United States in the 2020 election. Charles, the son of a Navajo father and a Dutch-American mother, grew up in Gallup, New Mexico. He is a graduate of UCLA.

[Sharikee]

Joseph Medicine Crow

According to Crow tradition, a man must fulfill certain requirements to become chief of the tribe: command a war party successfully, enter an enemy camp at night and steal a horse, wrestle a weapon away from his enemy and touch the first enemy fallen, without killing him.

Joe Medicine Crow was the last person to meet that code, though far from the windswept plains where his ancestors conceived it. During World War II, when he was a scout for the 103rd Infantry in Europe, he strode into battle wearing war paint beneath his uniform and a yellow eagle feather inside his helmet. So armed, he led a mission through German lines to procure ammunition. He helped capture a German village and disarmed — but didn’t kill — an enemy soldier. And, in the minutes before a planned attack, he set off a stampede of 50 horses from a Nazi stable, singing a traditional Crow honor song as he rode away.

“I never got a scratch,” he recalled to the Billings Gazette decades later.

Medicine Crow died at age 102, according to the Gazette. He was the Crow’s last war chief, the sole surviving link to a long military tradition. But he was also an activist, an author, a Medal of Freedom recipient and a vital chronicler of the history of his tribe.

[Sharikee]

Sean Sherman

Founder and CEO of The Sioux Chef, Sean marries his passion for cooking with his rich heritage by raising awareness of indigenous food systems. As the winner of the 2018 James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook, Sean uses his platform as a way to create opportunities for education around Native foods and culinary techniques. As a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, the work Sean does is deep-rooted in a sense of pride and connection to his people.