List of Native American politicians

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 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. 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.^[1]

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 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

Name	Image	Life	Ethnicity or tribe	Party	Offices held
Charles Curtis		1860–1936	1/8 each Kansa/Osage Nation/Potawatomi	Republican	US Senator from Kansas; U.S. Vice President (1929–1933)
Ely Parker		1828–1895	Seneca Nation of New York		Commissioner of Indian Affairs in the Grant administration
Jack Jackson, Jr.			Navajo	Democratic	Former State Senator for AZ District 2 and Liaison to Secretary Kerry, US Department of State[2]
Kimberly Teehee			Cherokee Nation	Democratic	White House Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs
Keith Harper			Cherokee Nation	Democratic	U.S. representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council

Legislative branch

Name	Image	Life	Ethnicity or tribe	Party	Offices held
Brad Carson		1967–	Cherokee Nation	Democratic	U.S. Representative from Oklahoma
Robert Latham Owen		1856–1947	Cherokee Nation	Democratic	U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, 1907–25; candidate for Democratic Party nomination for President, 1920
William Wirt Hastings		1866–1938	Cherokee Nation	Democratic	U.S. Representative from Oklahoma 2nd District, 1915–21, 1923–35
Charles David Carter		1868–1929	Choctaw Indian	Democratic	U.S. Representative from Oklahoma, 1907-27 (4th District 1907–15, 3rd District 1915–27)
William Grady Stigler		1891–1952	Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma	Democratic	member of Oklahoma state senate, 1924–32; U.S. Representative from Oklahoma 2nd District, 1944–52.
Benjamin Reifel		1906–1990	Rosebud Sioux Tribe	Republican	U.S. Representative from South Dakota 1st District, 1961–71.
Will Rogers, Jr.		1911–1993	Cherokee Nation	Democratic	US Representative from California
Ben Nighthorse Campbell		1933–	Northern Cheyenne	Republican	U.S. Senator from Colorado, 1993–2005
Travis Childers		1958–	Mississippi Choctaw	Democratic	U.S. Representative from Mississippi, 2008–2011
Tom Cole		1949–	Chickasaw Nation	Republican	U.S. Representative from Oklahoma, 2003-present (4th District)
Markwayne Mullin		1977–	Cherokee Nation	Republican	U.S. Representative from Oklahoma, 2013-present (2nd District)

Judicial branch

Name	Image	Life	Ethnicity or tribe	Party	Offices held
Arvo Mikkanen			Kiowa	Democratic	unsuccessful US District Judge nomination[3]
Diane J. Humetewa			Hopi	Democratic	US Judge for the District of Arizona [4]

State offices

Alaska

Name	Image	Life	Ethnicity or tribe	Party	Offices held
Albert P. Adams		1942–2012	Inupiaq	Democratic	State representative 1981–1989, state senator 1989–2001
Billy Akers		1947–	?	Republican	State representative 1977–1979
Charles G. Anderson		1929–	Aleut	Republican	State representative 1981–1983
Nels A. Anderson, Jr.		1939–	Yup’ik	Democratic	State representative 1975–1981, state senator 1982–1983
Bill Beltz		1912–1960	Inupiaq	Democratic	Territorial representative 1949–1951, territorial senator 1951–1959, state senator and president of the state senate 1959–1960
Ray Christiansen		1922–1998	Yup’ik	Democratic	State representative 1961–1967, state senator 1967–1973
Joseph Chuckwuk		1948–	Yup’ik	Democratic	State representative 1981–1983
John E. Curtis		?	Inupiaq	Republican	State representative 1959–1961
Larry T. Davis		1930–2006	Inupiaq	Democratic	State representative 1975–1977
Chuck Degnan		1941–	?	Democratic	State representative 1971–1975
Frank Degnan		1901–1980	?	Democratic	Territorial representative 1951–1953
Bryce Edgmon		1961–	?	Democratic	State representative 2007–present
Charles Fagerstrom		1905–1962	Inupiaq	Democratic	Territorial representative 1953–1957, state representative 1959–1961
Frank R. Ferguson		1939–2003	Inupiaq	Democratic	State representative 1971–1975, state senator 1975–1986
				Independent
Neal Foster		1972–	Inupiaq	Democratic	State representative 2009–present
Richard Foster		1946–2009	Inupiaq	Democratic	State representative 1989–2009
Charles Franz		c. 1910–1996	?	Democratic	State representative 1959–1961
Phillip Guy		1941–2011	Yup’ik	Democratic	State representative 1973–1981
Willie Hensley		1941–	Inupiaq	Democratic	State representative 1967–1971, state senator 1971–1975 and 1987–1989
Adelheid Herrmann		1953–	Yup’ik	Democratic	State representative 1983–1989
Jimmy Hoffman		c. 1928–?	Yup’ik	Republican	State representative 1959–1961
Lyman Hoffman		1950–	Yup’ik	Democratic	State representative 1987–1991 and 1993–1995, state senator 1991–1993 and 1995–present
Andrew Hope		1896–1968	Tlingit	Democratic	Territorial representative 1945–1953 and 1957–1959, state representative 1959–1963
Eben Hopson		1922–1980	Inupiaq	Democratic	Territorial representative 1957–1959, state senator 1959–1967
Jimmy Huntington		1916–1987	Koyukon	Independent	State representative 1975–1977
Percy Ipalook		1906–1990	Inupiaq	Republican	Territorial representative 1949–1951, territorial senator 1951–1955
Brenda Itta		1943–	Inupiaq	Democratic	State representative 1975–1977
Ivan M. Ivan		1945–	Yup’ik	Democratic	State representative 1991–1993 and 1995–1999
George Jacko		1959–	?	Democratic	State representative 1989–1993, state senator 1993–1995
Arthur D. Johnson		1920–1961	?	Republican	State representative 1961
Axel C. Johnson		1911–1985	Yup’ik	Democratic	State representative 1959–1961 and 1963–1967
Frank G. Johnson		1894–1982	Tlingit	Republican	Territorial representative 1947–1955 and 1957–1959
Grace A. Johnson		1924–2004	Inupiaq	Republican	State representative 1962–1963
Reggie Joule		1952–	Inupiaq	Democratic	State representative 1997–2012
Sam Kito III		1964–	Tlingit	Democratic	State representative 2014–present
Albert Kookesh		1948–	Tlingit	Democratic	State representative 1997–2005, state senator 2005–2013
Jacob Laktonen		1917–1996	?	Republican	State representative 1973–1975
Loren Leman		1950–	Alutiiq	Republican	State representative 1989–1993, state senator 1993–2002, lieutenant governor 2002–2006
Georgianna Lincoln		1943–	?	Democratic	State representative 1991–1993, state senator 1993–2005
				Republican
Don Long		c. 1945–	Inupiaq	Democratic	State representative 1996–1997
Jerry Mackie		1962–	Haida	Democratic	State representative 1991–1997, state senator 1997–2001
				Republican
Eileen Panigeo MacLean		1949–1996	Inupiaq	Democratic	State representative 1989–1995
Byron Mallott		1943–	Tlingit	Democratic	Commissioner of community and regional affairs 1972–1974, lieutenant governor 2014–present
				Independent
Beverly Masek		1963–	?	Republican	State representative 1995–2005
Charisse Millett		1964–	Inupiaq	Republican	State representative 2009–present
Martin B. Moore		?–	Yup’ik	Democratic	State representative 1971–1973
Carl M. Morgan		1950–	Yup’ik	Republican	State representative 1999–2005
Carl E. Moses		1929–2014	Aleut	Alaskan Independence	State representative 1965–1973 and 1993–2007
				Democratic
				Republican
Benjamin Nageak		1950–	Inupiaq	Democratic	State representative 2013–present
Alfred Nakak		1947–2000	?	Democratic	State representative 1977–1979
Ed Naughton		1930–2002	?	Democratic	State representative 1971–1977
Irene Nicholia		1956–	Koyukon	Democratic	State representative 1993–1999
John Nusunginya		c. 1928–?	Inupiaq	Democratic	State representative 1959–1963
Donny Olson		1953–	Inupiaq	Democratic	State senator 2001–present
Alvin Osterback		1915–2005	?	Democratic	State representative 1975–1981
Moses Paukan		?–	Yup’ik	Democratic	State representative 1968–1971
William Paul		1885–1977	Tlingit	Republican	Territorial representative 1925–1929
Frank Peratrovich		1895–1984	Tlingit	Democratic	Territorial representative 1945–1947, territorial senator 1947–1951 and 1957–1959, delegate and first vice president of constitutional convention 1955–1956, state senator 1959–1967, president of the state senate 1961–1965, state representative 1969–1973
Larry Peterson		1939–	Gwich'in	Democratic	State representative 1973–1975
John Sackett		1944–	Koyukon	Republican	State representative 1967–1971, state senator 1973–1987
Woodie Salmon		1952–	Gwich'in	Democratic	State representative 2005–2011
Mary Sattler		1973–	Yup’ik	Democratic	State representative 1999–2009
Leo Schaeffer		1947–	Inupiaq	Democratic	State representative 1977–1981
Frank See		1915–1998	Tlingit	Democratic	State representative 1965–1969
Martin Seversen		1925–1979	?	?	State representative 1977
Jake Stalker		1917–c. 2008	Inupiaq	Democratic	State representative 1961–1967
Bill Thomas		1947–	Tlingit	Republican	State representative 2005–2013
Tony Vaska		1948–	Yup’ik	Democratic	State representative 1981–1985
Kay Wallis		1944–	Gwich'in	Democratic	State representative 1985–1991
Tim Wallis		1940–	Gwich'in	Democratic	State representative 1975–1977
Jerry Ward		1948–	?	Republican	State representative 1983–1985, state senator 1997–2003
James K. Wells		1906–1979	Inupiaq	Democratic	Territorial representative 1951–1953
John Westdahl		1918–1968	Yup’ik	Democratic	State representative 1967–1968
Alfred Widmark		1904–1989	Tlingit	Republican	State representative 1961–1963
Bill K. Williams		1943–	Tlingit	Democratic	State representative 1993–2005
				Republican
Jules W. Wright		1933–	Gwich'in	Republican	State representative 1967–1969
Fred Zharoff		1944–2001	?	Democratic	State representative 1979–1985, state senator 1985–1997

Arizona

Name	Image	Life	Ethnicity or tribe	Party	Offices held
Carlyle Begay		?	Navajo	Democratic	State senator 2013–present
				Republican
Jennifer Benally		?	?	Democratic	State representative 2015–present
Sally Ann Gonzales		1957–	?	Democratic	State representative 1997–2001 and 2011–present
Albert Hale		c. 1951–	Navajo	Democratic	State senator 2004–2011; State representative 2011–present
Victoria Steele		?	Seneca	Democratic	State representative 2013–present
Jamescita Peshlakai			Navajo	Democratic	State representative, District 7[5]

Colorado

Idaho

Illinois

Kansas

Kentucky

Maine

Minnesota

Name	Image	Life	Ethnicity or tribe	Party	Offices held
Susan Allen		1963–	Rosebud Indian Reservation	Democratic	State representative (2012-)
Peggy Flanagan		1979–	White Earth Band of Ojibwe	Democratic	State representative (2015-)

Mississippi

Name	Image	Life	Ethnicity or tribe	Party	Offices held
Greenwood Leflore		1800–1865	Mississippi Choctaw		State senator (1841-1844); Principal chief of the Choctaw

Montana

Name	Image	Life	Ethnicity or tribe	Party	Offices held
Denise Juneau		1967–	Mandan and Hidatsaa	Democratic	Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Carolyn Pease-Lopez				Democratic	State representative (2008–)
George Kipp III					State representative
Rae Peppers			Northern Cheyenne Tribe	Democratic	State representative (2013–)
Jonathan Windy Boy			Chippewa-Cree	Democratic	State senator
Sharon Stewart-Peregoy		1953–		Democratic	State senator (2009–)
Lea Whitford			Blackfeet Nation	Democratic	State senator (2015–)
G. Bruce Meyers			Chippewa-Cree		State representative
Susan Webber			Blackfeet Nation	Democratic	State representative (2015-)

New Mexico

North Carolina

North Dakota

Oklahoma

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Utah

Washington

Wyoming

Municipal offices

New Mexico

• April J. Silversmith, Navajo Democrat (Gallup, NM Magistrate Judge^[14])
• Carol Bowman Muskett, Navajo Democrat (McKinley County, NM Commissioner District I^[15])
• Genevieve Jackson, Navajo Democrat (McKinley County, NM Commissioner District II^[16])
• Harriet K. Becenti, Navajo Democrat (McKinley County, NM Clerk^[17])
• Thommy Nelson, Navajo Democrat (McKinley County, NM Probate Judge^[18])
• Felix Begay, Navajo Democrat (McKinley County, NM Sheriff^[19])
• Earnest Becenti, Navajo Democrat (Mckinley County, NM County Treasurer^[20])
• GloJean Todacheene, Navajo Democrat (San Juan County, NM Commissioner District I^[21])
• Kenneth Maryboy, Navajo Democrat (San Juan County, UT Commission ^[22])

Oklahoma

• John Tyler Hammons (b. 1988, Cherokee Nation), mayor of Muskogee, Oklahoma

Washington

• Christopher Roberts, (b. 1978, Choctaw), (Shoreline City Council [2010-])
• Roxanne Murphy, (Nooksack) Bellingham City Council [2012-]
• Debora Juarez, (Blackfeet) Seattle City Council [2016-]

Other offices

• Robert McDonald Jones (1808–1872) (Choctaw and Chickasaw)— Tribal Representative to the Confederate Congress, 1863-65. Represented Choctaw and Chickasaw nations.
• Will Rogers (1879–1935, Cherokee), honorary mayor of Beverly Hills, California^[23]

References

External links

• Political Graveyard's list of Native American politicians