List of Indigenous people of the Americas
This is a list of notable indigenous people of the Americas.
North America
[edit]Canada
[edit]Generally referred to as Aboriginal peoples in Canada when looking at the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples collectively.
Greenland
[edit]Mexico
[edit]
This issue is complicated because a great majority of Mexicans are mestizos and therefore being part Native is not unusual as in Canada or the US. The list only include Indigenous proper and mestizos with an Indigenous parent. This list also includes a few Pre-Columbian figures considered remarkable in the history and culture of Mexico.
- Ignacio Manuel Altamirano, writer, journalist and politician (Nahua)
- Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl, (d. 1648) Nahua historian, descendant of Ixtlilxochitl
- Bartolomé de Alva, Nahua, younger brother of Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl
- Diego de Alvarado Huanitzin, tlatoani of Tenochtitlan
- Domingo Arenas, Mexican revolutionary from Tlaxcala
- Juan Badiano, Nahua translator
- Juana Belén Gutiérrez de Mendoza, anarchist, feminist activist, typographer, journalist and poet (Caxcan)
- Cajemé, Yaqui rebel leader
- Jacinto Canek (1731-1761), Maya rebel leader
- Chimalpahin (1579-1660), Nahua historian
- Cuauhtémoc, last (Aztec) Tlatoani
- Cuitláhuac, penultimate (Aztec) Tlatoani
- Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, Catholic Saint (Chichimeca)
- Porfirio Díaz, President (Mixtec mother)
- Pascual Díaz y Barreto (1876-1936), Huichol Roman Catholic prelate
- Lila Downs, singer (Mixtec mother)
- Emilio Fernández, film director, actor (Kickapoo mother)
- Faustino Galicia Chimalpopoca professor, lawyer, and translator of the Nahuatl language.
- Natalio Hernández (b. 1947) Nahua poet from Veracruz
- Victoriano Huerta, President (Huichol mother)
- Indio Mariano, rebel leader in Tepic
- Luz Jiménez (1897-1965), Nahua storyteller
- Benito Juárez, President (Zapotec)
- La Malinche, translator of conquistador Hernán Cortés
- Modesta Lavana, (1929-2010), Nahua healer
- Florentina López de Jesús (1939-2014), Amuzgo weaver
- Tomás Mejía, Otomi Mexican Army general
- Moctezuma II, (Aztec) Tlatoani at the beginning of the Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire
- Diego Muñoz Camargo (c. 1529-1599), historian of Tlaxcala
- Nezahualcóyotl, Tlatoani of Texcoco and poet in Nahuatl language
- Nezahualpilli (1464-1515), Tlatoani of Texcoco
- Martín Ocelotl (1496-?1537), Nahua priest/shaman executed by the Inquisition
- Carlos Ometochtzin (d. 1539) Cacique of Texcoco, executed by the Inquisition
- Daniel Ponce de León (b. 1980) Tarahumara professional boxer
- Comandante Ramona, EZLN leader (Tzotzil)
- Isabel Ramírez Castaneda (1881-1943), (Nahua) archeologist
- María Sabina, shaman (Mazatec)
- Comandante Tacho, EZLN leader (Tojolabal)
- Refugio Tánori, Opata commander and supporter of the Second Mexican Empire.
- Francisco Tenamaztle (fl. 1540s-50s) Caxcan leader in the Mixton War
- Antonio Valeriano (c. 1521-1605), Nahua scholar, collaborator with Bernardino de Sahagún on the Florentine Codex
- Felipe Santiago Xicoténcatl, 1804-1847 Nahua, general in the Mexican Army under Antonio López de Santa Anna
United States
[edit]Central America
[edit]
The Caribbean
[edit]- Agüeybaná (The Great Sun) - "supreme cacique" in Puerto Rico
- Agüeybaná II - Cacique in Puerto Rico
- Arasibo - Cacique in Puerto Rico
- Hatuey (Taíno), Cacique in Cuba
- Hayuya - Cacique in Puerto Rico
- Jumacao - Cacique in Puerto Rico
- Anacaona - Cacique in Hispaniola (Taíno)
- Arawak - Cacique in Bahamas (Taíno)
- Caonabo - Cacique in Hispaniola (Carib)
- Guacanagaric - Cacique in Hispaniola (Taíno)
- Guarionex - Cacique in Hispaniola (Taíno)
- Cotubanama - Cacique in Hispaniola (Taíno)
- Enriquillo - Cacique in Hispaniola (Taíno)
Guatemala
[edit]- Miguel Ángel Asturias, novelist, Nobel prize winner in literature
- Rigoberta Menchú Tum, activist, Nobel prize winner in peace (Quiché)
- Concepción Ramírez, activist, appears on the Guatemalan 25-centavo coin
Nicaragua
[edit]- Myrna Cunningham, Miskita physician, feminist and Indigenous rights activist
South America
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Bolivia
[edit]- Roberto Mamani Mamani (b. 1962), Aymara painter
- Alejandro Mario Yllanes (1913–1960), Aymara painter and printmaker
- Evo Morales, Aymara politician, president of Bolivia
- Bienvenido Zacu Mborobainchi, b. 1956, Guarayo politician
Brazil
[edit]Chile
[edit]- Ainavillo (16th-century), Mapuche toqui
- Butapichón (17th-century), Mapuche toqui
- Cadeguala (16th-century), Mapuche toqui
- Calfucurá (late 1770s–1873), Mapuche military leader from Patagonia
- Caupolicán (died 1558), Mapuche toqui
- Santos Chávez (1934–2001), Mapuche printmaker
- Elicura Chihuailaf (born 1952), Mapuche poet
Colombia
[edit]- Quintín Lame (1880–1967), Paez political leader and author
Ecuador
[edit]- Camilo Egas, Mestizo, painter and educator, 1889–1962
- Eugenio Espejo, Mestizo journalist, hygienist, lawyer, and satirical writer, 1747–1795
- Oswaldo Guayasamín, Quechua painter and sculptor, 1919–1999
- Eduardo Kingman, Mestizo painter, 1913–1998
- Luis Macas, Quechua anthropologist and politician, born 1951
- Mincaye, Hauo preacher and church elder, born 1935
- Nina Pacari, Kichwa politician, lawyer and Indigenous leader from Cotacachi, born 1961
- Antonio Vargas, Quechua politician
Peru
[edit]- Tupac Amaru, military figure and last Inca
- Túpac Amaru II (1738-1781), leader of massive Andean uprising against Spanish colonial rule
- Túpac Katari (c. 1750-1781), leader of an Andean uprising
- Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, writer
- Yma Sumac, Singer of self-identified Inca ancestry
- Alejandro Toledo, President
- Marcos Zapata (c. 1710–1773), Quechua Cuzco School painter
- Magaly Solier, Quechua actress
- Manco Cápac, Sapa Inca
- Ollanta Humala, President of Peru
- Q'orianka Kilcher, Quechua actress
- Martín Chambi, Quechua photographer
- Diego Quispe Tito, Quechua painter
