Native Actors & Movies

Tonantzín Carmelo is an American actress descending on her mother’s side from Tongva and Kumeyaay Native Americans of Southern California.

Gil Birmingham (born July 13, 1953) is an American actor of Comanche ancestry, best known for his portrayal of Billy Black in The Twilight Saga film series.

Irene Bedard (born July 22, 1967) is a Native American actress who has played many Native American characters in a variety of films. She is perhaps best known for her voice role as the title character in the 1995 animated film Pocahontas.

Geraldine Keams (now known as just Geri) is a full blood Navajo (Dineh) storyteller, actress, and author who got her first acting break in The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Adam Beach, an Anishinaabe member of the Saulteaux tribe of Dog Creek Lake Reserve in Manitoba, Canada has starred in films ranging from Squanto to Smoke Signals to Windtalkers, as well as multiple television series such as  North of 60, Law and Order SUV and Skinwalkers, a series based on the popular Tony Hillerman novels. He is perhaps the most visible and sought-after young Native American actor working in Hollywood today.

Tokalu Luta was born on 11 June 1870, on the Pine Ridge Reservation,Thunder Butte, in the Dakota Territory. He was a Ogala Lakota Sioux Native American. He became known as Chief William Red Fox. His father was Chief Black Eagle and his mother was White Swan, the sister of Chief Crazy Horse. Thus, he was a nephew of the famous Sioux leader Chief Crazy Horse.

Saginaw Grant  (born Morgan Saginaw Grant) is a respected member of the Sac-n-Fox,Iowa and Otoe-Missouria Nations. He is a a Native American actor, traditional dancer, and motivational speaker.His most recent role was in The Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp.

With more than five million people of Native American descent living in the United States, it’s not surprising that many famous people who are in the arts and entertainment industries are members of one of the many tribes on record, or their ancestors were.

Nipo Strongheart, (1891-1966) was a Wild west show performer with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and Major Lillie’s Pawnee Bill Shows, and later a Hollywood actor, one of the first native americans in film.

Wesley Studie was born December 17, 1947, at Norfire Hollow, Oklahoma,near Tahlequah. He was the eldest of four sons of Andy Studie, a ranch hand, and Maggie Nofire. Wesley is a full blood Cherokee. He later dropped the “e” from his last name when he began his acting career and shortened his first name to Wes. Wes Studi did not become an actor until he was 40 years old.

Floyd Red Crow Westerman is probably best known for his role in the western epic ‘Dances with Wolves.’ Today, Westerman is also involved with other projects that bring awareness to subjects like the environment.