Top 10: Kick-Ass Native Americans

also, the website that this post came from probably isn't the best source of information about anything at all, seriously.

cooooool

Chief Joseph and Chief Seattle are two of my favorites . This culture has much wisdom .

space mikey YOU are so true, the issue is under the rug and stale which is not right. Obama is attempting to address the issue by offering monies for broken treaties and if your from a fedral recognized tribe than you could be granted 1000 USD. that must be the going rate for someone RAPING you land, Culture, Woman, children, religion, Air, hunting ground, water, future, and freedom.

I felt it wasn't detailed enough when I posted it. I just notice that they are way overlooked and under appreciated. I mean CNN will come up with a "Black" in America, and "Latino" in America, and although I don't think they are wrong for that, I would even more appreciate a "Native" in America from them. I hear all kinds of stuff about the Israel Palatine issues, and atrocities and unfairness there. I also hear about ethnic and social issues from most places, but I think Americans tend to overlook the fact that all the land they are on (as non-Native Americans) was indeed stolen, and our government still does them wrong.

I think Native Americans deserve a lot more say, rights, and land here in their homeland. And I can easily see and sympathize with the fact that we might as well have been, and possibly still are seen as terrorists, oppressors, thieves, any number of things.

I also respect that they stood up and fought to protect their way of life, and what was theirs. Although there probably isn't a way to make everyone happy, or make it right for the Natives, certainly not restore what's been destroyed, I hope one day I will quit hearing new stories of injustices towards them, not because I quit listening, but because it quit happening.

I value any information on Native Americans and their majestic cultures (even if this list only focuses on warriors). But what I would really like, is to see more Native American lessons being taught in our schools. Aside from the obvious atrocities,... what stills invokes disgust is the fact that Indigenous cultures and history are still very much absent from classrooms. (I was a student at MANY schools,... and I only had about 7 months total of Native American lessons, and those lessons were limited, censored and unappreciated.) Extensive TRUE education about Native Americans could teach and benefit us all,... not just for respectful and historical purposes, but also to help prevent any future similar disgusting atrocities from ever happening again.

@ blkblk13:

Obviously no one's going to call *this* racist, since it's about Native Americans and not white Americans.

Anyway, I don't want to dwell on this. I only wanted to make one post in the topic.

This is racist.

Why do I get the feeling that a "Top 10: Kick-Ass White Americans" wouldn't fly by as well on Current?

Yes, 10 intellectual giants they were not. Except for Sequoya.

You seem to have forgotten a large segment of the Native American population, women.

1. Lozen
2. Wilma Mankiller
3. Winona LaDuke
4.Ada Deer

There are way more that deserve to be mentioned but this just a top of my head list.

For men, I also suggest Black Elk and Vine Deloria, Jr.

most children have been subject to jaded history lessons. hope more truth comes out abut these heros.

1.
Crazy Horse
The most famous war leader of the Lakota, he became feared by other tribes in the early 1850s for his skill in battle and continued fighting against U.S. expansion until his death. From a young age, he reportedly had trance visions of himself as a great warrior. He became an expert at luring cocky U.S. battalions into ambushes by pretending to be an injured, vulnerable target. Most famously, he led his tribe into the Battle of Little Bighorn, which left 268 soldiers dead including George Custer and two of his brothers

2
Geronimo
The Apache were known as the fiercest warriors in the Southwestern United States and Geronimo became their most famous leader. He fought against both U.S. and Mexican government expansion for nearly 30 years, eluding capture or serious injury although greatly outnumbered. When the Mexican government put a bounty on Apache scalps, Geronimo’s raid became so numerous and brutal that no area felt safe. Though captured in 1886, he lived to be 79 years old and told his story to a biographer who published the famous book about his life.

3
Sitting Bull
A Sioux holy man, Sitting Bull also swung a mean tomahawk, leading his people as a war chief during years of resistance to the United States. His forces defeated Custer at Little Bighorn. After his warrior years, he joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and reportedly cursed at audiences in his native tongue during performances. He returned to his tribe after touring with a circus horse. Police arrived to arrest the chief for past deeds, and the Sioux began shooting. By the end, 13 men were dead including Sitting Bull. His horse responded to its show cue and offered a hoof to “shake hands.”

4
Thayendanegea
Also known by his European name, Joseph Brant, this Mohawk leader became the most famous Native American of his time. “Monster Brant” is still remembered for the massacres and atrocities against settlers in the Mohawk Valley and his efforts to regain land for his people in Canada. Beginning at age 15, he fought in the French and Indian War. After receiving a British silver medal for his service, he went to Dartmouth College and married a white lady. However, he refused to completely integrate and did more for his people than any other leader at the time.

5
Sequoyah
A silversmith, Sequoyah created Cherokee syllabary in 1821, which made reading and writing in their native language possible. This is one of the only times in recorded history that a member of an illiterate people independently created an effective writing system. The Cherokee quickly realized the worth of his system and officially adopted it in 1825. Their literacy rate soared and surpassed that of surrounding European-American settlers, who had written language for centuries. His notoriety rose and he became a negotiator for the Cherokee in Washington, D.C.

6
Captain Jack
A chief of the Modoc tribe in California and Oregon, he utilized guerrilla tactics that nearly a century later were heralded as revolutionary. The Modoc were forced from their ancestral home to the Klamath Reservation. However, Captain Jack said “F*ck that!” and led the Modoc back home. When the U.S. Army showed up in 1872, Jack led an attack from the wastelands of what is now Lava Beds National Monument. They killed 35 servicemen and suffered no casualties. At a supposed peace treaty, Captain Jack and several Modoc pulled pistols and killed negotiators, including General Canby, the only general killed in the Indian Wars.

7
Black Hawk
By his 15th birthday he had already killed a man. By his 18th birthday, he had led multiple war parties to victory. Although not a hereditary chief of the Sauk, Black Hawk became war chief for his bravery. Even though his people had a treaty for land in Illinois, white settlers continued to move there. When Black Hawk started killing them off, the Black Hawk War began. It ended with the chief in jail, and bolstered the early career of Abraham Lincoln, but it took the Illinois Militia, Michigan Territory Militia, the U.S. Army, heir Indian allies, and a U.S. gunboat to finally bring him down.

8
Red Cloud
Without a doubt, one of the best Native American war leaders the United States Army ever faced, Red Cloud organized 2,000 Arapaho, Sioux and Cheyenne in a successful bitch-slapping of U.S. forces out of the Lakota territory that is now Wyoming and southern Montana. Known as Red Cloud’s War, the two-year skirmish ended with the U.S. agreeing to completely withdraw from their area. Of course, they later broke that pact, so Red Cloud, head of the Oglala Lakota Sioux, put on his diplomat headdress and met with President Grant. He stood firm against the government, but ultimately had to lead his people to a reservation.

9
Tecumseh
Leader of the Shawnee and a large multi-tribal confederacy that opposed the U.S. in the War of 1812, the cause he propagated became known as Tecumseh’s War. He advocated a return to an ancestral lifestyle. They wanted the U.S. to give back their land and keep their white noses out of tribal business. William Henry Harrison thumbed his nose at this and a long series of battles around the Great Lakes followed. The man who killed Tecumseh, Richard Mentor Johnson, launched an entire political career off of that one deed and became Vice President of the U.S.

10
Cowkeeper
While not as well known as other names on this list, Cowkeeper (aka Ahaya) was truly hardcore and one of the earliest known leaders of the Seminole tribe. When early Spaniards began attacking Indian settlements, he began raiding right back at them. He loathed the Spanish so much, he believed the only way to the afterlife was to kill 100 of them. However, his bloodlust didn’t extend to the British, who respected his tribes rebellious spirit. In 1783, after falling ill, he confessed that he had only killed 86 Spaniards and asked his sons to kill 15 in his name.

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Lakota Pride!!! We have three on the top ten list!!!!!!!!
Salute the original HOMELAND SECURITY!!!!!!!!