33 Best Native American Actors

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American Indians have been acting in movies since the early 1900s, making mostly cowboys and Indians movies, though they’ve shown up in countless dramas, comedies, adventures and war films. They’ve appeared in many TV shows and theatrical productions as well, of course.

Generally they’ve played that Indian man or woman, not just "average" people, and often in a stereotypical fashion that could be considered humorous or offensive, especially to Native Americans.

Criteria: At Least 25% Native American

The reader should keep in mind this list only contains actors whose ancestry is at least 25% American Indian; that is, the native people arising in the vast lands of the United States and Canada.

Please note that actor/guitarist Johnny Depp said his great-grandmother had a great deal of Native American in her, but this claim has never been authenticated. Some people have suggested he’s just a “pretendian.” And actress Kelsey Asbille has said she has Native American ancestors, but this claim has not been substantiated.

Also, actor/stuntman Enos Edward Canutt used to be included on this list, but apparently the only thing Native American about him was his nickname, “Yakima”!

1. William “Bill” Malcolm Hazlett

William “Bill” Malcolm Hazlett, aka Chief Many Treaties, was a Blackfoot Native American Indian born in Montana in 1874; he was a graduate of Carlisle University. Hazlett acted in many Hollywood Westerns during the 1930s and ‘40s.

He appeared in movies such as Flaming Frontiers (1938), Rustlers of Red Dog (1935), Guilty Trails (1938), Outlaw Express (1938), Go West Young Lady (1941), Overland Mail (1942), The Law Rides Again (1943), The Deerslayer (1943), and Black Bart (1948).

But perhaps the best movie he appeared in was Buffalo Bill (1944), filmed in Technicolor, and starring Joel McCrea, Maureen O’Hara and Anthony Quinn.

2. Jack Hoxie

Born in Oklahoma in 1885, Jack Hoxie’s mother was half-Nez Perce Indian. He became a ranch hand and cowboy, and eventually competed in rodeos. In 1909, Hoxie got his break in show business by joining Dick Stanley’s Wild West show. Hoxie soon graduated to acting in movies, mostly Western shorts, but by the 1920s he could be seen in full-length motion pictures, including 1923’s Where Is the West?

Incidentally, Hoxie often acted in films including other Western stars like Hoot Gibson, Harry Carey, and others. Hoxie stopped making movies in the early 1930s but continued working in rodeos, Wild West shows and circuses until the late 1950s.

3. Jay Silverheels

Mostly known as Tonto on the Lone Ranger, a 1950s half-hour Western TV show, Jay Silverheels was a Mohawk Canadian Indian who excelled at being an actor and athlete. Born on the Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario, Canada, Silverheels began acting in 1937, working as an extra and stunt man. That year he appeared in his first movie, the musical comedy, Make a Wish.

Silverheels appeared in 79 movies between 1937 and 1973, as well as numerous TV shows. In addition to 217 episodes of The Lone Ranger (including two movie sequels), he had parts in many other “oaters,” like Wanted Dead or Alive, Wagon Train, Rawhide, Laramie, Daniel Boone, Branded, and The Virginian.

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Fun fact: Silverheels parodied his Tonto character several times over the years on various TV shows.

4. Ned Romero

Ned Romero started his show business career as an opera singer; he also appeared in musicals such as Kiss Me Kate and Oklahoma! Romero's ancestry is Chitimacha Native American, French, and Spanish.

He began his movie and television career in the early 1960s. In fact, he appeared in a 1963 episode of the popular TV show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, portraying an opera singer. Romero has acted in many movies, notably Mark of the Gun (1969) and Winchester 73 (1967).

But, his greatest claim to fame in the acting realm has been his seemingly countless appearances on TV shows such as The Virginian, Laredo, Bonanza, Star Trek, Disney’s Wonderful World, Murder, She Wrote, Star Trek Voyager and Walker, Texas Ranger, among many others.

5. Graham Greene

An Oneida Native American, Graham Greene was born on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada, and began his acting career working in stage plays in England and Toronto in the early 1970s.

His TV debut took place on a 1979 episode of The Great Detective. His film career took off in the early 1980s with the release of Running Brave (1983). Greene’s filmography is truly impressive. He appeared as Kicking Bird in Dances with Wolves (1990), Walter Crow Horse in Thunderheart (1992), and Detective Joe Lambert in Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995).

Greene has also portrayed numerous American Indians of historical note, including Sitting Bull in a Historica vignette; Shawnee chief Tecumseh in Tecumseh!; and Ishi of the Yahi (a small tribe of California Indians) in HBO’s The Last of His Tribe (1992). Interestingly, Greene became a Member of the Order of Canada in 2015.

6. Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson was born on the Osage Indian Reservation in Oklahoma in 1918 to a Cherokee mother and Irish father. During his youth, he became a championship rodeo performer who advanced to stunt work and acting in movies during the late 1930s.

The 1943 film, The Outlaw, showed his first acting work. Curiously, Johnson rarely portrayed American Indians. Maybe because he was tall, strong, good-looking and laconic, Johnson eventually became Hollywood’s quintessential Western character actor.

He appeared in many Westerns with the legendary John Wayne and starred in Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969), often considered one of the greatest Westerns of all time. But Johnson also acted in his share of contemporary dramas, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1972 for his work in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show.

7. Wes Studi

Considered a full-blooded Native American of the Cherokee Nation, Wes Studi fought in the Vietnam War and in 1973 participated in the Wounded Knee Occupation at Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota. A fluent Cherokee speaker, Studi has taught the language and helped start a Cherokee-language newspaper.

Amusingly, in the late 1980s, Studi turned to acting to meet women. However, he soon appeared in some of the best films about Native Americans: Dances with Wolves (1990), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and he even portrayed Geronimo in Geronimo: An American Legend (1993). Having the look of a fierce Indian warrior, Studi appeared as a chieftain in James Cameron’s Avatar (2009). He also starred in Hostiles (2017), playing Cheyenne chief, Yellow Hawk.