List of Native American firsts

This is a list of Native American firsts. Native American people were the first people to live in the area that is now known as the United States. This is a chronological list of the first accomplishments that Native Americans have achieved both through their tribal identities and also through the culture of the United States over time. It includes individuals and groups of people who are indigenous to contemporary United States. This includes Native Americans in the United States, which includes American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians.

16th century

1530s

1539

Indigenous peoples of Florida have first contact with the Hernando de Soto Expedition, marking first contact with Spaniards and African people for many Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands.

1580s

1581

The Navajo make first contact with the Spanish.

1587

First recorded Protestant christianing of a Native American: Christening of Manteo.

17th century

1610s

1615

First Native American received as royalty by English royalty: Pocahontas.
The Huron people first act as middlemen for French traders and other Native American tribes.

1620s

First Native American in New England to meet with settlers leading to ratify a peace treaty: Massaoit.

1630s

1638

First American Indian reservation established: Quinnipiac Nation.

1660s

1663

First published writing by a Native American in the Americas: Honoratissimi Benefactores by Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck.
First Bible published in the Americas: The Eliot Indian Bible is printed in Natick and one of the translators, James Printer became the first Native American to use a printing press.

1665

First Native American graduate of Harvard University: Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck.

1670s

1670

First Native American ordained as a Christian clergy member: Hiacoomes.

1672

Native Americans served as first mail couriers between New York City and Albany.

18th century

1760s

1765

First Native American recorded as preaching Christianity to a non-Native audience: Samson Occom.

1770s

1772

First published literary work by a Native American: A Sermon Preached at the Execution of Moses Paul, an Indian by Samson Occom.

1790s

1794

First Native American published, written report of other Native American peoples in the English language: A Short Narration of My Last Journey to the Western Country by Hendrick Aupaumut.

19th century

1810s

1812

First Native American commissioned brigadier general in the United States Army: William McIntosh.

1820s

1821

Cherokee syllabary is first adopted by the Cherokee Nation general council: created by Sequoyah

1822

First Native American admitted to West Point and first Native American graduate: David Moniac.

1825

First Iroquois person to publish the oral histories of the Haudenosaunee: David Cusick in Sketches of the Ancient History of the Six Nations.

1827

The Cherokee Nation adopts its first modern constitution.

1828

First Native American newspaper and first newspaper published in an Indigenous language: The Cherokee Phoenix. First editor of the paper was Buck Watie.

1829

First full-length autobiography published by a Native American: A Son of the Forest by William Apess.
First book published using the Cherokee syllabary: Cherokee Hymn Book printed by Elias Boudinot and a New England missionary.

1840s

1844

First known Native American person to earn a Western medical degree from Western college: Wa-o-wa-wa-na-onk.

1847

First full-length travelog by a Native American: The Life, History, and Travels of Kah-ge-ga-gah-bowh by George Copway.

1850s

1854

First novel published by a Native American: The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murietta by John Rollin Ridge.
First Native American student periodical publication, A Wreath of Cherokee Rose Buds.

1856

First governor of the Chickasaw Nation after the adoption of the new constitution: Cyrus Harris.
First Native American ordained as a Roman Catholic priest: James Bouchard.

1857

First Native American editor of mainstream newspaper: John Rollin Ridge who was the founding editor of the Sacramento Bee.

1860s

1861

First Native American professional track athlete: Louis "Deerfoot" Bennett.

1865

First person to ride the Chisholm Trail: Jesse Chisholm.

1867

First Native American to earn the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army: Ely Samuel Parker.

1869

First Native American to be awarded the Medal of Honor: Co-Rux-Te-Chod-Ish.
First Native American to work as the Commissioner for Indian Affairs: Ely Samuel Parker.

1870s

1870

First Native American elected as a United States Senator: Hiram Rhodes Revels.

1875

First independent Cherokee-owned newspaper published: The Indian Progress and owned by Elias C. Boudinot.

1878

First Choctaw tribal newspaper: The Choctaw News.

1879

First Native American declared "a person within the meaning of the law" in the United States: Standing Bear.

1880s

1881

First Native American anthropologist: Francis La Flesche.

1883

First Native American woman to publish a book, Sarah Winnemucca, who published Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims.

1886

First privately owned Chippewa periodical: The Progress founded by Theodore H. Beaulieu and Gustave Beaulieu.

1889

First Native American woman to earn a Western medical degree from a Western college: Susan La Flesche.
First documented Native American U.S. Army nurses: Susan Bordeaux, Ella Clark, Anna B. Pleets, Josephine Two Bears.

1890s

1891

First novel published by a Native American woman: Wynema: A Child of the Forest by Sophia Alice Callahan.

1892

First Native American elected to the United States House of Representatives: Charles Curtis.
First Native American playwright: Gowongo Mohawk, author of Wep-Ton-No-Mah, The Indian Mail Carrier.

1893

First independent periodical published by and for the Osage people: The Wah-sha-she founded by George E. Tinker.
First Native American woman to publish and edit a newspaper: Norma E. Standley Smiser.

1897

First Native American to play on a major league baseball team: Louis Sockalexis.

1898

First Native American to graduate from Stanford University: John Milton Oskison.

20th century

1900s

1903

First tribal newspaper published by the White Earth Ojibwe: The Tomahawk.

1904

First Native American to compete for the United States in the Olympic Games: Frank Pierce.

1908

First tribal newspaper published for the Quileute people: The Quileute Independent created by Webster Hudson.
First paniolos to win at the Frontier Days rodeo competition: Ikua Purdy, Archie Ka'au'a, and Jack Low.

1909

First Native American film actor: James Young Deer.
First Native American lawyer to argue a case before the Supreme Court: Lyda Conley.

1910s

1910

First Native American to graduate from Yale: Henry Roe Cloud.

1911

First Native American to play in the NFL: Jim Thorpe.
First US national Native American rights and Progressive Era participation organization managed by Native Americans for Native Americans, the Society of American Indians

1912

First Native American to win gold medals for the United States in the Olympic Games: Jim Thorpe.
First American to win an Olympic medal in the 10,000 meter run: Lewis Tewanima.

1913

First Native American to attend the United States Naval Academy: Joseph J. Clark.
First person documented as having reached the summit of Denali: Walter Harper.
First Native American head coach of a college sports team: Albert Andrew Exendine.

1916

First American Indian Day celebrated in May 1916. The day was created by Red Fox James.

1918

First known use of Indigenous Code Talkers as part of a U.S. military effort: Choctaw, Cherokee, and Navajo were all Code Talkers in World War I.

1920s

1921

First all-Native American National Guard: Haskell unit of the Kansas National Guard.
First Native American woman pilot: Bessie Coleman.

1922

First Native American student recorded to take part in a world conference: Ruth Muskrat Bronson.
First woman to serve as chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma: Alice Brown Davis.

1923

First chair of the Navajo Tribal Council: Henry Chee Dodge.

1924

First Navajo person to earn a law degree: Thomas Henry Dodge.
First all-Native American cavalry created in the United States: Troop C, 114th Cavalry.
First Native American to captain the United States Hockey Team: Clarence Abel.
First Native American woman elected to a state legislature: Cora Belle Reynolds Anderson.
First Alaska Native elected to the Alaskan Territorial Legislature: William L. Paul.
First Native American to play in the Winter Olympics, and win a medal in the Winter Olympics : Clarence "Taffy" Abel

1926

First United States–born Native American player to become an NHL regular, which he did with the New York Rangers beginning on November 16, 1926: Clarence "Taffy" Abel.
First Native American woman to hold state office in Oklahoma: Jessie Elizabeth Randolph Moore.
First national reform group with only Native American membership: National Congress of American Indians by Zitkala-Sa and Raymond Bonnin.

1927

First Native American to earn a degree as a registered nurse: Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail.

1929

First Native American to serve as Vice President of the United States: Charles Curtis.

1930s

1930

First accredited nursing program for Native Americans: Sage Memorial Hospital School of Nursing.
First enrolled Native American woman to earn a pilot's license: Mary Riddle.

1932

First Native American woman elected to the Montana State Legislature: Dolly Smith Akers.
First Native American to open the Olympic Games: Charles Curtis.

1935

First Native American woman elected as president of the General Federation of Women's Clubs: Roberta Campbell Lawson.

1939

First Native American to win national and international level boxing]championships: Chester L. Ellis.

1940s

1941

First Native American commissioned in the American Chaplain Corps: James C. Ottipoby.
First Native American Miss America contestant: Mifauny Shunatona, Miss Oklahoma

1942

First Native American to become a major general in the U.S. Air Force: Clarence L. Tinker.
First American to dance with the Paris Opera and receive the title of prima ballerina: Maria Tallchief.
First Native American woman to work for Lockheed, and probably first Native American woman aeronautical engineer: Mary Golda Ross.
First Native American commissioned pilot in the United States Navy: Tom Oxendine.

1943

First Navajo language newspaper: Adahooniligii.
First Native American venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic church: Kateri Tekakwitha.
First Native American woman joins the Marine Corps Women's Reserve: Minnie Spotted-Wolf.

1944

First Muscogee person to earn the Medal of Honor: Ernest Childers.
First person of Choctaw descent to earn the Medal of Honor: Van T. Barfoot.
First and only Native American WASP: Ola Mildred Rexroat.

1945

First Cherokee to earn the Medal of Honor: Jack Montgomery.
First anti-discrimination law passed in the United States: The Alaska Equal Rights Act of 1945, ending segregation of Alaska Natives.

1946

First female elected Tribal Chair in the United States: Josephine Gates Kelly

1949

First Hopi to earn the Indian Achievement Award from the Indian Council Fire: Fred Kabotie.

1950s

1950

First Native American veterinarian: Bernard Anthony Hoehner.

1952

First Hawaiian to be awarded the Medal of Honor: Herbert Kaili Pililaau.
First US Hall of Fame for Native Americans founded, National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians, Anadarko, Oklahoma.

1953

First Indian Miss America: Arlene Wesley James.

1956

First Native American to earn Western dentistry degree: George Blue Spruce.
First Native American oncologist: James W. Hampton.

1957

First Native American elected to the Idaho State Legislature: Joseph R. Garry.
First radio station to primarily broadcast in Navajo language: KNDN-AM.

1958

First Native American to graduate from the United States Air Force Academy: Leo Johnson.

1959

First woman president of the Mescalero Apache Tribe: Virginia S. Klinekole.

1960s

First Native American pharmacist: Francis Quam.

1960

First Native American to own an FTD floral shop: Nunny Waano-Gano.

1961

First Native American elected to the U.S. Congress from South Dakota: Benjamin Reifel.

1962

First Alaska Native newspaper: The Tundra Times with Howard Rock as the first editor.

1963

First Native American to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom: Annie Dodge Wauneka.

1964

First Native American elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives: James D. Atcitty.
First Native American on the United States Olympic Judo Team: Benjamin Nighthorse Campbell.
First Native American to win an Olympic gold medal in the 10,000 meter run: William Mervin "Billy" Mills.
First Native American to earn a doctorate in psychology: Marigold Linton, from UCLA

1966

First Native American elected as New Mexico state senator: Tom Lee.
First Native American elected to the Arizona House of Representatives: Lloyd Lynn House.
First Native American man to earn a doctorate in psychology: Arthur McDonald.

1967

First ballet written specifically for Native American dancers: Four Moons which was scored by Louis Ballard.
First woman to chair the Seminole Tribe Council: Betty Mae Tiger Jumper.

1969

First Native American to receive a Pulitzer Prize: N. Scott Momaday.
First Native American to become a public school district superintendent: Henry Gatewood.
First Native American to work as Indian Commissioner on the Indian Claims Commission: Brantley Blue.

1970s

1970

First broadcast license given to a Native American tribe : WYRU-AM.

1971

First Native American job corps center founded: The Kicking Horse Regional Manpower Center.
First Native American elected to the North Dakota state legislature: Arthur Raymond.
First Navajo to earn a doctorate in physics: Fred Begay.

1972

First Native American owned and operated non-commercial radio station for Native American listeners: KTDB-FM.
First Native American on the United States Women's Table Tennis National Team: Angelita Rosal.
First non-Japanese sumo wrestler to win the top division championship: Takamiyama Daigorō.
First induction ceremony of the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame.

1974

First Alaska Native to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race: Carl Huntington.
First Native American band to reach the top five on the Billboard Hot 100: Redbone with "Come and Get Your Love" at number 5.

1975

First artist chosen by the Museum of the American Indian for a series on modern Native American art: R. C. Gorman.
First Native American practitioner of an Indigenous religion to give the invocation at the United States Senate: Frank Fools Crow.
First Native American woman dentist: Jessica Rickert.
First woman to chair the Yavapai-Apache Tribe: Vera Brown Starr.
First tribally owned and built golf course is opened by the Mescalero Apache Tribe.

1976

First American Indian Studies master's degree program established by Charlotte Anne Wilson Heth.
First Jicarilla Apache woman to earn a doctorate degree: Veronica Velarde Tiller.
First radio station broadcasting in the Navajo language and under Navajo control: The Navajo Radio Network.
First chairperson of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe: Mildred Cleghorn.
First Alaska Native to become a physician: Ted Mala.
First Native American to work for the United States Census Bureau: Edna Lee Paisano.

1977

First Inuit Circumpoloar Conference takes place.

1978

First Native American artist to display their work in China: Joan Hill.
First woman to serve as chair of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes: Juanita L. Learned.
First person of Native American descent to earn a fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health and the American Psychiatric Association: Catharine Gail Kincaid.

1980s

1980

First Native American woman nominated for Vice President of the United States in any political party: LaDonna Harris.
First Native American woman to head the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts : Ramona Sakiestewa

1981

First Native American woman to graduate from the United States Naval Academy: Sandra L. Hinds.
First American to direct the Paris Opera ballet: Rosella Hightower.

1982

First Native American elected to the Colorado House of Representatives: Benjamin Nighthorse Campbell.
First Native American woman to graduate from the United States Air Force Academy: Dolores K. Smith.
First Native American director of Indian Health Services : Everett R. Rhoades.
First tribe to open an electric plant: Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon.

1983

First woman to work as attorney general for the Navajo Nation: Claudeen Bates Arthur.
First Native American woman to argue a successful case before the Supreme Court of the United States: Arlinda Locklear.
First anthology of Native American women's art and literature is published: A Gathering of Spirit: A Collection by North American Women edited by Beth Brant.
First television documentary produced by a crew of all-Indigenous people: I'd Rather Be Powwowing, directed by Larry Littlebird.
First Minnesota Ojibwe Nation woman to become a Western medical doctor: Kathleen Annette.

1984

First Alaska Native woman to earn a doctorate degree: Elizabeth Anne Parent.
First Native American woman to graduate from West Point: Brigitte T. Wahwassuck

1985

First woman to become a Cherokee Nation principal chief: Wilma Mankiller.
First Native American to receive the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for race relations: Clifford Bahniptewa.

1986

First person of Native American descent ordained as Roman Catholic bishop: Donald E. Pelotte.
First public recognition of the military service of the Choctaw code talkers.
First American Indian Week celebrated during the week of November 23–30.

1987

First Native American to become a fellow of the MacArthur Foundation: Leslie Marmon Silko.
First Native American woman named as Ms. magazine's Woman of the Year: Wilma Mankiller.
First community-owned and operated clinic established on an Indian reservation: Porcupine Clinic by Loralei DeCora.
First woman to elected as governor of the Isleta Pueblo: Verna Williamson.
First woman in the Eastern Band of Cherokee to become a Western physician: Frances Owl-Smith.

1988

First woman elected as tribal chair of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa: Twila Martin-Kehahbah.
First Tuscarora Indian woman to become a Western surgeon: Susan Veronica Karol.

1989

First book of poetry in Navajo is published by Rex Lee Jim.
First Native American news reporter on national television: Hattie Kauffman.
First Native American in Nevada to become a Western physician: Sharon M. Malotte.

1990s

1990

First Native American to win in a World Chess Championship open: Jason Stevens.
First Native American Month celebrated in November.

1991

First Native American to receive the Freeman Tilden Award from the National Park Service and the National Parks and Conservation Association: Wilson Hunter.
First Native American state attorney general: Larry Echo Hawk.

1993

First play-by-play of an NBA game in a Native language is broadcast in Navajo.

1994

First Native American to work as U.S. Marshall in the Justice Department: Robert D. Ecoffey.
First Navajo woman board certified in surgery: Lori Arviso Alvord.
First Native American woman to be licensed as an architect in the United States: Tammy Eagle Bull.
First Native American woman to receive an acting award nomination from the Golden Globe Awards: Irene Bedard

1995

First Native American artwork travels in space: Don Montileaux's painting is on board the Endeavor.
First woman to serve as principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians: Joyce Dugan.
First Native American woman to play professional basketball for a foreign nation: Ryneldi Becenti.

1996

First Native American woman elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives: Lynda Morgan Lovejoy.
First Native American participant in the Paralympics: Cheri Madsen.

1997

First Native American to play for the Women's National Basketball Association: Ryneldi Becenti.
First Native American women elected to the Arizona House of Representatives: Sally Ann Gonzales and Debora Norris.
First Native American to be awarded the Award for Excellence from the American Public Health Association: Linda Burhansstipanov.
First Native American Roman Catholic archbishop: Charles J. Chaput

1998

First national awards for Native American music: Native American Music Awards.
First literary and artistic journal for Native Hawaiians: 'Ōiwi: A Native Hawaiian Journal founded by D. Mahealani Dudoit.

1999

First Navajo to earn a doctorate in history: Jennifer Denetdale.

21st century

2000s

2000

First Native American president of the American Public Health Association: Michael E. Bird.
First Native American woman to graduate from Yale University School of Medicine: Patricia Nez Henderson.

2001

First Native Hawaiian drafted by Major League Soccer: Brian Ching.
First Native American to compete in the Indy 500: Cory Witherill.

2002

First Native American in space: John Herrington.
First Native American woman to compete in the Winter Olympics: Naomi Lang.

2003

First tribe to own a professional sports team: The Mohegan Tribe purchases the Connecticut Sun.
First Native American woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military and first woman in the U.S. military killed in the Iraq War: Lori Piestewa.

2004

First woman to serve as president of the tribal council for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation: Cecelia Fire Thunder.
First woman tribal chair of the White Earth Ojibwe: Erma Vizenor.
First Native American museum established on the National Mall: National Museum of the American Indian.

2005

First tribe to purchase a professional men's basketball team: The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation buys the Yakima SunKings.

2006

First woman to serve as chief of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma: Glenna Wallace.
First awards announced in the American Indian Youth Literature Awards.

2007

First Native American president of the American Library Association: Loriene Roy.

2008

First Native American woman elected to a statewide executive office: Denise Juneau.
First Native American to win the Heisman Trophy: Sam Bradford.

2010s

2010

First woman to become a chief of the Delaware Tribe of Indians: Paula Pechonick.
First Native American nominated for the United States Poet Laureate: Linda Hogan.

2011

First Native American drafted into the WNBA: Tahnee Robinson.
First woman chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians: Phyliss J. Anderson.

2012

First Native American woman to earn a science degree from University of Oxford: Kelsey Leonard

2014

First Native American named a United States Ambassador to the United Nations: Keith Harper.
First Native American woman to become a federal judge in the United States: Diane Humetewa.

2015

First Native American-owned cannabis shop: Elevation, opened by the Squaxin Island Tribe.

2016

First Native American to receive an electoral vote for President of the United States: Faith Spotted Eagle
First Native American woman to receive an electoral vote for Vice President of the United States: Winona LaDuke

2017

First Native-American to serve in the Wyoming State Senate: Affie Ellis.
First Native American woman to win a UFC championship title: Nicco Montaño.

2018

First Native American women elected to the United States Congress: Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland.
First Native American to serve as a law clerk for the Supreme Court of the United States: Tobi Merrit Edwards Young.

2019

First Native American to earn an honorary award from the Academy Awards: Wes Studi.
First Native American United States Poet Laureate: Joy Harjo.
First delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the Cherokee Nation: Kimberly Teehee.
First American nationally distributed children's show to feature an Alaska Native as the lead character: Molly of Denali, premiered in 2019.

2020s

2020

First painting on canvas by a Native American artist in the National Gallery of Art: I See Red: Target, by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith.
First Native American to compete in the Tour de France: Neilson Powless.
First U.S. tribe to contribute heirloom seeds to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault: the Cherokee Nation.
First Native American openly transgender person elected to office in America: Stephanie Byers, elected to the Kansas state House of Representatives.
First Alaska Native to be featured on United States currency: Elizabeth Peratrovich.
First Native American to play for the National Women's Soccer League: Madison Hammond.

2021

First Native American to win a Caldecott Medal: Michaela Goade for We Are Water Protectors.
First Native American to serve as a US Cabinet secretary : Deb Haaland.
First Native American woman to head a North Carolina Cabinet: Pamela Brewington Cashwell

2022

First Native American to play in the U.S. Women's Open: Gabby Lemieux.
First Native American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music: Raven Chacon.
First Native American woman to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships: Janee' Kassanavoid.
First Native American Treasurer of the United States: Marilynn Malerba.
First Native American woman in space: Nicole Aunapu Mann.
First Native American elected to the position of bishop in the United Methodist Church: David Wilson.

2023

First Native American woman to go on a spacewalk: Nicole Aunapu Mann.
First Native American female playwright to have a play produced on Broadway: Larissa FastHorse, with her play called The Thanksgiving Play.
First Native American female president of the American Bar Association: Mary L. Smith
First Native American woman elected to lead any national political party committee : Peggy Flanagan.

2024

First Native American actor to win a Golden Globe Award, winning for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama: Lily Gladstone.
First Native American nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress: Lily Gladstone.
First Native American nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song: Scott George.
First Native American actor to win the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Female Actor: Lily Gladstone.
First Native American artist to have a solo exhibition in the American pavilion of the Venice Biennale: Jeffrey Gibson.
First Native American Committee on Appropriations chair: Tom Cole.
First Native American actor known to have been nominated for a Tony Award: Sky Lakota-Lynch, nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.