Famous Native American Celebrities You Wouldn’t Have Guessed – PowWows.com

Famous Native American Celebrities You Wouldn’t Have Guessed – PowWows.com

Native American culture and heritage lines spectrums from valleys to dense cities, and is prevalent in all walks of life—many musicians, CEO’s, and actors all have ties to the nation’s first people, and it’s not uncommon for some to find out their extraordinary lineage later in life.

Over 5 million people across the United States are of Native American descent, and many celebrities come from lines of deep Native American ancestry—and are especially proud of their heritage.


Here are 8 stars you wouldn’t have thought harbored even a trace of Native American pedigree.

Jimi Hendrix

Rock n’ roll musician Jimi Hendrix had a swath of genealogical diversity—from slaves to slave owners—which included being a quarter Cherokee via his grandmother, Zenora “Nora” Rose Moore.

Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats (Official Video)

Underwood, a Grammy winner and America’s darling, is listed as Creek Indian at the Five Civilized Tribe Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Underwood was an active participant in Native American groups in college.

Billy Bob Thornton

Billy Bob Thornton on Growing Up with a Psychic Mom | Oprah’s Master Class | Oprah Winfrey Network

Mr. Thornton, who grew up in the backcountry of Arkansas with no running water or electricity, happens to be one quarter Choctaw Indian via his mother’s side, along with English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.

Benjamin Bratt

Benjamin Bratt's Voice Recording for Pixar's Coco

Born in Peru, Benjamin’s mother Eldy is a member of the Quechua, an ethnic group indigenous to South America. Eldy participated in Native American activism, including the groundbreaking takeover of Alcatraz Island in 1969.

Elvis Presley

Even though the singer is 1/32nd Native American, a full-blooded great-great-great grandmother named Morning White Dove links Elvis to the Cherokee tribe. Morning White Dove married an American settler in Tennessee in 1818.

Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba's Secrets to Success

The famed actress found out when interviewing on Lopez Tonight that she is 13% Native American via her mother’s Quebecois ancestry—a lesser number than she had originally anticipated.

Kristen Chenoweth

Kristin Chenoweth - Maybe This Time

The Tony Award-winning actress was adopted and grew up in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and is one-quarter Cherokee by her biological parents.

Anthony Kiedis

Anthony Kiedis Interview (2004)

Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer’s grandmother was part Mohican, and he honors his heritage with many of his tattoos pointing to his Native American ancestry, including a large Haida Thunderbird along his back.

Last Updated on February 15, 2024 by Paul G


39 Comments on “Famous Native American Celebrities You Wouldn’t Have Guessed – PowWows.com”

  • Avatar for Sade McMurrin

    Sade McMurrin

    says:

    Did you guys fact check this article? According to people in the comments Carrie Underwood has insisted she is not Native American, for example. I would genuinely like to know who is and who is not Indigenous (to be clear, like Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller I recognize people with Indigenous ancestry as being Indigenous themselves).

    • Avatar for Paul G

      Paul G

      says:

      She did claim it when we wrote the article. We are working on an update.

      • Avatar for Sade McMurrin

        Sade McMurrin

        says:

        Thanks for your response. I guess the only people who would know for sure are the people at the museum and the Creek tribal leaders.

  • Avatar for able charlie

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  • Avatar for Sheela

    Sheela

    says:

    For so long, mainstream America didn’t allow “black” people to acknowledge their Native American heritage. The U.S. census listed a lot of Native Americans as “white”, “black”, or “mulatto”. Native Americans pretty much lost their tribal identity when they left & stayed off the reservation. If they married a “black” person, the U.S. government & pretty much mainstream America said that they can’t be “Indian”, only “black” or “negro”. So there are a lot of people who are part Native American & can’t find out the tribe unless one of their elders told them before they died. I imagine there were a lot of people passing for all “white” who were part Native American, but wanted to live freely in mainstream America. A lot of our past is undocumented or purposely documented incorrectly. Just check the older U.S. census rules. This was done in some cases to steal land.

  • Avatar for Patricia Davis

    Patricia Davis

    says:

    Wh

  • Avatar for Valerie J. Phillips

    Valerie J. Phillips

    says:

    Benjamin Bratt is obviously Native American and identifies as such. It is very odd that you include him in this group of people. His mother was an Aymara Indian and an activist in California.

  • Avatar for Garlynne

    Garlynne

    says:

    The only people here with a significant percentage of Native DNA are Lou Diamond Phillips and Jessica Alba. Elvis was only 1/32 Native. I am certain the remaining 5 have none or less than 1/32. These claims of being part Native American is a big scam and lie people are claiming. Elizabeth Warren is among the thousands making these false claims. They don’t have the facial bone structure, skin tone or hair color to support it from the physical standpoint.

    • Avatar for Christie Lundblade

      Christie Lundblade

      says:

      Look if they want too believe and can actually prove Indian descent then who are you to judge?

    • Avatar for David Rosoff

      David Rosoff

      says:

      1. If you’d bothered to read the article (plus the comments), you’d know that most of these celebrities are 1/4 Indigenous. Carrie Underwood is both listed as Creek at an Indigenous museum, AND was active in Native American groups in college.
      2. Indigenous people come in all colors, shapes, & sizes. Between the kidnapping & brainwashing of so many indigenous children, the coercion of so many indigenous individuals & families to abandon indigenous life & move to cities (to then be abandoned & left to become impoverished), & just natural intermingling of peoples over hundreds of years, not all indigenous people fit your racist stereotype of what a Native American should look like.
      3. It is up to each nation (not you) to decide how much indigenous blood makes one a member of that nation.
      4. Elizabeth Warren DOES have a distant indigenous ancestor, just as her family lore said, & a DNA test proved. She doesn’t claim membership in any particular nation, which, without that nation’s approval, would be fraudulent.
      Maybe, if you actually took the time to learn something, you’d stop spouting false, racist garbage.

      • Avatar for Scott

        Scott

        says:

        There was no racism in Garylynn’s post, and people like you throwing that term around without any discretion whatsoever is watering the term down and making it meaningless. Yours is a particularly insideous form of censorship: calling everyone you disagree with “racist”. You might not agree with Garylynn, but a personal attack like yours shows a lack of control. Whoever Garylynn is, they do have a point, as unattractive it may be: celebrities do jump on the “I’m Indigenous, you can’t touch me” bandwagon all too easily. Look at Johnny Depp. He’s one of my favorite actors, but he’s about as Taylor Swift. My maternal grandmother is full-blooded Arapaho, but it’s not on my resumé.

        • Avatar for Scott

          Scott

          says:

          PS: I am all about First Nation rights, and our treatment of Native Peoples is (along with slavery) one of the biggest pockmarks in American history. I just think people today should be alot more careful how they throw words like “racism” around. Happy 4th Everyone!

        • Avatar for Sade McMurrin

          Sade McMurrin

          says:

          Garlynne was certainly being racist. Also, I’ll just say here that the requirements many Indigenous Nations have for prospective members is too strict and so many true Indigenous people are excluded from their community. As if Indigenous people don’t already struggle enough.

        • Avatar for Christopher OBrien

          Christopher OBrien

          says:

          Republicans lied and scoffed about Elizabeth Warren’s claim. It was disgusting.

      • Avatar for Coco

        Coco

        says:

        Sorry to break it to ya but many people lie about being part native, sometimes unknowingly because of their family. Also Carrie Underwood said herself she’s not part Native American & she’s not listed as such by any Native tribe in a museum either. She said her & her team kept trying to have that made up stuff removed from her Wikipedia but they kept changing it back. Anyone can edit Wikipedia. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/mar/14/carrie-underwood-private-jet-american-idol

    • Avatar for Liz Presley

      I am happy I am home to show the facts from DNA. I am aware that this DNA is not considered by the Cherokee nation, but the fact is it’s there anyway. My DNA! My Dad’s pretty much a copy.

      • Avatar for Marie

        Marie

        says:

        You have been Ripped off Not enough DNA to determine tribes for any company to be able to break it down

    • Avatar for Marie

      Marie

      says:

      Sorry but my friends who are Citizens of the Federally Recognized Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma who Research the genealogy of people to determine that someone is Cherokee Clearly Deny that Elvis is Cherokee. You may wish to contact that group

        • Avatar for Marie

          Marie

          says:

          The Certificate That so called Presley person is showing is not worth the paper its written on There is not enough Full blood Tribal Members left to be able to identify what Tribe a person belongs to You need a certain percent of of the population to be able to do that and No tribe has that.

        • Avatar for Marie

          Marie

          says:

          Anyone can write what they like on those sites. Its like the DNA Genealogy trees Someone added the name of a Fictional Character to a family tree Cornblossom I cant remember the Name of the book but will let you know when I find it

    • Avatar for Sade McMurrin

      Sade McMurrin

      says:

      Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller said, “An Indian is an Indian regardless of the degree of Indian blood or which little government card they do or do not possess.” It’s discrimination to say someone is not Native enough. If a person can prove their Native ancestry then they should be considered Native. By the way, Elizabeth Warren has since proven she is of Native ancestry. She does not deserve the hate she gets.

    • Avatar for Sade McMurrin

      Sade McMurrin

      says:

      Plenty of Indigenous celebrities are missing from this list.

  • Avatar for David B

    David B

    says:

    email code duplicate from a previous day

  • Avatar for David B

    David B

    says:

    Email code 7787, 23 May duplicate of a code previously used on the site.

  • Avatar for Deborah Collier

    Deborah Collier

    says:

    The code here is from last year’s blanket. Does not accept it for this year’s blanket. The post was sent to me on May 17, 2020

    • Avatar for Paul G

      Paul G

      says:

      If you have a problem please email us.

      The codes do work, check your entries and make sure you don’t already have credit for it.

  • Avatar for Kathy James

    Kathy James

    says:

    Cher was born Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California, on May 20, 1946. Her father, John Sarkisian, was an Armenian-American truck driver with drug and gambling problems; her mother, Georgia Holt (born Jackie Jean Crouch), was an occasional model and bit-part actress who was Irish, English, German, and Cherokee ancestry

    • Avatar for jp walker

      jp walker

      says:

      cher mother georgia has no record of any native american in her family line only thing indian about cher is the indian songs that she sings

      • Avatar for Joe

        Joe

        says:

        Hmmm … Indian. They belong in India, might look there for information.

  • Avatar for Marijke

    Marijke

    says:

    Chuck and the Nevill Brothers are Native American as well.

  • Avatar for AM

    AM

    says:

    There are so many who had tribal ancestors in their lineage. Roy Rogers, Kay Starr and Dennis Weaver had two tribes in their ancestry. John Phillips, (Mamas and the Papas) had a full-blooded Cherokee grandmother. Della Reese had a full-blooded Cherokee mother.
    Athletes of Native American ancestry would include some in baseball; football; hockey; gold; track and field, for a few. They were in dance, particularly the 5 ballerinas from Oklahoma, who were prominent in the ’40s and ’50s. Modern male ballet dancer, but recently retired, a Mr. Soto of Navajo/Puerto Rican background, who wrote an autobiography. These are a few.

    • Avatar for AM

      AM

      says:

      “golf” not gold. Sorry about the typo.

      • Avatar for Adalberto Massa

        Adalberto Massa

        says:

        I thought Benjamin Bratt was also part Puerto Rican, giving him Taino ancestors as well. Am i mistaken?

    • Avatar for Everett Sena

      Everett Sena

      says:

      Thank You for your E-Mails. I’m so happy to reply to my Native brother & sisters . We must support each other& love one another. Peace with you one & all.

  • Avatar for Jai Kiera

    Jai Kiera

    says:

    Alba is actually 1/4 native american. It was on finding your roots. She looks exactly like her grandmother who was half native american. Both gorgeous.

    • Avatar for Joy Harmon

      Joy Harmon

      says:

      The father on the Cosby show was Native as well, Earle Hyman and Stedman Graham is too.

  • Avatar for Yvonne D. Simmons

    Yvonne D. Simmons

    says:

    I am seeking to find out the name of my great grandmother’s native American mother, who returned to the Cherokee Nation in the 1830s. There is a lot of information about our ancestors birth and ethnicity that is undocumented.

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