List of Indigenous people of the Americas
Encyclopedia
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
.
Canada
Generally referred to as Aboriginal peoples in CanadaAboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
when looking at the First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
, Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
, and Métis
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
peoples collectively.
Mexico
This issue is complicated because a great majority of Mexicans are mestizoMestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
s and therefore being part Native is not unusual as in Canada or the US. The list only include indigenous proper and mestizos with an indigenous parent. This list also includes a few Pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
figures considered remarkable in the history
History of Mexico
The history of Mexico, a country located in the southern portion of North America, covers a period of more than two millennia. First populated more than 13,000 years ago, the country produced complex indigenous civilizations before being conquered by the Spanish in the 16th Century.Since the...
and culture of Mexico
Culture of Mexico
Mexico has changed rapidly during the 20th century. In many ways, contemporary life in its cities has become similar to that in neighboring United States and Europe. Most Mexican villagers follow the older way of life more than the city people do. More than 45% of the people of Mexico live in...
.
- Ignacio Manuel AltamiranoIgnacio Manuel AltamiranoIgnacio Manuel Altamirano Basilio was a Mexican writer, journalist, teacher and politician.Altamirano was born in Tixtla, Guerrero, of pure indigenous Nahua heritage. His father was the mayor of Tixtla, this allowed Ignacio to attend school there...
, writer, journalist and politician (Nahua) - CuauhtémocCuauhtémocCuauhtémoc was the Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521...
, last (AztecAztecThe Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
) Tlatoani - CuitláhuacCuitláhuacCuitláhuac or Cuitláhuac was the 10th tlatoani of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan for 80 days during the year Two Flint ....
, penultimate (AztecAztecThe Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
) Tlatoani - Juan Diego CuauhtlatoatzinJuan Diego CuauhtlatoatzinJuan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin or Juan Diego was, according to Mexican Catholic tradition, an indigenous Mexican who reported a Marian apparition, Our Lady of Guadalupe, in 1531. The legend of the apparition has had a significant impact on the spread of the Catholic faith within Mexico...
, CatholicRoman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
Saint (ChichimecaChichimecaChichimeca was the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically applied to a wide range of semi-nomadic peoples who inhabited the north of modern-day Mexico and southwestern United States, and carried the same sense as the European term "barbarian"...
) - Porfirio DíazPorfirio DíazJosé de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
, President (MixtecMixtecThe Mixtec are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples inhabiting the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla in a region known as La Mixteca. The Mixtecan languages form an important branch of the Otomanguean language family....
mother) - Lila DownsLila DownsLila Downs is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music...
, singer (MixtecMixtecThe Mixtec are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples inhabiting the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla in a region known as La Mixteca. The Mixtecan languages form an important branch of the Otomanguean language family....
mother) - Emilio FernándezEmilio FernándezEmilio "El Indio" Fernández was an actor, screenwriter and director of the cinema of Mexico. He is best known for his work as director of the film Maria Candelaria which won the Grand Prix at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival.-Early life:Fernández was born in Mineral del Hondo, Coahuila...
, film director, actor (Kickapoo mother) - Victoriano HuertaVictoriano HuertaJosé Victoriano Huerta Márquez was a Mexican military officer and president of Mexico. Huerta's supporters were known as Huertistas during the Mexican Revolution...
, President (Huichol mother) - Benito JuárezBenito JuárezBenito Juárez born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872...
, President (Zapotec) - La MalincheLa MalincheLa Malinche , known also as Malintzin, Malinalli or Doña Marina, was a Nahua woman from the Mexican Gulf Coast, who played a role in the Spanish conquest of Mexico, acting as interpreter, advisor, lover and intermediary for Hernán Cortés...
, translator of conquistadorConquistadorConquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
Hernán CortésHernán CortésHernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century... - Moctezuma IIMoctezuma IIMoctezuma , also known by a number of variant spellings including Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma and referred to in full by early Nahuatl texts as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, was the ninth tlatoani or ruler of Tenochtitlan, reigning from 1502 to 1520...
, (AztecAztecThe Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
) Tlatoani at the beginning of the Spanish Conquest of MexicoSpanish conquest of MexicoThe Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The invasion began in February 1519 and was acclaimed victorious on August 13, 1521, by a coalition army of Spanish conquistadors and Tlaxcalan warriors led by Hernán Cortés... - NezahualcóyotlNezahualcoyotlNezahualcoyotl was a philosopher, warrior, architect, poet and ruler of the city-state of Texcoco in pre-Columbian Mexico...
, Tlatoani of Texcoco and poet in Nahuatl language - Comandante RamonaComandante RamonaComandante Ramona was the nom de guerre of an officer of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation , a revolutionary indigenous autonomist organization based in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. She was perhaps the most famous female Zapatista figure for her role early in the uprising...
, EZLNZapatista Army of National LiberationThe Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a revolutionary leftist group based in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico....
leader (Tzotzil) - María SabinaMaria SabinaMaría Sabina was a Mazatec curandera who lived her entire life in a modest dwelling in the Sierra Mazateca of southern Mexico...
, shaman (Mazatec) - Comandante Tacho, EZLNZapatista Army of National LiberationThe Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a revolutionary leftist group based in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico....
leader (TojolabalTojolabalTojolabal is an indigenous community in the southern part of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Tojolabales, which belongs to the Mayan group, consists of about 40,000 people concentrated near the city of Las Margaritas. They speak the Tojolabal language....
)
Central America
The Caribbean
- AgueybanaAgüeybanáAgüeybaná and Agüeybaná II , were the principal and most powerful caciques of the Taíno people in "Borikén" when the Spaniards first arrived on the island on November 19, 1493.- "The Great Sun" :...
- "supreme cacique" in Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an... - HatueyHatueyHatuey was a Taíno Cacique from the island of Hispaniola who lived in the early sixteenth century. He has attained legendary status for leading a group of natives in a fight against the invading Spaniards, and thus becoming the second fighter against colonialism in the New World after Anacaona...
(TaínoTaíno peopleThe Taínos were pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is thought that the seafaring Taínos are relatives of the Arawak people of South America...
)
Guatemala
- Miguel Ángel AsturiasMiguel Ángel AsturiasMiguel Ángel Asturias Rosales was a Nobel Prize–winning Guatemalan poet, novelist, playwright, journalist and diplomat...
, novelist, Nobel prize winner in literature - Rigoberta Menchú TumRigoberta MenchúRigoberta Menchú Tum is an indigenous Guatemalan, of the K'iche' ethnic group. Menchú has dedicated her life to publicizing the plight of Guatemala's indigenous peoples during and after the Guatemalan Civil War , and to promoting indigenous rights in the country...
, activist, Nobel prize winner in peace (Quiché)
South America
.jpg)
Bolivia
- Roberto Mamani MamaniRoberto Mamani MamaniRoberto Mamani Mamani is an Aymaran artist from Bolivia. His work is significant in its use of Aymaran indigenous tradition and symbols. His art has been exhibited around the world, including shows in Washington, D.C., Tokyo, Munich, and London....
(b. 1962), Aymara painter - Alejandro Mario YllanesAlejandro Mario YllanesAlejandro Mario Yllanes was an Aymara painter and printmaker from Bolivia. He disappeared from the public spotlight in 1946, after he was awarded, but did not claim, the Guggenheim Fellowship.-Art career:...
(1913–1960), Aymara painter and printmaker - Evo MoralesEvo MoralesJuan Evo Morales Ayma , popularly known as Evo , is a Bolivian politician and activist, currently serving as the 80th President of Bolivia, a position that he has held since 2006. He is also the leader of both the Movement for Socialism party and the cocalero trade union...
, Aymara politician, president of Bolivia - Bienvenido Zacu MborobainchiBienvenido Zacu MborobainchiBienvenido Zacu Mborobainchi is a Bolivian politician from the Guarayo people. His grand-father had been a Guarayo leader....
, b. 1956, Guarayo politician
Chile
- AinavilloAinavilloAinavillo, Aynabillo, Aillavilu or Aillavilú, was the toqui of the Mapuche army from the provinces of "Ñuble, Itata, Renoguelen, Guachimavida, Marcande, Gualqui, Penco and Talcaguano." They tried to stop Pedro de Valdivia from invading their lands in 1550...
, 16th c. MapucheMapucheThe Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
toquiToquiToqui is a title conferred by the Mapuche to those who are chosen as their leaders during times of war. The toqui is chosen in an assembly or parliament of the chieftains of the various clans or confederation of clans , allied during the war in question... - ButapichónButapichónButapichón or Butapichún or Putapichon was the Mapuche toqui from 1625 to 1631, as successor to Lientur. After the death of Quepuantú in 1632 he became toqui once again from 1632 to 1634....
, 17th c. MapucheMapucheThe Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
toquiToquiToqui is a title conferred by the Mapuche to those who are chosen as their leaders during times of war. The toqui is chosen in an assembly or parliament of the chieftains of the various clans or confederation of clans , allied during the war in question... - CadegualaCadegualaCadeguala or Cadiguala was a Mapuche toqui elected in 1585 following the death in battle of the previous toqui Nangoniel. Cadeguala was a noted warrior and the first Mapuche toqui known to have used cavalry successfully in battle...
, 16th c. MapucheMapucheThe Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
toquiToquiToqui is a title conferred by the Mapuche to those who are chosen as their leaders during times of war. The toqui is chosen in an assembly or parliament of the chieftains of the various clans or confederation of clans , allied during the war in question... - CalfucuráCalfucuráCalfucurá also known as Juan Calfucurá or Cufulcurá , was a leading Mapuche lonco and military figure in Patagonia in the 19th century. He crossed the Andes from Chile to the Pampas around 1830 after a call from the governor of Buenos Aires, Juan Manuel de Rosas, to fight the Boroanos tribe...
((late 1770s–1873) MapucheMapucheThe Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
military leader from Patagonia - CaupolicánCaupolicanCaupolicán was a Toqui, the military leader of the Mapuche people of Chile, that commanded their army during the first Mapuche rising against the Spanish conquistadors from 1553 to 1558....
(d. 1558), MapucheMapucheThe Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
toquiToquiToqui is a title conferred by the Mapuche to those who are chosen as their leaders during times of war. The toqui is chosen in an assembly or parliament of the chieftains of the various clans or confederation of clans , allied during the war in question... - Santos ChávezSantos ChavezSantos Chávez was a Mapuche printmaker from Chile, known for his engravings.-Background:Santos Segundo Chávez Alíster was born on February 7, 1934 in a small town of Canihual, between Tirúa and Quidico in the Región del Biobío, Chile. He was Mapuche, the indigenous people of central and southern...
(1934-2001), MapucheMapucheThe Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
printmaker - Elicura ChihuailafElicura ChihuailafElicura Chihuailaf Nahuelpán is a Mapuche Chilean poet and author whose works are written both in Mapudungun and in Spanish, and have been translated into many other languages as well...
-MapucheMapucheThe Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
poet
Ecuador
- Camilo EgasCamilo EgasCamilo Egas was an Ecuadorian master painter and teacher, who was also active in the United States and Europe.-Early life:...
, MestizoMestizoMestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
painter and educator, 1889-1962 - Eugenio EspejoEugenio EspejoFrancisco Javier Eugenio de Santa Cruz y Espejo was a medical pioneer, writer and lawyer of mestizo origin in colonial Ecuador. Although he was a notable scientist and writer, he stands out as a polemicist who inspired the separatist movement in Quito. He is regarded as one of the most important...
, MestizoMestizoMestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
journalist, hygienist, lawyer, and satirical writer, 1747–1795 - Oswaldo GuayasamínOswaldo GuayasamínOswaldo Guayasamín was a Quechua native and Ecuadorian master painter and sculptor.-Early life:...
, Quechua painter and sculptor, 1919-1999 - Eduardo KingmanEduardo KingmanEduardo Kingman was one of Ecuador's greatest artists of the 20th century, among the art circles of other master artists such as Oswaldo Guayasamin and Camilo Egas.-Background:...
, MestizoMestizoMestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
painter, 1913-1998 - Luis MacasLuis MacasLuis Macas Ambuludí is a Kichwa politician and intellectual from Saraguro Ecuador.Macas has honorary university degrees in anthropology, linguistics and jurisprudence. He was one of the founders of the CONAIE and of the Pachakutik Movement, and was member of the National Congress of Ecuador...
, Quechua anthropologist and politician, born 1951 - MincayeMincayeMincaye Enquedi is a Huao Ecuadorian preacher and church elder. In 1956, he took part in the now infamous attack on five missionaries during Operation Auca...
, HauoHuaoraniThe Huaorani, Waorani or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are native Amerindians from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate name Auca is a pejorative exonym used by the neighboring Quechua Indians, and commonly adopted by...
preacher and church elder, born 1935 - Nina PacariNina PacariNina Pacari , born as María Estela Vega Conejo is a Kichwa politician, lawyer and indigenous leader from Cotacachi, Ecuador....
, KichwaKichwaKichwa is a Quechuan language, and includes all Quechua varieties spoken in Ecuador and Colombia by approximately 2,500,000 people...
politician, lawyer and indigenous leader from Cotacachi, born 1961 - Antonio VargasAntonio VargasCarlos Antonio Vargas Guatatuca is an indigenous Quechua politician of Ecuador. He was leader of Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas de Ecuador and Minister for Social Welfare in the Lucio Gutiérrez government.-References:...
, Quechua politician
Peru
- Tupac AmaruTúpac AmaruTúpac Amaru, also called Thupa Amaro , was the last indigenous leader of the Inca state in Peru.-Accession:...
, military figure and last Inca - Inca Garcilaso de la VegaInca Garcilaso de la VegaGarcilaso de la Vega , born Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, was a historian and writer from the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru. The son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca noblewoman, he is recognized primarily for his contributions to Inca history, culture, and society...
, writer - Yma SumacYma SúmacYma Sumac was a noted Peruvian soprano. In the 1950s, she was one of the most famous proponents of exotica music. She became an international success based on her extreme vocal range, which was said to be "well over four octaves" and was sometimes claimed to span even five octaves at her peak.Yma...
, Singer of self-identified Inca ancestry - Alejandro ToledoAlejandro ToledoAlejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique is a politician who was President of Peru from 2001 to 2006. He was elected in April 2001, defeating former President Alan García...
, President - Marcos ZapataMarcos ZapataMarcos Zapata , also called Marcos Sapaca Inca, was a Peruvian Quechua painter, born in Cuzco. He was one of the last members of the Cuzco School, an art center in which Spanish painters taught native students to paint religious works. Zapata introduced elements from his own lands into his paintings...
(ca. 1710–1773), Quechua Cuzco SchoolCuzco SchoolThe Cuzco School was a Roman Catholic artistic tradition based in Cusco, Peru during the Colonial period, in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries...
painter