List of Native Americans in the United States Congress

This is a list of Native Americans with documented tribal ancestry or affiliation in the U.S. Congress.

Map of all congressional districts represented by Native Americans at the beginning of the 117th Congress.

All entries on this list are related to Native American tribes based in the contiguous United States. No Alaska Natives have ever served in Congress. There are Native Hawaiians who have served in Congress, but they are not listed here because they are distinct from North American Natives.

Only two Native Americans served in the 115th Congress: Tom Cole (serving since 2003) and Markwayne Mullin (serving since 2013), both of whom are Republican Representatives from Oklahoma. On November 6, 2018, Democrats Sharice Davids of Kansas and Deb Haaland of New Mexico were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and the 116th Congress, which commenced on January 3, 2019, had four Native Americans. Davids and Haaland are the first two Native American women with documented tribal ancestry to serve in Congress. At the start of the 117th Congress on January 3, 2021, five Native Americans were serving in the House, the largest Native delegation in history: Cole, Mullin, Haaland and Davids were all reelected in 2020, with Republican Yvette Herrell of New Mexico elected for the first time in 2020. The number dropped back down to four on March 16, 2021 when Haaland resigned her House seat to become Secretary of the Interior. The partisan split is three Republicans, one Democrat.

Senate[]

Picture	Senator (lifespan)	Tribal ancestry	State	Party	Term start	Term end	Notes
	Hiram Revels (1827–1901)	Lumbee	Mississippi	Republican	February 23, 1870	March 4, 1871	Retired
	Charles Curtis (1860–1936)[1]	Kaw, Osage, Potawatomi	Kansas	Republican	January 29, 1907	January 3, 1913	Was not reelected after Democrats won control of Kansas Legislature in 1912
					March 4, 1915	March 4, 1929	Resigned after being elected Vice President
	Robert Owen (1856–1947)	Cherokee	Oklahoma	Democratic	December 11, 1907	March 4, 1925	Retired
	Ben Nighthorse Campbell (born 1933)	Northern Cheyenne	Colorado	Democratic (1993–1995)	January 3, 1993	January 3, 2005	Retired
				Republican (1995-2005)

House of Representatives[]

  Denotes incumbent

Picture	Representative (lifespan)	Tribal ancestry	State	Party	Term start	Term end	Notes
	Richard H. Cain (1825–1887)	Cherokee	South Carolina	Republican	March 4, 1873	March 4, 1875	Retired
					March 4, 1877	March 4, 1879
	John Mercer Langston (1829–1897)	Pamunkey	Virginia	Republican	September 23, 1890	March 3, 1891	Lost Reelection
	Charles Curtis (1860–1936)	Kaw, Osage, Potawatomi	Kansas	Republican	March 4, 1893	January 28, 1907	Resigned to become U.S. Senator from Kansas
	Charles Carter (1868–1929)	Chickasaw	Oklahoma	Democratic	November 16, 1907	March 4, 1927	Lost renomination
	William Hastings (1866–1938)	Cherokee	Oklahoma	Democratic	March 4, 1915	March 4, 1921	Lost reelection
					March 4, 1923	January 3, 1935	Retired
	Will Rogers Jr. (1911–1993)	Cherokee	California	Democratic	January 3, 1943	May 23, 1944	Resigned to join the U.S. Army
	William Stigler (1891–1952)	Choctaw	Oklahoma	Democratic	March 28, 1944	August 21, 1952	Died in office
	Ben Reifel (1906–1990)	Lakota Sioux (Rosebud Sioux)	South Dakota	Republican	January 3, 1961	January 3, 1971	Retired
	Clem McSpadden (1925–2008)	Cherokee	Oklahoma	Democratic	January 3, 1973	January 3, 1975	Retired to run unsuccessfully for the nomination to the 1974 Oklahoma gubernatorial election
	Ben Nighthorse Campbell (born 1933)	Northern Cheyenne	Colorado	Democratic	January 3, 1987	January 3, 1993	Retired to run successfully for the 1992 United States Senate election in Colorado
	Brad Carson (born 1967)	Cherokee	Oklahoma	Democratic	January 3, 2001	January 3, 2005	Retired to run unsuccessfully for the 2004 United States Senate election in Oklahoma
	Tom Cole (born 1949)	Chickasaw	Oklahoma	Republican	January 3, 2003	Incumbent
	Markwayne Mullin (born 1977)	Cherokee	Oklahoma	Republican	January 3, 2013	Incumbent
	Sharice Davids (born 1980)	Ho-Chunk	Kansas	Democratic	January 3, 2019	Incumbent	First LGBTQ Native American elected
	Deb Haaland (born 1960)	Laguna Pueblo	New Mexico	Democratic	January 3, 2019	March 16, 2021	Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
	Yvette Herrell (born 1964)	Cherokee	New Mexico	Republican	January 3, 2021	Incumbent

References[]

• Stubben, Jerry D. (2006). Native Americans and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. p. 171. ISBN 978-1-57607-262-2.