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Famous Cherokees
There have been many famous Cherokees in American history, including Sequoyah, who invented the Cherokee writing system. It was thought for many years that he was the only person to single-handedly invent a writing system, however it has been recently speculated that there was an ancient clan of Cherokee priests who had an older, mostly secret rudimentary written language from which Sequoyah may have gotten inspiration. Many historians speculate that Sequoyah never learned to speak, read or write the English language for various reasons.
Jimi Hendrix, guitarist and singer of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, was of Cherokee heritage through his maternal grandmother, Nora Rose Moore.[48] Musician Tori Amos is of Cherokee ancestry.[49][50][51] Elias Boudinot, also known as Gallegina “Buck” Watie, was a statesman, orator, and editor. He wrote Poor Sarah, the first Native-American novel. Stand Watie, Buck’s younger brother, was a famous frontiersman and the last general of Confederate forces to surrender in the American Civil War. Ned Christie was a Cherokee patriot who became the subject of many books and magazine articles, including Zeke and Ned, a novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry, and Ned Christie’s War, a novel by Robert J. Conley. Will Rogers was of Cherokee heritage.[52] Businessman and owner of the Tennessee Titans football team Bud Adams is an enrolled member of the tribe. U.S. Congressman Larry McDonald from Georgia was of Cherokee heritage, through his mother’s side of the family. His father’s family was of Scottish ancestry. Wes Studi is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation from Stilwell, Oklahoma. He is a native fluent speaker of the Cherokee language and an important advocate for Native American rights today.
Other famous people who claim Cherokee ancestry include the actors Kevin Costner, Johnny Depp, Liv Tyler, Shannon Elizabeth, Burt Reynolds, James Garner, Chuck Norris, James Earl Jones, Lou Diamond Philips, David Carradine, Charisma Carpenter, Stephanie Kramer and Christopher Judge ; the dancers Mark Ballas and Eve Torres, pop/rock band Jonas Brothers, the musicians Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Nokie Edwards (The Ventures), John Phillips (The Mamas and the Papas), Jimmy Griffin of Bread (band), Eartha Kitt, Tim McGraw, Bill McGrath, Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley Cyrus and Anita Bryant; the actress, model, and singer Ashley Tesoro; the actress Megan Fox; the singer, musician and actor Elvis Presley ; actress and models Hunter Tylo, Carmen Electra, Daisy Fuentes, Janice Dickinson and Ali Landry; actress Catherine Zeta Jones (despite the fact she was born in Great Britain); the singers Rita Coolidge, Tina Turner and Tiffany ; Scott Stapp, lead singer of Creed; the country music singers Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle; the boxer Jack Dempsey ; comedian Janeane Garofalo; baseball catchers Johnny Bench and Park Owens; basketball guard Cherokee Parks; Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford; the painter Robert Rauschenberg; actor and environmentalist Robert Redford; the activists Rosa Parks and John Leak Springston, and the writers Mitch Cullin and Alex Haley and outlaw Jessie Evans. Also singer/actress Cher and singer/actor Jason Downs and singer Ryan Deck.
