Native Women Breaking Barriers And Uplifting Their Communities

Native American women have long been powerful leaders, organizers, storytellers, and changemakers — not only within their communities, but across the broader landscape of American history. Their contributions often go unrecognized in mainstream narratives, yet they have shaped movements for justice, sovereignty, education, environmental protection, healthcare access, and cultural preservation for generations.

Non-profit organization Embrace Relief highlights figures like Wilma Mankiller, the first woman elected Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, whose leadership transformed access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunity for her community. And today, Native women continue to break barriers in politics, science, the arts, and beyond, redefining leadership and expanding possibilities for the next generation.

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, we’re spotlighting three trailblazing Native American women whose voices and achievements deserve to be celebrated — and whose work continues to shape the world we live in.

Deb Haaland is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna tribe, and the first Native American woman elected to congress to represent New Mexico’s first Congressional district. 

She learned about her Pueblo culture from her grandparents by participating in traditional ceremonies with them. She shared how her upbringing shaped her values and how she approaches politics in an interview in The Story Exchange.

“The way I was raised gave me these values I have toward the environment, toward social justice and equality,” she told The Story Exchange. “I can’t say that being a Native woman will shape my agenda, but it will inform the decisions I make and the way I fight for things.”

As a congresswoman, she advocated for these values by serving on the house’s natural resources committee , which earned former President Biden’s attention and he offered her the opportunity to continue her environmental advocacy as the Secretary of the Interior. Not only did she make history again as the first Native woman to serve on a presidential cabinet according National Public Radio, she also had the opportunity to lead the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education.

While her tenure ended in 2025, she is not done fighting for her community. In the past month, she has lead charge to get food to New Mexicans losing their access to SNAP benefits.

Nicole Apanu Mann, a member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes in Northern California is listed on NASA’s website as the first indigenous woman to go to space in 2022 and first indigenous woman to serve as a commander. According to her bio on NASA.gov, she spent six months on the International Space Stationwhere she completed two space walks and performed experiments on how to grow tomatoes in space and 3D-printing human tissue to explore whether organs could be grown in space to explore medical needs. She has received awardssuch as Aerospace States Association 2023 Distinguished Aerospace Service Award for this work. 

In an interview with the San Diego Air and Space museum, she mentioned that heritage has been a guiding light throughout her career and even in space, she had pieces of home from her such as the dreamcatcher that her gave her as a child.

“It’s the strength to know that I have the support of my family and community back home and that when things are difficult or things are getting hard or I’m getting burned-out or frustrated, that strength is something that I will draw on to continue toward a successful mission,” Nicole said. 

Quannah Chasinghorse of the Gwich’in tribe in Alaska is a supermodel who has walked the runway for high end brands such as Chanel and Gucci and at the Met Gala. She mentioned in an Elle Canada interview that she felt lonely as the only Native woman in the room in these elite spaces, she is excited to see more Native models. 

“I love seeing more aspiring Native models, and I’ve been mentoring a lot of them, helping them, giving them advice and really rooting for them,” Quannah said in the Elle Canada interview.

She advocates for native designers by wearing their pieces in photo shoots for magazines such as Vogue. She also proudly bears traditional face tattoos, even ensuring that no makeup artists are allowed to cover them.. 

“A lot of people don’t even realize that Native people were always very fashionable,” Quannah told “To The Best of Our Knowledge,” a National Public Radio show

Her advice for Native women looking to take space in fashion and other industries: “Reclaim that power. Be unapologetic,” Quannah told “To The Best of Our Knowledge.”