History Profiles

Chief

Explore 2 of history's most influential chief, ranked by historical influence. Each figure links to a full biography, feats, trivia and similar people.

Portrait of Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull

84

Chief · 1831 – 1890

Sitting Bull was the Hunkpapa Lakota chief and holy man who united the Sioux nations against American expansion, led the coalition that defeated Custer at the Little Bighorn in 1876, and became a symbol of Native American resistance to US conquest.

  • Battle of the Little Bighorn
  • Lakota resistance to US expansion
 Portrait of Tecumseh

Tecumseh

83

Military Leader · 1768 – 1813

Tecumseh was the Shawnee leader who built the largest Native American confederacy in history to resist US expansion, allied with the British in the War of 1812, and was killed at the Battle of the Thames — becoming the greatest pan-Indian leader America ever faced.

  • Pan-Indian confederacy
  • War of 1812 alliance with Britain