Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell
The former Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell passed December 30, 2025, surrounded by family shortly after a visit with tribal elders. Eddie Box Jr. sang the sacred Southern Ute Sundance songs which carried Native people between worlds for generations, and the vision of Nighthorse-Campbell donned in his war bonnet and buckskins and riding his horse home into the next world.
He was born in April 13, 1933, in Auburn, California to Mary Vierra, a Portuguese immigrant who battled tuberculosis for 26 years, and Albert Campbell, a Northern Cheyenne who struggled with alcoholism and was often absent. By the time he was 10 years old he had spent half his life in a Sacramento orphanage while his mother was ill.
His time in the orphanage taught him the lessons that defined his life. He learned to flatten silver coins on railroad tracks and work them into jewelry as art and to trade for food, leading to his lifelong work as an artist. This earned him more than 200 national and international awards and recognition for his talent as a sculptor, jewelry artist, and designer. Nighthorse Campbell designed the American Indian College Fund’s Cheyenne Eagle saddle blanket in the Pendleton line, which was popular through the years and helped raise funds for Native students’ higher education.
Cheyenne Eagle saddle blanket designed by the late Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell for the American Indian College Fund as part of its Pendleton blanket line.
After his turbulent teen years and time spent picking fruit in California, he made the decision to enlist in the U.S. Air Force and volunteered to serve in the Korean War.
He earned his high school equivalency degree while in the service and later attended San Jose State University using the G.I. Bill, graduating in 1957 with degrees in physical education and fine arts. After graduation he drew upon his earlier years picking fruit with Japanese immigrants who introduced him to judo. He moved to Tokyo and trained in judo at Meiji University, one of the world’s most respected judo programs, for four years. He was a three-time United States National Judo Champion, won the gold medal at the 1963 Pan American Games, and captained the United States Olympic judo team in Tokyo in 1964, where he was the first Native American on the United States Olympic judo team. He told his family judo taught him perseverance and gave him a passion.
After the Olympics, Nighthorse Campbell worked as a deputy sheriff, coached the United States national judo team, and taught high school. While teaching he met Linda Price, a Colorado native and public schoolteacher. They married in 1966 and built a life together that spanned nearly sixty years.
The couple purchased a 120-acre ranch in the 1970s near Ignacio, Colorado, bordering the Southern Ute Indian Reservation. There they raised their son Takes Arrows (Colin), and daughter Sweet Medicine Woman (Shanan) and bred and showed champion quarter horses and built a life centered on land, family, and tradition. He also launched his successful jewelry career, drawing on techniques he learned from Japanese sword makers. His jewelry has been collected by celebrities including Mick Jagger and Robert Redford, as well as several United States presidents.
Nighthorse Campbell later traveled to the Northern Cheyenne reservation in Montana, where he met his paternal relatives and enrolled as a member of the Black Horse family. At his name-giving ceremony he received the name Nighthorse. He would later serve as one of 44 chiefs of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe.
His political career was almost accidental. In 1982, party officials needed someone willing to run for state representative in what was considered an unwinnable race. Nighthorse Campbell was the only candidate to step forward and won with 57% of the vote. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1986 and in 1992, making history as the first Native American to serve in the United States Senate in more than 60 years. In 1995, he switched political parties as a fiscal conservative while remaining socially progressive. He served in public offices for 22 years.
Members of the Northern Cheyenne Nation visit a display of Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell’s artwork at Chief Dull Knife College.
Nighthorse Campbell’s legislative accomplishments include authoring the bill establishing the National Museum of the American Indian and requiring the return of Native American remains to tribes. He was the first and only Native American to date to chair the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, which passed more pro-Indian legislation than in any comparable period.
Other accomplishments include his rank as number one in the One Hundred Sixth Congress for passing the most legislation into law. He helped create two national parks and sponsored the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington, D.C. He co-authored the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and championed changing the name of Custer Battlefield to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Lake Nighthorse in southwestern Colorado bears his name.
His most personal achievement was his work to ensure the creation of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. He was recognized and honored as a direct descendant of Red Dress and Yellow Woman, two sisters who were murdered in the massacre of November 29, 1864. He camped at the site the night before its dedication in 2007, reflecting that it was peaceful and beautiful, with children playing by the fire. He thought how it must have been the night before the massacre, when no one knew what was coming.
Throughout his career, Nighthorse Campbell remained unapologetically himself. He rode his Harley to the U.S. Capitol, led the Colorado POW and MIA Recognition Ride for a decade, and was the only United States Senator with a commercial trucking license. In 2005, he personally drove the National Christmas Tree more than 5,000 miles from Meeker, Colorado, to Washington, D.C.
His many honors include the Ellis Island Medal of Freedom, the Order of the Rising Sun from Emperor Akihito in 2011, induction into the National Native American Hall of Fame in 2021, and the 2023 Sovereign Warrior Award.
The American Indian College Fund knew him as a friend to Native higher education, and he served as an original member on its board of trustees under then-chairwoman Anne Sward Hansen. He served three terms before stepping down in 1995. He also designed a special edition Cheyenne Eagle saddle blanket for the American Indian College Fund’s Pendleton blanket line, which raises funds for Native student scholarships. Chief Dull Knife College, a tribal college, on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, holds cherished pieces of his artwork in its museum.
At the end of his life, Nighthorse Campbell enjoyed seeing his work as an artist, his story, his values, and his spirit continued through the legacy of Nighthorse Jewelry and his family members’ work, including Linda, daughter Shanan, and grandson Luke.
Ben Nighthorse Campbell is survived by his wife, Linda; his daughter, Shanan; his son, Colin (wife Karen); granddaughters Lauren and Caroline Campbell; and grandsons Luke and Saylor Longfellow.
Senator Nighthorse Campbell will be laid to rest at Nighthorse Ranch in a private family service.
In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family requests donations to the Northern Cheyenne Boys and Girls Club in Lame Deer, Montana.
This tribute was created from several of Ben Nighthorse Campbell’s obituaries and American Indian College Fund records.
