Former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell Dies at 92

Former U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a pioneering Northern Cheyenne politician who advocated for Native American rights during a 18-year career in Congress, died Tuesday in Colorado. He was 92.

Campbell died of natural causes surrounded by family members, his daughter Shanan Campbell confirmed to the Associated Press. A member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, he was the first Native American to serve in the Senate since Charles Curtis, a Kaw Nation citizen, left office in 1929. During his tenure from 1993 to 2005, Campbell remained the only Native American in the chamber, a distinction that lasted until Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma took office in 2022.

Born on April 13, 1933, in Auburn, California, Campbell grew up in Placer County and dropped out of high school to join the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, serving from 1951 to 1953. He later earned a bachelor's degree from San Jose State University in 1957 and studied at Meiji University in Tokyo from 1960 to 1964. An accomplished athlete, Campbell captained the U.S. judo team at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and won a gold medal at the Pan American Games. Before entering politics, he operated a judo dojo in the Sacramento...