Gary Paul Davis (born September 11, 1968), better known professionally as Litefoot, is a Native American (

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

) rapper, actor, and businessman. He is the Executive Director of the Native American Financial Services Association (NAFSA), CEO of Davis Strategy Group and a member of the Forbes Finance Council. As an actor, he is known for his roles as Little Bear in the movie ''

The Indian in the Cupboard ''The Indian in the Cupboard'' is a low fantasy children's novel by the British writer Lynne Reid Banks. It was published in 1980 with illustrations by Robin Jacques (UK) and Brock Cole (US). It was later adapted as a 1995 children's film ...

'', and Nightwolf in '' Mortal Kombat Annihilation''.

Early and personal life

Litefoot was born in

Upland, California Upland is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, on the border with neighboring Los Angeles County. The municipality is located at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population ...

, was raised in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

, and has lived in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington since 1997. He is of

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

descent on his father's side and of Chichimeca (northern Mexican Indigenous) descent on his mother's side. He is married to Carmen Davis, who serves as president of the Reach The Rez effort and is of the

Makah The Makah (; Makah: ') are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast living in Washington, in the northwestern part of the continental United States. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Makah Indian Tribe of the Makah I ...

, Yakama, and Chippewa Cree tribes. They have three sons, Quannah, Sequoyah, and Qwnuseia.

Career

Business

Before being appointed as Executive Director of NAFSA, Davis served as President and CEO of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED) and as a member of the NCAIED’s Board of Directors. He has served as Vice-President of Native Affairs for the Triple Five Group, owners of the world’s largest retail shopping malls; the Mall of America and the

West Edmonton Mall West Edmonton Mall (WEM) is a large shopping mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that is owned, managed, and operated by Triple Five Group. It is the second most visited mall in Canada, after the Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto, followed by Met ...

and he previously served as co-chair of the National Indian Gaming Association’s, American Indian Business Network. Davis owns and operates the Davis Strategy Group and has facilitated an array of cross sector business opportunities in Indian Country ranging from energy, acquisitions, casino gaming, hospitality, land development, health and pharmaceutical initiatives. He also owns the Native Style Clothing brand and Red Vinyl Records.

Entertainment

Davis is a successful musician and feature film and television actor with eight award winning albums and starring roles in such films as ''

The Indian in The Cupboard ''The Indian in the Cupboard'' is a low fantasy children's novel by the British writer Lynne Reid Banks. It was published in 1980 with illustrations by Robin Jacques (UK) and Brock Cole (US). It was later adapted as a 1995 children's film ...

'' (in which he played the title character) and television programs such as ''

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a struc ...

''. Although Litefoot is not the first Native American performer of

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

, he is among the first Native American hip hop artists to be an enrolled member of a

federally recognized tribe A federally recognized tribe is a Native American tribe recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs as holding a government-to-government relationship with the US federal government. In the United States, the Native American tribe ...

. He has won six Native American Music Awards, his most recent for Artist of The Year. Since 2005, he has hosted and produced his own nationally-distributed hip hop and R&B radio show called ''Reach the Rez Radio'', which broadcasts weekly through Native Voice One Satellite Network. Litefoot produces several clothing lines the best known being the "Native Style" brand. He annually spends months of his time working on various reservations across the United States and Canada. His most recent music and speaking tour was the "Reach the Rez Tour". This annual project lasted one year, 54,000 miles and 211 events across the United States.

Philanthropy

Davis has traveled throughout the United States delivering messages of hope and empowerment to over 450 American Indian communities. As the spokesperson of the "Reach The Rez Project", Davis has raised nearly $1.5 million to ensure the success of the effort.

Public speaking

Davis regularly delivers motivational speeches to tribal, educational and corporate audiences as a public speaker. He has provided keynotes and business trainings for corporations and tribes and lectured at a variety of colleges and universities across North America.

Awards and recognition

Davis is a recipient of the prestigious Sevenstar Award from the Cherokee Nation Historical Society, presented to a Cherokee who is accomplished in a chosen field, brought honor to the Cherokee people and serves as an inspiration to others. He has also received the

Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business ...

Minority Business Development Agency National Director Special Recognition Award was appointed as an Ambassador of the Department of Energy’s, Minorities in Energy initiative and was also appointed to the United States Small Business Administration’s Council on Underserved Communities. Mr. Davis was recognized as one of the "Fifty Faces of Indian Country" by Indian Country Today Media Network.

Discography

* 1992 - ''The Money EP'' * 1994 - ''Seein' Red'' * 1996 - ''Good Day To Die'' * 1998 - ''The Clown Kutz'' * 1998 - ''The Life & Times'' * 1998 - ''Red Ryders Vol. 1'' * 1999 - ''Red Ryders Vol. 2'' * 1999 - ''Rez Affiliated'' * 1999 - ''The Lite Years 1989–1999 - The Best of Mr. Foot'' * 2001 - ''Tribal Boogie'' * 2002 - ''The Messenger'' * 2003 - ''Native American Me'' * 2004 - ''Redvolution'' * 2008 - ''Relentless Pursuit''

Filmography

* 1995 - ''

'' - Little Bear * 1995 - '' Showbiz Today'' - episode - July 13-1995 - Himself * 1997 - ''

The Song of Hiawatha ''The Song of Hiawatha'' is an 1855 epic poem in trochaic tetrameter by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which features Native American characters. The epic relates the fictional adventures of an Ojibwe warrior named Hiawatha and the tragedy of his lo ...

'' * 1997 - '' Mortal Kombat Annihilation'' - Nightwolf * 1997 - '' Kull the Conqueror'' - Ascalante * 1998 - '' Angel on Fire'' * 2001 - '' The Pearl'' - Juan Tomas * 2001 - '' Any Day Now'' episode - No More Forever - July 22-2001'' - Charley Majors * 2002 - ''

Adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

'' - Russell * 2022–present - '' Spirit Rangers'' - Qamash, Stone Cold, Catfish Spirit, Construction Worker, Stinky, Mark, Huck

References

External links

Official website

Litefoot
at

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

Official website of the Reach The Rez Project featuring Litefoot

Official website of Reach the Rez Radio
*

Video

Arizona TV news story about Reach the Rez Tour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Litefoot 1968 births Living people Male actors from California Rappers from California 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American rappers 20th-century Native American people American musicians of Mexican descent Musicians from Tulsa, Oklahoma American radio personalities People from Upland, California Rappers from Seattle Cherokee Nation male actors Hispanic and Latino American male actors Hispanic and Latino American rappers Native American rappers 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American rappers 21st-century Native American people American male actors of Mexican descent American male film actors American male television actors