Was Jim thorpe the first native American to play pro sports?

Answer 1

No, there were others before him. Some of the Baseball players who played in MLB before Jim Thorpe were ...

1) Louis Francis Sockalexis was from the Penobscot tribe and played outfield in MLB between 1897-1899 for the Cleveland Spiders of the National League. He was an excellent athlete and played football and ran track as well as playing baseball. He was the first Native American to play in MLB.

2) Charles Albert Bender was from the Ojibwa tribe and an MLB pitcher who began his career with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1903. He won 212 career games, was on 3 World Series winning teams, and elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.

3) John Tortes Meyers was from the Cahuilla tribe and an MLB catcher who began his career with the New York Giants in 1909. He played for 9 seasons and had a career batting average of .291 and played on 4 World Series teams, unfortunately, all losing teams. His best season was 1912 when he hit .358 and led the National League in on base percentage at .441.