Joseph Thornton (August 2, 1916 – February 4, 2019)[1] was a Cherokee Archer.
After finishing fourth in the 1961 USA Archery Trials, his club raised money to send him to the World Championship in Oslo, Norway.
[3] He earned individual silver medals in 1963 and 1965 at the World Championship.
[4] Thornton was inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978.
In 2016 the Cherokee Nation established the Joe Thornton Archery Range in Park Hill, Oklahoma.