Reservations A to Z

An Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. There are about 310 Indian reservations in the United States, meaning not all of the country’s 550-plus recognized tribes have a reservation — some tribes have more than one reservation, while others have none. In addition, because of past land allotments, leading to some sales to non-Indians, some reservations are severely fragmented. Each piece of tribal, individual, and privately held land is a separate enclave. This jumble of private and public real estate creates significant administrative, political, and legal difficulties.
 
Other names that mean indian reservation
 
In California, about half of the Indian reservations are called Rancherias and many tribes are referred to as Mission Indians. In New Mexico, most reservations are called Pueblos. In some western states, such as Nevada, there are Native American areas called Indian Colonies.In Alaska, with one exception, Alaskan Natives do not have reservations, but are organized by villages, which do own lands reserved for the use of the village, and  whose interests are overseen by Regional Corporations.
In Canada, reservations are called Reserves.
 
2.3% of the United States is designated as Indian reservations.
 
The collective geographical area of all reservations is 55.7 million acres (225,410 km²), representing 2.3% of the area of the United States (2,379,400,204 acres; 9,629,091 km²). Twelve Indian reservations are larger than the state of Rhode Island (776,960 acres; 3,144 km²) and nine reservations are larger than Delaware (1,316,480 acres; 5,327 km²). The Navajo Indian Reservation, the largest in the US,  compares in size  to the state of West Virginia. Reservations are unevenly distributed throughout the country. The majority are west of the Mississippi River and occupy lands that were first reserved by treaty or ‘granted’ from the public domain.
 
Most reservations have laws independent of off-reservation lands
 
Because tribes possess tribal sovereignty, even though it is limited, laws on tribal lands vary from the surrounding area These laws can permit legal tribal casinos on reservations, for example. The tribal council and tribal courts, not the local or federal government, generally has jurisdiction over reservations. Different reservations have different systems of government, which may or may not replicate the forms of government found outside the reservation.Most Indian reservations were established by the federal government. A limited number, mainly in the East, owe their origin to state recognition. As sovereignties, Native American tribes are allowed to enforce both civil and criminal laws among their members. The exception is when a felony crime, such as murder, is involved. Then the FBI has jurisdiction.They also tax, license, and regulate all activities and commerce that is conducted within their jurisdictional boundaries. The governments established by the 564 federally recognized Native American tribes are granted with enforcement of many of the same powers the federal government grants to individual states. These Native American tribes also function under many of the same limitations the government places on states, too. Individual states and Native American tribes are restricted in their operations by three major limitations placed upon them by the US government. Neither entity can wage war, coin their own money or establish a money system, and they cannot engage in independent relationships with foreign nations.
 
Why they are called indian ‘reservations’
 
The name “reservation” comes from the conception of the Indian tribes as independent sovereigns at the time the U.S. Constitution was ratified. Thus, the early peace treaties (often signed under duress) in which Indian tribes surrendered large portions of land to the U.S. also designated parcels which the tribes, as sovereigns, “reserved” to themselves, and those parcels came to be called “reservations.” The reservation  term remained in use even after the federal government began to forcibly relocate tribes to parcels of land to which they had no historical connection.
As of 2010, approximately 51% of Native Americans and Alaska Natives live somewhere other than their designated tribal reservations, often in large western urban areas, partly due to federal government relocation programs introduced in the 1940s, and partly because that is where employment opportunities are likely to be found….Read more about american indian reservation beginnings.
Also see:Reservation NewsUS Indian Reservations by StateUS Indian Reservations by Tribe
Indian reservations starting with A to C | D to G | H to K | L to N | O to R | S to T | U to Z

February 24, 2014

There are no indian reservations in Hawaii. Instead, they have Hawaiian homelands. A Hawaiian home land is an area held in trust for Native Hawaiians by the state of Hawaii under by the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921.

In 1921, the federal government of the United States set aside as approximately 200,000 acres (810 km2) in the Territory of Hawaii as a land trust for homesteading by Native Hawaiians. The law mandating this, passed by the U.S. Congress on July 9, 1921, was called the “Hawaiian Homes Commission Act” (HHCA) and, with amendments, is still in effect today.

Reservations by State
February 24, 2014

About fifty-four indian tribes have been associated with the state of Florida at one time or another. Many of these tribes are now extinct, or were combined to make new tribes, or removed from the state by the US Government. At one time, there were eleven different reservations in Florida. Today, there are seven federally recognized […]

Reservations by State
February 24, 2014

There were once 13 different tribes who roamed the lands we now call Connecticut. The name of this state comes from the Indian word Quinnehtukqut meaning “beside the long tidal river.” There were once nine indian reservations in Connecticut. Today, there are two state recognized indian reservations. Corun Hill Reservation (1680 in Huntington) Eastern Pequot […]

Reservations by State
February 23, 2014

The Metlakatla Indian Community is the only Native Reservation in Alaska. There are many other indian tribes in Alaska,  but most Alaskan natives have a different land system than the tribes in the continental US.   There is only one Alaska Indian Reservation Alaska Natives were not given title to land under the Dawes Act but were instead treated […]

Reservations by State
February 23, 2014

There is one american indian reservation in the state of Alabama The Poarch Creek Indian Reservation is a Creek Indian reservation in the state of Alabama. It is the home of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, the only federally recognized Indian tribe in the state.  

Reservations by State
February 23, 2014

The Pend d’Oreilles, also known as the Kalispel, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau. Their traditional territory was around Lake Pend Oreille, as well as the Pend Oreille River, and Priest Lake. Today many of them live in Montana and eastern Washington. The primary tribal range from roughly Plains, Montana, westward along the Clark Fork River, Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho, and the Pend Oreille River in eastern Washington and into British Columbia (Canada) was given the name Kaniksu by the Kalispel peoples.

They are generally divided geographically and culturally in the Upper Kalispel (Upper Pend d’Oreilles) and the Lower Kalispel (Lower Pend d’Oreilles). 

Reservations by Tribe
February 23, 2014

The Gros Ventre people, also known as the A’ani, A’aninin, Haaninin, and Atsina, are a historically Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe located in north central Montana. Today the Gros Ventre people are enrolled in the Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana, a federally recognized tribe with 3,682 enrolled members, that also includes […]

Reservations by Tribe

Crow Reservation

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February 23, 2014

apsaalookeCrow About 75 percent of the Crow tribe membership of approximately 10,000 or more enrolled members live on or near the Crow Reservation in Montana. Eighty-five percent speak Crow as their first language.

Reservations by Tribe
February 23, 2014

tsetsehesestahaseNorthern Cheyenne Approximately 5,000 Northern Cheyenne, along with members of other tribes and with non-Native Americans, live on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana. Lame Deer is the tribal and government agency headquarters.

Reservations by Tribe
February 22, 2014

The Chippewa or Ojibway Indians are one of the largest groups of American Indians in North America. There are nearly 150 different bands of Chippewa in the northern part of the United States and in southern Canada (especially in Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan), living on many different reservations and reserves.

Reservations by Tribe
February 22, 2014

The Great Sioux Nation is made up of many tribes. The Sioux peoples maintain many separate tribal governments scattered across several reservations in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Montana in the United States; and in Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan and Alberta in Canada. The Great Sioux Nation is divided into three linguistically and regionally based groups […]

Reservations by Tribe
December 26, 2010

The Acoma Indian Reservation is located in parts of Cibola, Socorro, and Catron counties in New Mexico, USA. This reservation covers 594.996 sq mi (1,541.033 km²). The Acoma Pueblo is the heart of the reservation and is the oldest continuously inhabited place in the United States.

 

American Indian Reservations A to C
February 22, 2010

Logo of Ft Peck Indian ReservationThe Fort Peck Reservation, headquartered in Poplar, is the second largest reservation in Montana, covering over two million acres of land.

Fort Peck Reservation is home to two separate Indian nations, the Assiniboine, and Dakota Sioux, each composed of numerous bands. There are an estimated 11,786 enrolled tribal members, of whom approximately 6,000 reside on or near the reservation.

The Assiniboine refer to themselves as “Nakona” and the Sioux call themselves “Dakota.”

The Sioux divisions of Sisseton/Wahpetons, the Yantonais, and the Teton Hunkpapa are all represented. The Assiniboine bands of Canoe Paddler and Red Button are represented and practice their culture and religion.

American Indian Reservations D to G
February 22, 2010

The Quinault Reservation is located in Washington State on the Olympic Peninsula. It is home to the Quinault and Queets tribes and descendants of five other coastal tribes: Quileute, Hoh, Chehalis, Chinook, and Cowlitz. The Quinault constitute one of numerous Washington State native american tribes designated as Coastal Salish people.

American Indian Reservations O to R
January 12, 2010

The quality of life on some reservations is comparable to that in many third world  countries, with issues of infant mortality, life expectancy, nutrition and poverty, and alcohol and drug abuse. For example, Shannon County, South Dakota, home of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, is routinely described as one of the poorest counties in the nation.

Reservations Overview
January 11, 2010

Reservation Economics

With the establishment of reservations, tribal territories diminished to a fraction of original areas and indigenous customary practices of land tenure sustained only for a time, and not in every instance. Instead, the federal government established regulations that subordinated tribes to the authority, first, of the military, and then of the Bureau (Office) of Indian Affairs. Under federal law, the government patented reservations to tribes, which became legal entities that at later times have operated in a corporate manner.

Reservations Overview
January 11, 2010

In 1851, the United States Congress passed the Indian Appropriations Act which authorized the creation of Indian reservations in modern day Oklahoma. Relations between settlers and natives had grown increasingly worse as the settlers encroached on territory and natural resources in the West.

By the late 1860s,President Ulysses S. Grant pursued a stated “Peace Policy” as a possible solution to the conflict. The policy included a reorganization of the Indian Service, with the goal of relocating various tribes from their ancestral homes to parcels of lands established specifically for their inhabitation.

Reservations Overview
January 30, 2002

Over 10,000 tribal members are enrolled in the Crow Tribe and many live on the 2.5 million acres that make up the Crow Indian Reservation. This huge reservation, approximately 60 miles wide and 40 miles long, lies in south central Montana.

American Indian Reservations A to C
January 30, 2002

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe is a member of the Isanti division of the Great Dakota (Sioux) Nation. The Tribe is composed of descendants of the Isanti people. The Isanti is comprised of four bands (Mdewakanton, Wahpetowan, Wahpekute, and Sissetowan) that lived on the eastern side of the Great Sioux Nation.

American Indian Reservations D to G
January 30, 2002

The Yankton Sioux Reservation is located in the south central part of South Dakota, occupying the eastern half of Charles Mix County. The Yankton Sioux are the most populous tribe in the service unit. Although many of the Yankton refer to themselves as Dakota, they are actually a group of the Middle Sioux division also known as Nakota. There are also members of the Northern Ponca Tribe residing within the region as well as Santee Sioux.

American Indian Reservations U to Z
January 30, 2002

The Lake Traverse Indian Reservation is the homeland of the Sisseton–Wahpeton Oyate, a branch of the Santee Dakota Sioux. The reservation is located in parts of five counties in extreme northeastern South Dakota and parts of two counties in southeastern North Dakota.

American Indian Reservations L to N
January 30, 2002

The Rosebud Sioux Tribal members are descendants of the Sicangu Oyate of the Tetonwan Division of the Great Sioux Nation. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe includes the Sicangu or Brule Tribe of the Lakota Nation also known as the Heyata Wicasa or Upper Brule. The Lakota Nation includes Upper Brule, Lower Brule, Oglala, Hunkpapa, Blackfoot, Minnecoujou, Sans Arcs, and Two Kettle.

American Indian Reservations O to R
January 29, 2002

The Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana is occupied by members of the Gros-Ventre and Assiniboine Tribes.

Annual Indian celebrations such as the Milk River Indian Days, Hays Powwow, and Chief Joseph Memorial Days feature traditional dancing and various cultural activities.

American Indian Reservations D to G
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