US Tribes A-Z
Indigenous peoples in what is now the contiguous United States are commonly called “American Indians”, or just “Indians” domestically, but are also often referred to as “Native Americans”. In Alaska, indigenous peoples, which include Native Americans, Yupik and Inupiat Eskimos, and Aleuts, are referred to collectively as Alaska Natives.
Native Americans and Alaska Natives make up 2 percent of the U.S. population, with more than 6 million people identifying themselves as such, although only 1.8 million are recognized as registered tribal members. Tribes have established their own rules for membership, some of which are increasingly exclusive. More people have unrecognized Native American ancestry together with other ethnic groups. A minority of U.S. Native Americans live in land units called Indian reservations. Some southwestern U.S. tribes, such as the Yaqui and Apache, have registered tribal communities in Northern Mexico. Similarly, some northern bands of Blackfoot reside in southern Alberta, Canada, in addition to within US borders.
A number of Kumeyaay communities may be found in Baja California del Norte.
Indian tribes are unique legal entities in the United States and are distinct political communities with extensive powers of self-government. Tribal sovereignty predates the U.S. government. Treaties, federal statutes and executive agreements over the past 200 years have established a special trust relationship between tribes and the federal government. The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (B.I.A.) has been designated by the Secretary of the Interior as the primary agency to protect tribal interests and administer trust responsibilities.
Federal Tribes (F)
Federal tribes followed by (F) have recognition by the US. Government. Recognized Indians are those who are enrolled members of tribes from whom the federal government has acknowledged treaty or statutory obligations. There are 566 federally recognized indian tribes (as of January 14, 2015).
State Tribes (S)
State tribes marked with an (S) have recognition at the state level, but may or may not have federal recognition by the US Government.
Terminated Tribes (T)
During the 1950s, in a move to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream America, the U.S. government ended federal trusteeship of roughly three percent of the country’s Native American population through a process called termination. Of the terminated tribes, 62 were native to Oregon and 41 were in California. Others were in Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin. Even though the tone of the termination legislation was emancipation, the net effect of the policy on terminated tribes was cultural, political and economic devastation. In recent years, however, vigorous efforts have been mounted by terminated tribes to reestablish or restore the trust relationship. Terminated tribes are marked with (T).
UnRecognized Tribes (U)
Un-recognized tribes marked with (U) are historical indian tribes or people with Indian ancestry who are not recognized by either the Federal Government or any state government entity. Unrecognized Indians include those from tribes with whom federal relations have been severed by congressional action (termination) and those whose tribe has never been recognized by the federal government. They also include persons of indian ancestry who, for fear of persecution, fled or hid their Indian ancestry during the time the early Indian Rolls were being taken in the mid to late 1800s and early 1900s.
Petitioning Tribes (P)
Many of the Terminated Tribes and Unrecognized tribes are today petitioning to again be recognized as tribal governments with sovereign nation status or to be included in tribes they were previously terminated from. Those petitioning tribes are marked with a (P), where known. Inclusion on this site does NOT mean an endorsement has been made for recognition of any particular tribe. All entities claiming to be US indian tribes that we are aware of have been included for completeness. Where known, we have indicated official tribal status with our Key Chart. In many cases we have not verified the validity of the claim of tribal status, and leave it to your own common sense or further research to validate tribal claims.Alternate names in parenthesis are either older names that were once used to identify that tribe, shortened common names, or they are misspellings.
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The Wyandot Nation is one of the most traveled Indian tribes in the history of the North American continent. This tribe is composed of remnants of three related tribes who once occupied portions of the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, Canada. The three tribes, the Hurons, the Nation du Petun, and the Neutral Nation, were all members of the Iroquoian linguistic family.
The members of the Blue Lake Rancheria include people with Wiyot, Yurok, Tolowa, and Cherokee ancestry. This tribe is made up of the remnant survivors of the people who once lived along the Eel and Mad Rivers in northern California. Priror to Euro-American settlement, the ancestors of the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe were primarily Wiyot.
Early ancestors of The Muscogee Creek Nation constructed magnificent earthen pyramids along the rivers of what is now the Southeastern United States as part of their elaborate ceremonial complexes. The Muscogee later built expansive towns within these same broad river valleys in the present states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.
Brief Summary.
The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians is one of nine bands of Cahuilla Indians living in southern California. They are a federally recognized indian tribe. The Cahuilla tribe of Native Americans have inhabited California for more than 2,000 years.
The Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation is a Native American community located in the Santa Cruz Valley in Arizona. The community is composed mainly of Akimel O’odham (Pima), and Tohono O’odham (Papago), as well as some Hia-Ced O’odham members.
The Alabama and Coushatta formed an inter-tribal friendship shortly after each tribe migrated into Texas. In the early 1800s, their original homelands were taken over by white settlers. Sam Houston recommended that the state purchase 1,280 acres for the Alabamas and set aside 640 acres for the Coushattas. The land for the Coushattas never materialized, so either through marriage or special permission, the Coushatta came to live on the allotted lands of the Alabamas – uniting the two to become the Alabama-Coushatta.
Prior to the removal of the Muscogee Confederacy from their Southeastern homelands in the 1820’s and 30’s, the Alabama and Quassarte people each had a distinct identity as aTribal Town(or Tribe) of the Confederacy. The Confederacy consisted of more than 44 of these “Towns” scattered throughout the Southeastern woodlands.
The Alturas Indian Rancheria is a federally recognized tribe of Achumawi Indians in California. The Achumawi are also known as Pit River Indians.
Also known as the Plains Apache, there are many Apache tribes. The Apache Tribe of Oklahoma consider themselves as having always been a distinct linguistic and cultural group. They are descendants of Athabascan-speaking Apache groups who have inhabited the Plains since the 15th century and are members of the Eastern Apache branch which includes the Lipan, Jicarilla and Mescalero Apache tribes.
The Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation is one of four groups of Arapaho who originally occupied the headwaters of the Arkansas and Platte Rivers in what is now northeastern Colorado. Culturally, a Plains Indian tribe, the Arapaho are distinguished from other Plains tribes by their language, which is a variation of the Algonquin language.
The Aroostook Band of Micmacs and 28 other bands that are based in Canada comprise the Micmac Nation. The Micmacs are members of the Wabanaki Confederacy, an alliance that was forged among the Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, and Abenaki tribes in the 18th century.
The Fort Peck Reservation is home to two separate American Indian nations, each including numerous bands and divisions. The Sioux divisions of Sisseton, Wahpetons, Yanktonais, and the Teton Hunkpapa are all represented. The Assiniboine bands of Canoe Paddler and Red Bottom are also included in this tribe. Scholars believe that the Assiniboine broke away from Yanktonai Dakota (Sioux) in the 16th century.