Extensive categorization and cross-reference of all North American native american indian tribes of the US and Canada First Nations, by nations, bands, rancheria, pueblo, federally recognized, state recognized, unrecognized, petitions for recognition, by state or providence, and by language group and region of original occupation. You can also find a listing of official tribal web sites on the Internet.
OKLAHOMA INDIAN TRIBES
Federal list last updated 3/07
FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians
Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town
Apache Tribe
Caddo Nation of Oklahoma
Cherokee Nation
Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma
Chickasaw Nation
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Citizen Potawatomi Nation
Comanche Nation
Delaware Nation
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma
Kaw Nation
Kialegee Tribal Town
Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma
Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma
Muscogee (Creek) Nation
Osage Tribe
Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma
Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
Quapaw Tribe of Indians
Sac & Fox Nation
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma
Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
Shawnee Tribe
Thlopthlocco Tribal Town
Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco and Tawakonie)
Wyandotte Nation
STATE RECOGNIZED TRIBES (Not recognized by the Federal Governemnt)
None
UNRECOGNIZED / PETITIONING TRIBES
Arapaho Tribe of Oklahoma. Currently recognized only as part of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma.
Arebeka Tribal Town
Cataba Tribal Association
Delaware Tribe of Eastern Oklahoma, Letter of Intent to Petition 1/6/1993; determined ineligible to petition, 2/24/1994.
Hillabee Tribal Town. Currently recognized only as part of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
Kichai Tribe. Currently recognized only as part of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes.
Loyal Shawnee Tribe. Letter of Intent to Petition 10/14/1998; Legislative recognition 12/27/2000.
Natchez Nation of Oklahoma
New Tulsa Tribal Town. Currently recognized only as part of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
Northern Chicamunga Cherokee Nation of Arkansas and Missouri, Letter of Intent to Petition 9/5/1991
Tallahassee Tribal Town
Thlathlogvlga Tribal Town
Traditional Southern Cheyenne Nation. Currently recognized only as part of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma.
Tvkapvtchee Tribal Town. Currently recognized only as part of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
United Band of the Western Cherokee Nation. Letter of Intent to Petition 3/14/2003.
Weogufkee Tribal Town. Currently recognized only as part of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
Yuchi Tribal Organization. Letter of Intent to Petition 10/05/1990; Declined to acknowledge 3/21/2000, 64 FR 71814.
Yuchi (Euchee) Tribe of Oklahoma located in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. It is seeking federal recognition and separation from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma, which subsumed the much smaller numbers of Yuchi during Removal.
FIRST CONTACT TO PRESENT
Before the white man entered the region that is now the state of Oklahoma, several tribes of Indians lived in or ranged over the land. Plains Indians including the Kiowa, Apache, Ute, and Comanche occupied the western part of the region. They were nomadic hunters who followed the huge herds of buffalo that grazed on the grasslands.
Farther to the east, the more sedentary Wichita Indians lived in houses thatched with grass and cultivated crops such as corn, beans, pumpkins, and melons. The Wichita are descendants of a prehistoric culture known as the Earth House People.
Of the original tribes which ranged throughout Oklahoma when Europeans first began to explore the area, only the Ute remain.
A large portion of Oklahoma’s Native American population – the third largest in the nation - is made up of descendants of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes. These five tribes were forcibly moved to Oklahoma by the United States government between 1820 and 1842. Hundreds of people died on the forced marches that became known as The Trail of Tears.
PRE-CONTACT OKLAHOMA TRIBES
PRE-HISTORIC CULTURES IN OKLAHOMA
500-1300 AD - Spiro Indians, linked to the Aztecs, thrived and left burial mounds filled with exquisite artwork and clues to their way of life. A museum displaying their artifacts is near Spiro.
1012 -Viking explorers visited eastern Oklahoma and left their mark near the town of Heavener.
