US Tribes T to V


Click on a letter of the alphabet to go to US Tribes starting with that letter. Where known, the official name is used. Linked tribal names go to their profile index page which will contain more links to sections of our site where you can find articles about that tribe and related tribes.

A-B   C-D   E-F-G   H-I-J   K-L-M   N-O-P
  Q-R-S
  T-U-V   W-X-Y-Z

 

KEY:(F)= Federally Recognized, (S)= State Recognized, (T)= Terminated, (U)= Unrecognized, (M)= Mesoamerican Civilizations,(P)= Petitioning for Recognition, (C)= Canadian Tribes, (E)= Extinct, (IRA)= Indian Reorganization Act

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, based on information released by the BIA as of May 2016.

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, or they are misspellings.

Links to tribal profile pages are at the bottom of the page.

us tribes starting with T

Timbisha Shoshone – See Death Valley Timbi-Sha Shoshone Tribe

Tolowa, Wiyot

Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria

Table Mountain Rancheria of California
Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada
Four constituent bands:

Battle Mountain Band
Elko Band
South Fork Band
Wells Band

Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Oklahoma
Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota (also known as the Arikara, Hidatsa, and Mandan tribes)
Tohono O’odham Nation of Arizona (formerly Papago Indian Tribe)
Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York
Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona
Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, California (formerly the Torres-Martinez Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of California)
Trinidad Rancheria – See Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria (Above)
Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, California
Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation, Washington
Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana
Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne Rancheria of California
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota
Tuscarora Nation of New York
Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians of California

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us tribes starting with U

Umpqua:

Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon

Ute:

Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation Colorado
Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation,(Northern Ute) Utah
Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah

Still to be sorted:

United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria of California
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma
United Métis Tribe (Indiana)

Buffalo Spirit Band of the United Métis Tribe (Indiana)
Nimkii Band of the United Métis Tribe (Indiana)

Upper Kispoko Band of the Shawnee Nation. Letter of Intent to Petition 04/10/1991; certified letter returned undeliverable 10/30/1997 (Indiana)
Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota
Upper Skagit Indian Tribe of Washington
Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation, California

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us tribes starting with V

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Article Index:

Table Mountain Rancheria of California

Table Mountain Rancheria is a federally recognized tribe of Native American people from the Chukchansi band of Yokuts and the Monache tribe.

Official Tribal Name: Table Mountain Rancheria of California

Address:  23736 Sky Harbour Rd, P.O. Box 410, Friant, CA 93626
Phone: (559) 822-2587     
Fax: (559) 822-2693

Recognition Status: Federally Recognized

Region: California

State(s) Today: California

Traditional Territory:

Confederacy: Rancherias, Yokuts

Treaties:

Reservation: Table Mountain Rancheria
Land Area:  650 acres
Tribal Headquarters:  Friant, CA
Time Zone:  Pacific

Registered Population Today: There are approximately 160 enrolled members. The reservation population is approximately eleven people, with 34 tribal members living in the general area.

Tribal Enrollment Requirements: Direct lineal descent from a member on the 1933 roll.

Genealogy Resources:

Related Tribes:

 

Modern Day Events & Tourism:

Annual pow wow held on second Saturday in June.

Monache Legends / Oral Stories:

Yocut Legends / Oral Stories:

Economy Today:

Table Mountain Rancheria owns and operates Table Mountain Casino, Eagle Springs Golf Course, the Eagle’s Landing restaurant, Mountain Feast Buffet, and TM Cafe, all located in Friant, California.

Monache Chiefs & Famous People:

Yokut Chiefs & Famous People

Catastrophic Events:

Tribe History:

In 1916. the United States purchased a parcel of land in Fresno County, California and thereafter held this land in trust for the Table Mountain Band of Indians. The land became known as the Table Mountain Rancheria. The Rancheria was considered an Indian reservation and Indian country. Rancheria residents were recognized as Indians for purposes of federal law.

The Government provided little if any infrastructure, barely habitable substandard housing, scarce substandard healthcare (if at all), and substandard education (if at all). While building a national highway system and secondary road system, dirt roads and pathways were provided to the Indians. No schools were built on the reservations to educate the Table Mountain children. Employment opportunities were scarce.

In 1958, the Congress appointed non-Indian bureaucrats from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to “help” the Indians govern themselves rather than permitting the Indians to continue with their own governmental structure. When it was clear that the reservation system merely added to the deprivations of the Indians and in an effort to allegedly integrate the Indian population into mainstream American society and to end discrimination against the Indians in property ownership, education, healthcare, employment and other areas of American life, Congress passed the California Rancheria Termination Act Public Law 85-671 (CRTA).

CRTA provided a voluntary process by which Indians who lived on the Rancheria could decide whether or not to exchange their privileged status under the 1918 trust, for a parcel of land which was part of the reservation. The Indian would own that land in fee simple.

CRTA called for the distribution of rancheria lands and assets to the members of the Tribe as well as the other residents of the Rancheria. It called for a plan “for distributing to individual Indians who resided on the Table Mountain Rancheria, the assets of the reservation i.e. the Rancheria, including the assigned and the unassigned lands, or for selling such assets and distributing the proceeds of sale, or conveying such assets to a corporation or other legal entity organized or designed by the group, or for conveying such assets to the group, as tenants in common.

The Distributees were simply those Indians who lived on, and used, the rancheria at the time of the termination whether a member of the tribe or not. Before the termination plan could be implemented and the land could be distributed, CRTA called for the government to give notice to all Indians of the Rancheria who were recognized and designated as Indians under the 1916 Act.

The only notice published was a minute publication in a local throw-away newspaper that had no subscribers and a circulation of less than 250 persons. The newspaper, the Mountain Press” is located in an unincorporated area of Fresno county. It was not part of the Table Mountain Rancheria and was not located on the Trust Land where the Indians resided.

Said termination plan did not become effective until approved by a majority of adult Indians who were eligible to participate in the distribution plan.There were hundreds of Indians living on Table Mountain Rancheria in 1958, but most of them did not see the notice, so the Department of the Interior chose and selected twelve heads of households to vote in that election and failed to notify the others.

In addition, the government was required to do a survey of land on the Rancheria. The government was also required to improve or construct all roads serving the Rancheria, to install or rehabilitate the irrigation, sanitation, and domestic water systems, and to exchange land held in trust for the Rancheria.

Any Table Mountain Indian who received a portion of the assets was ineligible to receive any more federal services rendered to him/her based on their status as Indians. Their status as United States citizens was not affected by this transfer. All Table Mountain Indians who did not receive a portion of the assets [land] continued to be eligible to receive federal services rendered to them based on their status as Indians under the 1916 Act.

However, because the United States contended that all of the Indians who were eligible to receive any of the assets, had been given notice, and had participated in the distribution, none of the Table Mountain Indians were considered eligible for any further federal services. This left the bulk of the Table Mountain Indians without any federal services.

Any land or asset not conveyed to an individual Indian, was to be held by the Association as tenants-incommon by all of the Table Mountain Indians and to be administered by the Association under the special fiduciary duty owed by the Association to the Indian people who did not participate in the distribution/termination plan.

During the period from the enactment of CRTA in 1958 until March 28, 1983, the Secretary of the Interior failed to comply with his fiduciary duty to the Indians who did not receive any land under CRTA and who should have continued to be recognized as Indians after CRTA.

On December 23, 1980, Respondents filed an action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (Table Mountain Rancheria Association v. Watt, C-80-4595-MHP (N.D.Cal. 1983)) That court was not the proper venue to hear the matter.

The matter was filed in the Northern District so as to avoid any publicity at Table Mountain where Appellants resided. Respondents sought to conceal the lawsuit from the local residents so they could accomplish a scheme to acquire the Trust land for their purposes and use. On or about March 28, 1983, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California [the action entitled Table Mountain Rancheria Association et all v. James Watt et al. Case No. C-80-4595 MHP) entered a Stipulated Entry of Judgment which declared the 1958 distribution plan unconstitutional and re-instated Appellants [who had not participated in the 1958 distribution] as Indians under the laws of the United States prior to the 1958 CRTA and whose benefits which they enjoyed prior to 1958 were re-instated.

Many of the benefits restored by the Watt Stipulation are property rights as defined under California Law. The affected Indians consist of all persons named in the distribution plan of the Table Mountain Rancheria as distributees of the assets of the Table Mountain Rancheria, who, by reason of having participated in the distribution of the assets of the Table Mountain Rancheria at any time have been considered by the United States government or any governmental entity to have lost their status as Indians under the laws of the United States of America.

The affected Indians also consist of all persons not named in the distribution plan of the Table Mountain Rancheria as distributees of the assets of the Table Mountain Rancheria, who, by reason of not having participated in the distribution of the assets of the Table Mountain Rancheria at any time have been considered by the United States government or any governmental entity to have lost their status as Indians under the laws of the United States of America. Affected Indians also consist of all persons listed or otherwise considered to be dependent members of the families of residents of the Table Mountain Rancheria who resided there prior to 1958.

On or about March 28, 1983, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ordered the Secretary of the Interior to prepare and provide a list of federal services, benefits, and programs and the eligibility criteria which were available to Indians because of their status as Indians between May 2, 1973 and June 25, 1975.

The Secretary of the Interior failed to prepare and provide a list of said federal services, benefits, and programs and the eligibility criteria to receive those services, benefits and programs. The Secretary of the Interior never provided any list of federal services, benefits, programs and/or any eligibility criteria for receiving those federal services, benefits, or programs.

Many of the services, benefits and programs restored by the Watt Stipulation are property rights as defined under California Law. The essence of understanding one of the major complaints is understanding the unlawful transaction that took place conveying the Trust land from the Association to the United States in trust for the Band of Table Mountain Indians.

In the 1958, the Table Mountain Rancheria Association was formed to accept all lands not claimed by individuals Indians and to manage the water, sanitation and roads within Table Mountain Rancheria. It did so for almost twenty years.

In 1980, the Table Moutain Rancheria Association, represented by eight members, not all its members, and those eight members as individuals, sued the United States concerning the 1958 distribution plan and the United States’ failure to implement the 1958 distribution plan. They sued in the Northern District not in the Eastern District where each of them resided and where Table Mountain Rancheria was located.

The litigation was filed in 1980 and continued until a stipulation was agreed upon in March 1983. The notice was published beginning in April 1983 (ER 565) after the Stipulation was executed and filed. There was no notice to anyone while the litigation was pending and a careful examination of the contents of the notice shows it is not legible to the everyday lay person.

These persons then entered into a stipulation with the government in settlement of the case. (ER 45.) The Stipulation contained a factually impossible clause. The Stipulation stated: “Within one year. . . plaintiff Band shall convey to the United States all community-owned lands [Trust land] within the Table Mountain Rancheria to which the United States issued fee title in connection with or as a result of distribution of the assets of the Rancheria.The The Stipulation called for the Table Mountain Band of Indians to convey land which its did not have title to and did not own. The Trust land was owned in fee simple by the Association not the Band.

However, because the disenrolled tribal members did not file suit within the time limit allowed, the US Courts upheld their disenrollment — and when it re-formed in 1987, it based its membership on the people who were actually on the rancheria at the moment. That turned out to only be the descendants of four of the many who were on the 1915 list. The disenfranchised members do no share in casino profits today.

All disenfranchised members of the Table Mountain Rancheria have to prove that they are descended from a 1933 tribal roll, not the original 1915 roll.

Disenfranchised tribal members say they are being unfairly, excluded from what is legitimately theirs. They see the tribal councils as greedy, fat cats trying to hoard all of the gaming revenues for themselves and their families. The tribal councils see the latecomers as people who left during hard times and thus without the same rights as those who endured the years of hardship on the ancestral homelands.

In the News:

Further Reading:

Centuries of Genocide: Essays and Eyewitness Accounts
 Surviving Through the Days: Translations of Native California Stories and Songs
Native Hubs: Culture, Community, and Belonging in Silicon Valley and Beyond

Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada

The Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians are a confederation of Western Shoshone bands, each living in an Indian Colony located in Nevada. The tribe consists of the Battle Mountain Band, Elko Band, South Fork Band, and the Wells Band.

Official Tribal Name: Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada

Address: 525 Sunset Street, Elko, Nevada 89801  
Phone: (702) 738-9251
Fax: (702) 738-2345
Email:

Official Website: http://www.temoaktribe.com

Recognition Status: Federally Recognized

Traditional Name / Traditional Meaning:

Newe, meaning “the people.”

Common Name / Meaning of Common Name:

White settlers renamed the Newe “Shoshone” during the 1820’s.

Alternate names / Alternate spellings:

Four constituent bands: Battle Mountain Band; Elko Band; South Fork Band and Wells Band

Name in other languages:

Region: Great Basin

State(s) Today: Nevada

Traditional Territory:

The traditional Western Shoshone territory covered southern Idaho, the central part of Nevada, portions of northwestern Utah, and the Death Valley region of southern California.

Confederacy: Western Shoshone  

Treaties:

The Treaty of Ruby Valley in 1863, granted the tribe ownership of much of eastern Nevada. When, nearly a century later, the government agreed to pay $26 million in compensation, the tribe rejected the offer, insisting on a return of the land instead.

Reservations: Battle Mountain Reservation, Elko Colony, Wells Colony, South Fork Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land

At the beginning of the 20th century there was but a single Western Shoshone reservation, located in Duck Valley along the Nevada-Idaho border. The BIA planned to coerce all the Shoshones of the Great Basin region to move there. Ultimately, less than one-third of them agreed to this arrangement, however, so the government encouraged Northern Paiutes from Oregon and Nevada to join the Western Shoshones still not living on reservation land.

The government set aside thousands of acres for various “colonies” (in California) as alternatives to full-size reservations like Duck Valley.

The bands that make up the Te-Moak Shoshone Tribe refused to relocate to the Duck Valley Reservation when it was established in 1877, forcing the U.S. government to grant them territory closer to their ancestral tribal lands.

The Te-Moak Shoshone tribal lands consist of colonies in Battle Mountain, Elko, and Wells, plus South Fork Indian Reservation. The separate colonies, while part of the same tribe, each reflect the variety between different bands of Te-Moak Shoshone. 

The almost 700-acre Battle Mountain Indian Colony was established in 1917. In addition to homes for the Battle Mountain Band’s members, it includes a senior center and smoke shop/convenience store that offers fireworks and traditional arts and crafts.

The Elko Indian Colony was founded near the city in 1918. The community consists of the Elko Smoke Shop and numerous tribal member homes—its location in northeastern Nevada’s largest city preempts the need for tribe-specific services. The Northeastern Nevada Museum in Elko includes artifacts from Shoshone who once practiced traditional nomadic ways of life throughout the region. The Elko Band Powwow in October is among the state’s largest and includes food vendors, arts and crafts booths, and displays of traditional dancing.

The 80-acre Wells Indian Colony was established in 1977, but the Te-Moak Shoshone people had frequented the Humboldt Wells springs near the town for many centuries before Wells was founded in 1868. The community includes a small park and the Wells Smoke Shop.

At more than 20 square miles, South Fork Indian Reservation is the largest tract of Te-Moak Shoshone tribal land in the state. The reservation is at the foot of the Ruby Mountains 28 miles south of Elko via State Routes 227 and 228. Established in 1941, South Fork has been developed only lightly in the intervening decades aside from the small town of Lee, its community center, and a hay crop to feed the tribe’s cattle herd, its largest source of revenue.

Location: Territory of the Tribe is that land within the Elko Colony, and Reservation or Colony sites occupied by members of the Te-Moak Bands who have voted to be made a part of such Te-Moak Territory.  

Land Area:
 See bands linked to below for more information on each colony.

Tribal Headquarters:
 Elko, Nevada

Time Zone:  

Population at Contact:

Registered Population Today:

Each band colony maintains it’s own tribal enrollment rolls. Collectively, the four bands have about 2,096 members.

Tribal Enrollment Requirements:

Also see individual bands, each band keeps their own enrollment records.
Disenrollment wave underway by Nevada’s Te-Moak Tribal Council disputed

Genealogy Resources:

Government:

Charter: Organized under the Indian Reorganization Act of 18 June 1934 (48 Stat. 984) as amended. The four Nevada colonies that united to form the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone adopted a constitution in 1938, which was recognized by the federal government. The Constitution and By-Laws of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians was approved August 24, 1938. 
Name of Governing Body: The Te-Moak Tribal Council has total jurisdiction over all tribal lands, though the colonies retain sovereignty over all the other affairs, and each band has its own separate governing Band Council who exercise limited authority over local matters.   
Number of Council members:   5 plus executive officers.
Dates of Constitutional amendments: Amended in 1982.
Number of Executive Officers:  Chairman, Vice-Chairman

Elections:

Held every 3 years.

B.I.A. Agency:

Eastern Nevada Agency
Elko, Nevada 89801
Phone:(702) 738-5165

Language Classification:

Language Dialects:

Number of fluent Speakers:

Dictionary:

Origins:

Bands, Gens, and Clans

Battle Mountain Band
Elko Band
South Fork Band
Wells Band

Related Tribes:

Death Valley Timbisha Shoshone | Ely Shoshone Tribe | Duckwater Shoshone | Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe | Ft. McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe | Winnemucca Colony | Yomba Shoshone Tribe | Reno/Sparks Indian Colony | Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians (comprised of the Battle Mountain Band, Elko Band, South Fork Band, and Wells Band)

Traditional Allies:

Traditional Enemies:

Ceremonies / Dances:

Modern Day Events & Tourism:

Northeastern Nevada Museum 

Legends / Oral Stories:

Art & Crafts:

Animals:

Clothing:

Housing:

Subsistance:

Prior to contact with white culture, the Te-Moak Tribes were hunter-gatherers. They divided themselves into small extended family groups who confined themselves to specific areas for hunting and gathering.  

Economy Today:

For many of the Western Shoshone bands, cattle ranching has served as the main source of income during the 20th century. Many tribal members work at seasonal agriculture and ranching jobs throughout the region. The tribe owns a combination convenience store/smoke shop, which employs six people. The tribal government employs 20 people. A mine filter cleaning business employs 3 people. Few other employment opportunities exist on their reservation lands.

Religion & Spiritual Beliefs:

Burial Customs:

Wedding Customs

Radio:  
Newspapers:  

Shoshone Chiefs & Famous People:

Catastrophic Events:

Tribe History:

In the News:

Further Reading:

 

Tejon Indian Tribe

The Tejon Indian Tribe of California is a federally recognized tribe of Kitanemuk, Yokuts, and Chumash indigenous people of California. 

Official Tribal Name: Tejon Indian Tribe

Address:
Phone:
Fax:
Email:

Official Website:

Recognition Status: Federally Recognized

Traditional Name / Traditional Meaning:

Common Name / Meaning of Common Name:

Alternate names / Alternate spellings:

Name in other languages:

Region: California

State(s) Today: California

Traditional Territory: Their ancestral homeland was in the southern San Joaquin Valley, San Emigdio Mountains, and Tehachapi Mountains.

Confederacy:

Treaties:

Reservations:  No reservation today. Sebastian Indian Reservation (1853-1864), also known as Tejohn Indian Reservation

The Sebastian Indian Reservation (1853-1864) was established in 1853 by Edward F. Beale on Rancho El Tejon lands, that became part of the Tejon Ranch. It was the first Indian reservation in California.

Land Area:  At its establishment it was 763,000 acres large but was reduced to 25,000 acres. However, in 1863 Beale purchased Rancho El Tejon for his private use. 100 Indians stayed on his lands when the reservation was dissolved. Many Indians were forcibly relocated at gunpoint to a new reservation which was established near Porterville in Tulare County.

Tribal Headquarters:  Wasco and Bakersfield, California
Time Zone:

Population at Contact: Around 2,000.

Registered Population Today: About 734 enrolled members as of 2011.

Tribal Enrollment Requirements:

Genealogy Resources:

Government:

Charter:
Name of Governing Body:
Number of Council members:
Dates of Constitutional amendments:
Number of Executive Officers:

Elections:

Language Classification:

Language Dialects:

Number of fluent Speakers:

Dictionary:

Origins:

Bands, Gens, and Clans

Related Tribes:

Traditional Allies:

Traditional Enemies:

Ceremonies / Dances:

Modern Day Events & Tourism:

Legends / Oral Stories:

Art & Crafts:

Animals:

Clothing:

Housing:

Subsistance:

Religion & Spiritual Beliefs:

Burial Customs:

Wedding Customs

 

Radio:
Newspapers:

Tejohn Chiefs & Famous People:

Catastrophic Events:

Tribe History:

In the News:

Further Reading:

 

Thlopthlocco Tribal Town
Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation
Tohono O’odham Nation of Arizona
Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation
Tonawanda Band of Seneca
Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona
Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians
Tulalip Tribes of Washington
Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation
Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe
Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne Rancheria of California
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota
Tuscarora Nation
Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians of California
United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria of California
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma
Upper Sioux Community
Upper Skagit Indian Tribe
Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation
Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation
Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation
Viejas (Baron Long) Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Viejas Reservation