These Tribes by State pages are indexes to all the native American Indian tribes in each state, whether they are federally recognized, state recognized, terminated, unrecognized, or extinct tribes.
They also outline a brief history timeline of all the tribes who have lived in each state from pre-historic times to the present.
The rights and benefits associated with state recognition vary from state to state.
Of the 567 federally recognized tribes, approximately 24 of them have tribal areas that span across at least two states, and approximately 5 of them have areas that span across 3 states.
As of 2010, California was the state with the most individual native american and Alaskan native people (723,225), followed by Oklahoma (482,760), Arizona (353,386), Texas (315,264), New York (221,058), New Mexico (219,512), Washington (198,998), North Carolina (184,082), Florida (162,562) and Michigan (139,095).
Virginia has no federally recognized tribes, largely due to Walter Ashby Plecker. In 1912, Plecker became the first registrar of the state’s Bureau of Vital Statistics, serving until 1946.
Plecker believed that the state’s Native Americans had been “mongrelized” with its African American population. A law passed by the state’s General Assembly recognized only two races, “white” and “colored”.
Plecker pressured local governments into reclassifying all Native Americans in the state as “colored,” leading to the destruction of records on the state’s Native American community.
The state of Maryland also has no federally recognized indian tribes, but does have one unrecognized tribe.
The states with the least federally recognized indian tribes, following the two states with no tribes, are West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Hampshire, and Kentucky.
As of May 2016, there are 567 federally recognized indian tribes in the United States. There are hundreds more indian tribes who are state recognized, petitioning for recognition, or unrecognized.
American cities with the largest native American and Alaska Native populations as of 2010 were New York, New York (111,749); Los Angeles, California (54,236); Phoenix, Arizona (43,724); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma(36,572); and Anchorage, Alaska(36,062).
Federally recognized indian tribes have special immunities and privileges due to their government to government relationship with the United States, as well as the responsibilities, powers, limitations, and obligations that go along with their status as sovereign nations.
Members of these tribes have dual citizenship with both the United States and their respective tribes.
These tribes possess the right to form their own government, to enforce laws (both civil and criminal), to tax, to establish membership, to license and regulate activities, to zone and to exclude persons from tribal territories.
Limitations on tribal powers of self-government include the same limitations applicable to states; for example, neither tribes nor states have the power to make war, engage in foreign relations, or coin money (this includes paper currency).
Many Native Americans and advocates of Native American rights point out that the US Federal government’s claim to recognize the “sovereignty” of Native American peoples falls short, given that the US still wishes to govern Native American peoples and treats them as subject to US law.
True respect for Native American sovereignty would require the United States federal government to deal with Native American peoples in the same manner as any other sovereign nation, handling matters related to relations with Native Americans through the Secretary of State, rather than the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs reports on its website that its “responsibility is the administration and management of 55,700,000 acres (225,000 km²) of land held in trust by the United States for American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska Natives.”
Many Native Americans and advocates of Native American rights believe that it is condescending for such lands to be considered “held in trust” and regulated in any fashion by a foreign power.
Federally recognized indian tribes are eligible to receive funding and services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, commonly referred to as the B.I.A., as stipulated in their respective treaties with the United States government.
Many tribes also have their own independant commercial enterprises which generate additional income for the tribe’s infrastructure, and in some cases for individual tribal members in the form of per capita payments.
In recent years, tribal casinos have provided employment for tribal members and a modest profit which supports community programs.
A few tribes in urban areas have become rich from their casino’s earnings, however, those tribes are the exception rather than the norm.
Several tribes have had name changes in the last few years. In those instances, both the old name and the new official name are given.
As of 2000, the largest tribes in the U.S. by population were (in this order) Navajo, Cherokee, Choctaw, Sioux, Chippewa, Apache, Lumbee, Blackfeet, Iroquois, and Pueblo.
In 2000, eight of ten Americans with Native American ancestry were of mixed blood. It is estimated that by 2100 that figure will rise to nine out of ten.
A group of Native American parents and supporters held a rally at the state Capitol and delivered a petition to the governor’s office over the state’s relationship with tribes.
Ten different indian tribes populated the area we now call Kansas at various times.
Excerpted from The Indian Tribes of North America, by John R. Swanton The primary Indian group in the state of Illinois was the Illinois, a large native group made up of several related tribes. Their tribal name “Illiniwek” means “men” or “people.” They were of the Algonquin linguistic group and were most closely related to…
AUTHOR: Excerpt from The Indian Tribes of North America
Indiana’s most influential Indian tribes were the Miami, Wea, and Piankashaw. Yet, there were other tribes that also left their mark in and on the state.
The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation is offering a cultural heritage tour through tribal lands. Called “The Yavapai Experience,” the tour is being offered through one of the nation’s commercial ventures, Fort McDowell Adventures.
In South Dakota’s Black Hills, two men carved their dreams into the granite. Mt. Rushmore honors four presidents, while Crazy Horse celebrates a Sioux warrior.
Visitors at the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park, located south of Cortez, have a chance to see a rare location this summer — but spots on the limited tours are filling up quickly. Veronica Cuthair, director of the tribal park, said the tours occur on four Sundays in July and August and one is already…
The ancient pueblo of Acoma is aptly nicknamed. Known as the Sky City, it commands the most exotic location of any inhabited place in the United States — the top of a 370-foot-high mesa in New Mexico, a natural citadel of golden rock, an island in the sky.
It’s also amazingly well-disguised.
QUESTION:
Are there any indian reservations in Florida? We heard there was a tribe in Ormond Beach, Florida but cannot get any info on them.
–Submitted by Marie F.
There are indian reservations in Florida, but I don’t know of an Indian tribe with a reservation in Ormond Beach, Florida. There is a pow wow held there. It’s called the Native American Festival and is held at the Casement Cultural Center.
Ten years isn’t long. Not in a history that began 9,000 years ago. But the discovery of Kennewick Man on July 28, 1996, is dramatically reshaping beliefs about how humans populated the Americas. And his skeleton may continue to raise more questions about the past than it answers.
Bandelier National Monument’s 90th birthday is a triumph of history, preservation. Bandelier National Monument once home to the Anasazi Cecilia Shields walks in the footsteps of her ancestors. An interpretive park ranger at Bandelier National Monument for the past seven years, she sees and feels things that casual visitors miss. Walking the Main Loop Trail,…
January 28, 2006 – Three more American Indian groups have been officially recognized as tribes in South Carolina.