The indigenous people of North America, also known as Native Americans or American Indians, are the first inhabitants of what is now known as the United States. The ancestors of today’s living Native Americans are believed to have settled on the land about 15,000 years ago. The term excludes Native Hawaiians and some Alaskan Natives.
Following the European colonization of the Americans, starting in 1492, the Native American population began to rapidly decline due to slavery, ethnic cleansing, warfare, and diseases brought by the settlers. Additionally, Native Americans have been forced off their ancestral lands and faced discriminatory government policies into the 20th century.
One of these government policies included the Indian Appropriation Act of 1871, which ended the recognition of independent native nations and treated them as “domestic dependent nations,” making them subject to federal law. In 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act granted U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. who had not yet obtained it. This allowed natives to vote in state and federal elections and extended the Fourteenth Amendment protections to them while also emptying the “Indians not taxed” category. Despite this, some states denied voting rights to Native Americans for several decades.
Today, there are over five million Native Americans in the United States, 78% of whom live outside of reservations. There are 574 federally recognized Native American tribes in the country, about half associated with Indian reservations. T
Abihka, Alabama, Apalachee, Apalachicola, Atasi, Chatot, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Eufaula, Fus-hatchee, Hilibi, Hitchiti, Ispokogi, Kan-hatki, Kealedji, Koasati, Kolomi, Mobile, Mukalsa, Muskogee, Napochi, Natchez, Okchai, Okmulgee, Osochi, Pakana, Pawokti, Pilthlako, Sawokli, Shawnee, Taensa, Tohome, Tukabahchee, Tuskegee, Wakokai, Wiwohka, Yamasee, Yuchi
Ahtena, Aleut, Dihai-kutchin, Eskimo, Haida, Han, Ingalik, Koyukon, Kutcha-kutchin, Eskimo, Haida, Han, Ingalik, Koyukon, Kutcha-Kutchin, Nabesna, Niska, Natsit-kutchin, Tanaina, Tanana, Tennuth-kutchin, Tlingit, Tranjik-kutchin, Tlingit, Tranjik-kutchin, Tsimshian, Vaunta-kutchin
Apache,Cocopa, Halchidhoma, Halyikwamai, Havasupai, Hopi, Kohuana, Maricopa, Mohave, Navajo, Paiute, Papago, Pima, Quahatika, Sobaipuri,Tonto, Walapai,Yavapai, Yuma
Caddo, Cahinnio,Cherokee, Chickasaw, Illinois, Kaskinampo, Michigamea, Mosopelea, Ofo, Osage,Quapaw,Tunica,Yazoo
Achomawi, Agua Caliente, Alliklik, Atsugewi, Bear River,Cahto,Cahuilla,Chasta,Chaushila, Chemehuevi,Chemehuevi,Chetco,Chilula,Chimariko,Chumash, Chumash People,Costanoan,Cupeno,Cuyapaipe Band, Dakubetede,Esselen,Fernandeno,Gabrielino ,Halchidhoma, Hoopa,Huchnom, Hupa,Kamia, Karok, Kasihta, Kato,Kawaiisu, Kitanemake, Konkau, Konomihu, Koso, Lassik, Little Lake, Luiseno, Maidu, Mattole, Miwok, Modoc, Mohava, Mono, Nicoleno, Nongatl, Okwanuchu, Paiute (Northern), Patwin, Pomo, Quechan, Salinan, Serrano, Shasta, Shoshone, Sinkyone, Tolowa, Tubatulabal, Vanyume, Wailaki, Wappo, Washoe, Whilkut, Wintu, Wintun, Wiyot, Yahi, Yana, Yokuts, Yuki, Yuma, Yurok
Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Ute Mountain Tribe
Mahican, Minisink, Mohegan, Pequot, Nipmuc, Quiripi
Lenni Lenape, Nanticoke tribe
Miccosukee Tribe, Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress and Brighton Reservations
Apalachee Indians, Cherokee Indians, Hitchiti, Oconee, Miccosukee Indians, Muskogee Creek Indians, Timucua Indians, Yamasee and Guale Indians
Kanaka Maoli
Coeur D'Alene Tribe, Kootenai Trib, Nez Perce Tribe, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation
Chickasaw tribe, Dakota Sioux tribe, Ho-Chunk tribe (Winnebago0, Illinois tribe (Illini), Miami tribe, Shawnee tribe
Illini Indians, Miami Indians (including the Wea), Shawnee Indians
Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa
Iowa Tribe of Indians of the Iowa Reservation in Nebraska and Kansas, Kickapoo Tribe of Indians, Prairie Band of Potawatomi, Sac and Fox Tribe of Missouri
Cherokee tribe, Chickasaw tribe, Shawnee tribe, Yuchi tribe
Chitimacha Tribe, Coushatta Tribe
Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Passamaquoddy Tibe, Penobscot Tribe, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Passamaquoddy Tribe, Penobscot Tribe
Lenape tribe, Nanticoke tribe, Powhatan tribe, Ohio Valley tribes, Susquehannock tribe, Tutelo and Saponi tribes
Wampanoag tribes (includes the Nauset, Nantucket, Pennacook, Pokanoket, and Pocasset), Mohegan tribe, Mohican tribe
Bay Mills Indian Community, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa, Hannahville Indian Community, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa
Lower Sioux Indian Community, Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Prairie Island Indian Community, Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux, Upper Sioux Indian Community
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Tunica Biloxi Tribe of Lower Mississippi
Chickasaw Indians, Illini tribe, Ioway Indians, Missouria Indians, Osage Indians, Otoe Indians, Quapaw Indians
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, Blackfeet Tribe, Chippewa Cree Tribe Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Crow Tribem Fort Belknap Indian Community, Northern Cheyenne Tribe
Omaha Tribe, Sac and Fox of Missouri of the Sac and Fox Reservation, Santee Sioux Tribe, Winnebago Tribe
Confederated Tribes of the Goshute, Duckwater Shoshone Tribe, Ely Indian Colony, Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes, Las Vegas Tribe of Paiute Indians, Lovelock Paiute Tribe, Moapa Band of Paiute Indian, Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Shoshone-Paiute Tribes, Summit Lake Paiute, Te-Moak Bands of Western Shoshone Indians, Walker River Paiute Tribe, Washoe Tribe, Winnemucca Indian Colony, Yerington Paiute Tribe, Yomba Shoshone Tribe
Abenaki tribe, Pennacook tribe
Unami (Lenape) tribe, Minisink (Munsee) tribe, Unalachtigo tribe
Jicarilla Apache Tribe, Mescalero Apache Tribe, Navajo Tribe, Pueblo of Acoma, Pueblo of Cochiti, Pueblo of Jemez, Pueblo of Isleta, Pueblo of Laguna, Pueblo of Nambe, Pueblo of Picuris, Pueblo of Pojoaque, Pueblo of San Felipe, Peublo of San Juan, Pueblo of San Iidefonso, Pueblo of Sandia, Pueblo of Santa Ana, Pueblo of Santa Clara, Pueblo of Santo Domingo, Pueblo of Taos, Pueblo of Tesuque, Pueblo of Zia, Ute Mountian Tribe, Zuni Tribe
Cayauga Nation, Oneida Nation, Onondaga Nation, Seneca Nation, St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians, Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians, Tuscarora Nation
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
Devils Lake Sioux Tribe, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold Reservation, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians
Erie tribe, Kickapoo tribe, Shawnee tribe
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe, Alabama-Quassaarte Tribal Towns of the Creek Nation, Apache Tribe, Caddo Indian Tribe, Cherokee Nation, Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes, Chickasaw Nation, Choctaw Nation, Citizen Band of Potawatomi Indians, Comanche Indian Tribe, Creek Nation, Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma, Eastern Shawnee Tribe, Fort Sill Apache Tribe, Iowa Tribe, Kaw Indian Tribe, Kialegee Tribal Town of the Creek Indian Nation, Kickapoo Tribe, Kiowa Indian Tribe, Miami Tribe, Modoc Tribe, Osage Tribe, Ottawa Tribe, Otoe-Missouria Tribe, Pawnee Indian Tribe, Peoria Tribe, Ponca Tribes, Quapaw Tribe, Sac and Fox Nation, Seminole Nation, Seneca-Cayauga Tribe, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town of the Creek Indian Nation, Tonkawa Tribe, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee, Wichita Indian Tribe, Wyandotte Tribe
Burns Piaute Indian Colony, Confederated Tribes of the Slietz Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation
Erie tribe, Iroquois tribes (Seneca and Oneida), Lenape tribes, Munsee tribe, Shawnee tribe, Susquehannock tribe
Narragansett tribe, Niantic tribe, Wampanoag tribe
Catawba tribe, Cherokee tribe, Creek tribe, Yuchi tribe, Cusabo and Edisto tribes, Carolina Siouan bands (Chicora, PeeDee, Waccamaw, and Santee)
Burns Piaute Indian Colony, Confederated Tribes of the Slietz Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation
Cherokee tribe, Chickasaw tribe, Creek Tribe, Koasati tribe, Quapaw tribe, Shawnee tribe, Yuchi tribe
Apache tribes, Bidai tribe, Coahuiltecan and Carrizo tribes, Caddo tribe, Comanche tribe, Jumano, Suma, Piro, and other eastern Pueblo tribes, Karankawa tribe, Kiowa tribe, Kitsai tribe, Tawakoni tribe, Tonkawa tribe, Wichita tribe
Burns Piaute Indian Colony, Confederated Tribes of the Slietz Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation
Abenaki tribe, Mohican tribe, Massachusett tribes (Pennacook and Pocomtuc)
Catawba tribe, Cherokee tribe, Croatoan tribe, tribes of the Powhatan Confederacy, Tuscarora tribe, Tutelo and Saponi tribes, Yuchi tribe
Cayuse tribe, Chehalis tribe, Chinook tribe, Colville and Okanagan tribes, Coeur d’Alene tribe, Cowlitz tribe, Kalispel and Spokane Salish tribes, Klallam tribe, Kwalhioqua tribe, Lummi and Samich tribes, Makah tribe, Nez Perce tribe, Nooksack tribe, Quileute, Hoh, and Chemakum tribes, Quinault tribe, Skokomish tribe, Thompson Salish tribe, Umatilla tribe, Walla Walla and Palouse tribes, Wasco and Wishram tribes, Yakima tribe, Puget Sound Salish tribes (Puyallup, Snohomish, Muckleshoot, Snoqualmie, Nisqually, Skagit, Suquamish, Squaxin, Swinomish, Stillaguamish, and Sauk-Suiattle tribes)
Cherokee tribe, Shawnee tribe, Tutelo and Saponi tribes
Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Forest County, Potawatomi Community, Lac Corte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Menominee Indians Tribe of Wisconsin, Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Sokoagon Chippewa Community of the Mole Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, St. Croix Chippewa Indians, Stockbridge-Munsee Community of Mohican Indians, Wisconsin Winnebago Indian Tribe
Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation