Indigenous Tribes of the United States

American Indians have long been identified by "tribal" names. In the United States, there are hundreds of names by which these tribes are known. See also Searching for an American Indian When the Tribe is Unknown.  Click this button for links to databases, indexes, or sites that help you find an American Indian ancestor by topic or tribe.


 * Tribe: a group comprised of members, families (generations), clans and band living together supporting each other.

Federally-Recognized Tribes
There are over 330 tribal entities in the "lower 48" states, recognized by the United States government. Some of those so recognized are actually portions of a larger tribe, as in the various bands of the Chippewa Tribe, for example. The most recent list of federally-recognized Indian entities was published in the Federal Register on August 11, 2009. There are also an additional 230 American Indian entities recognized by the federal government in Alaska, also included in the Federal Register list.

Records Kept by Tribes at Tribal Headquarters
Tribal headquarters maintain official records for the use in official tribal interactions with tribal members. These records may include: Enrollment, Employee, Court, Vital records, Police, Leases, Business minutes and records unique to the tribe.

Generally only enrolled tribal members may gain assisted access to these records. The types of records available may vary from tribe to tribe.

Ancestral records and records over 100 years old may be at the Agency or the National Archives.

Some Major Tribes in the United States


The following are some of the  major  Indian tribes in the United States. Links to pages for these tribes are provided here.Those pages provide additional information regarding the divisions, bands, groups, etc. of these major tribes,with some brief history and links to web sites, official and otherwise, and to other pages on FamilySearch Wiki. If the official name of a tribe is known, just search for that name using the search box for this site or search for it under the state where the tribe or band is located. For example, look for the various bands of the Pomo Indians under "Indians of California."

This list is intended to be a "quick list" to the major tribes of the U.S. There are many other tribes not included in this list.

A
Absentee-Shawneesee Shawnee Adai Ak Chin Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Ak Chin Indian Community of Papago Indians Alabama-Coushatta Alabama-Quassarte Alturas Indian Rancheria of Pit River Indians Anadarko Apache Apalachee Apalachicola Arickaree see  Arikara Arapaho Assiniboin Assiniboine and Sioux Augustine Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians

B
Bad River Band of the Lake Supperior Tribe of Chippewa Bannock Barona Band of Mission Indians Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians Big Bend Rancheria of Pit River Indians Big Bend Indian Rancheria Big Lagoon Rancheria of Smith River Big Pine Band of Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Biloxi Tunica Blackfeet Indians Blackfeet Blackfeet Sioux Blood Boise Shoshoni Bridgeport Indian Colony Brotherton Burns Paiute Brule'Sioux. See also Lower Brule' Bruneau Shoshoni

C
Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Mission Cachil DeHe Band of Wintun Indians Caddo Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians Cahto Indian Tribe Campo Band of Diegueno Mission Indians Capitan Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians Capote Ute Cahto Cahuilla Catawba Cayuga Cayuse Chastacosta Chehalis Chemehuevi Cherokee Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community Chetco Cheyenne Cheyenne River Sioux Cheyenne-Arapaho Chickasaw Chippewa Chippewa-Cree Chiricahua Apache Chitimacha Choctaw Chumash Citizen Potawatomi Clackamas Clallam Coast Indian Community of Yurok Indians Cocopah Coeur d'Alene Cold Springs Rancheria of Mono Indians Colorado River Tribes Colville Comanche Concow Confederated Peoria and Miami Confederated Salish &amp; Kootenai Tribes Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation Coquille Coushatta Cowlitz Cocopah Tribe of Arizona Cortina Indian Rancheria Covelo Indian Community Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians Coyotero Apache Cree Creek Crow Crow Creek Sioux Cuthead Sioux Cuyapaipe Band of Diegueno Mission Indians

D
Delaware Diegueno Digger Dry Creek Rancheria of Pomo Indians Duckwater Shoshone Tribe Duwamish

E
Eastern Band of Cherokee Eastern Shawnee Eastern Shoshone Eel River Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians Ely Shoshone Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians

F
Flandreau Santee Sioux Flathead Fresno Fort Belknap Community Fort Bidwell Community Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Fort Mojave Fort Yuma-Quechan Fox see  Sac (Sauk) and Fox

G
Grand River Ute Gila River Community Goshute Grand Portage Band of Chippewa Grosventre Grindstone Indian Rancheria of Wintun-Wailaki Indians California

H
Hainai Havasupai Hidatsa Ho-Chunk Hoh Hoopa Valley Hopi Hualapai Hunkpapa Sioux Hupa

I
Inaja and Cosmit Reservation of Diegueno Indians Ioni see Hainai Iowa of Kansas and Nebraska Iowa of Oklahoma Iroquois

J
Jackson Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians Jamestown S'Klallam Jicarilla Apache Joshua

K
Kaibab-Paiute Kainah see Blood Kalapuya Kalispel Indians Kalispel Kansa Karuk Kashia Band of Pomo Indians Kaskaskia Kaw Kawia Keechi Kern River Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians Kaibab-Paiute Kianamaras Kichai Kickapoo Kickapoo Traditional Tribe Kiowa Kiowa Apache Indians Kiowa Apache Klamath Klikitat Koasati Konkau Kutenai Kwatami

L
Lake Winnebigoshish Chippewa Lake Superior Chippewa Las Vegas Tribe of Paiute Lipan Little Lake Valley Little Shell Band of Chippewa Little Traaverse Bay Bands of Odawa Lookout Rancheria of Pit River Indians Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians Lower Brule' see Brule' Sioux Lower Elwha Community Lovelock Paiute Luiseno Lummi

M
Maidu Makah Maliseet Mandan Manchester Band of Pomo Indians Maricopa Mashantucket Pequot Mattole Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians Mdewakanton Sioux see also Sioux and Santee Sioux Mechoopda Melungeons Menominee Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians Mescalero Apache Mexican Kickapoo see Kickapoo Miami Miccosukee Micmac Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians Mimbreno Apache Miniconjou Sioux Minnesota Chippewa Mission Barona Band of Mission Indians Missouri Miwok Indians Miwok Moache Ute Modoc Mogollon Apache Mohawk Mohegan Molala Mono Moqui Pueblo Muckleshoot Munsee Muscogee (Creek)

N
Natchitoches Natchez Narragansett Navajo New York Indians Nez Perce Nisqualli Noi-sas Nomelaki Nooksack Northern Cheyenne Northern Shoshone Nuimok

O
Oglala Sioux Okanagan Omaha Oneida in New York Oneida in Wisconsin Onondaga Oohenonpa see Two Kettle Sioux Osage Oto Otoe-Missouria Ottawa Otter Tail Chippewa Pillager Band Ozette

P
Pahvant Papago Tribe Pascua Yaqui Tribe Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Papaska Sioux see  Cuthead Sioux Pahvant Paiute Paloos Papago Pascagoula Pascua Yaqui Passamaquoddy Pawnee Pembina Chippewa Pembina Band of Chippewa Penateka Comanche see  Comanche Pend d'Oreille Penobscot Peoria Piankeshaw Piegan Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians Pillager Chippewa Pima Pit River Piute see  Paiute Poarch Band of Creek Pomo Ponca Port Gamble Community Potawatomi Potter Pueblo Pueblo of Acoma Pueblo of Cochiti Pueblo of Jemez Pueblo of Laguna Pueblo of Nambe Pueblo of Picuris Pueblo of Pojoaque Pueblo of San Felipe Pueblo of San Juan Pueblo of San Ildefonso Pueblo of Sandia Pueblo of Santa Ana Pueblo of Santa Clara Pueblo of Santo Domingo Pueblo of Taos Pueblo of Tesuque Pueblo of Zia   Pueblo of Zuni Puyallup Pyramid Lake Paiute

Q
Quaitso Quapaw Quechan Quileute Quinault

R
Red Lake Chippewa Redwood Rogue River Round Valley Tribes Rosebud Sioux

S
Sac and Fox Sauk and Fox Saia St. Regis Saginaw Chippewa Salan Pomo Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Sans Arc Sioux San Carlos Apache Tribe Santee Sioux, Nebraska Santee Sioux (Sioux of the Mississippi) Samish Sanpoil Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Sault Ste. Marie Indian Tribe of Florida Sauk-Suiattle Seminole Seminole Indian tribe of Florida Seneca Seneca-Cayuga Serrano Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Shasta Shawnee Sheepeater Shoalwater Bay Shoshone Shoshoni Siksika see  Blackfeet Shoshone-Paiute Siletz Sioux Sisseton Sioux Santee Sioux Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Sixes Sklallam Skokomish Snohomish Snoqualmie Southern Ute Spirit Lake Spokane Squaxin Island Squaxin Standing Rock Sioux Stillaguamish Stockbridge Munsee Suquamish Swinomish Sycuan Band of Diegueno Mission

T
Tabaquache Ute Taensa Tawakonie Tejon Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Tenino Thlopthlocco Tribal Town Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation Tohono O’odham Tonawanda Tonkawa Tonto Apache Tribe Tonto Apache Tribe Tonto Apache Tribe Tubatulabal Tukuarika Tulalip Tule (Tularenos) Tule River Tunica-Biloxi Tuscarora Two Kettle Sioux

U
Uinta Ute Ukiah Umatilla Umpqua Uncompaghre Ute see Tabaquache Ute United Band of Ottawa Chippewa and Potawatomi Upper Skagit Ute Ute Mountain

W
Waco Indians Wahkepute Sioux Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe Wahpeton Sioux  (Sisseton) Wailaki Walapai Walker River Paiute Walla Walla Wampanoag Wappo Warm Springs Wasco Washoe Wea Weiser Western Shoshone Whilkut White Mountain Apache Tribe White Oak Point Chippewa Wichita Wikchamni Wiminuche Ute Winnebago Wintun Wiyot Wyandot

Y
Yakama Yamel Yampa Ute Yankton Sioux Yankton Sioux Tribe Yatasi Yavapai-Apache Nation, Arizona Yavapai Apache Yavapai-Apache Indian Community Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe Yavapai Prescott Yerington Paiute Yijaua Yomba Shoshone Yokuts Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo Yuki Yuchi Yuma Yupa Yurok

Z
Zuni