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The United States government officially recognizes 562 tribes.
In the United States, an Indian tribe is a fundamental unit, and the constitution grants Congress the right to interact with tribes. Federal tribal recognition grants to tribes the right to certain benefits and is largely controlled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
In addition to those tribes that are recognized, hundreds of others have not yet achieved recognition. These unrecognized tribes are organizations of people who claim to be historically, culturally, or genetically related to historic Native American Indian tribes but are not officially recognized as indigenous nations by the United States federal government.
Founding Fathers courtesy Native American.com
Lengthy and expensive “recognition” procedures are required to qualify for government economic and health-care assistance, protection of sacred burial grounds, and other benefits.
Among the program’s many problems is that more than 100 tribes currently classified by the government as “unrecognized” already signed treaties with the feds many years ago, but Congress never ratified those agreements.
“What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”
— Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior, and orator
List of Native American Tribes in the U.S.
List of Notable Native Americans
Native American Heroes and Legends
Native American Photo Galleries
Some of our Featured Tribe Articles (see list for more):
The Abenaki People – Fighting the English
The Anasazi – Ancient Puebloans of the Southwest
Apache – The Fiercest Warriors in the Southwest
Arapaho – Great Buffalo Hunters of the Plains
The Arikara Tribe – Indians With Horns
The Bannock – Roaming the Great Basin
The Blackfoot Indians – “Real” People of Montana
Catawba Tribe of South Carolina
Cayuse Tribe of Washington and Oregon
Cherokee – Forced From Their Homeland on the Trail of Tears
Cheyenne – Warriors of the Great Plains
Chickasaw – Unconquerable in the Mississippi Valley
Chippewa – People of the Great Lakes
Choctaw – Agriculturists of the Southern Indians
The Crow – Skilled Horseman of Montana
The Comanche Indians – Horsemen of the Plains
Duhare – Irish “Indians” in South Carolina?
Fremont Indians – Forgotten Ancient Peoples
The Hidatsa Tribe – North Dakota Pioneers
The Ho-Chunk or Winnebago of Wisconsin
The Hopi – Peaceful Ones of the Southwest
Illinois Tribe of the Mississippi River Valley
The Powerful Iroquois Confederacy of the Northeast
The Kaskaskia Tribe of Illinois
Kiowa – Nomadic Warriors of the Plains
The Mandan – Friends of the Settlers
The Natchez Tribe – A Sociably Advanced People
The Navajo Nation – Largest in the U.S.
Navajo Long Walk to the Bosque Redondo
Nez Perce – A Hard Fight For Their Homeland
The Omaha Indians – True Nebraskans
The Pawnee Indians – Farmers on the Plains
The Plains Indians – Surviving With the Buffalo
The Pennacook Tribe of New England
Powhatan Tribe – Dominating Virginia in History
Pueblo Indians – Oldest Communities in the United States
Pueblo and Reservation Etiquette
Salishan People of the Pacific Northwest
The Shoshone – Continuing the Traditions of Their Ancestors
Siouan Language Group of Native Americans
Summary of Native American Tribes in North America
The Tiwa Tribe – Fighting the Spanish
The Ute Tribe – Roaming the Rockies
Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California
Wichita Indians – Roaming the Southern Plains
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated March 2023.
Tribal Leaders by Edward S. Curtis, about 1900
Also See:
List of Native American Tribes in the U.S.
Ancient Cities of Native Americans