Biggest Native American tribes in the US today
Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via Getty Images
Biggest Native American tribes in the US today
American Indian Movement members and supporters joined to watch and participate in a Pow Wow to honor the AIM Warriors of Wounded Knee.
It’s commonly believed that the first people arrived in North America during the Ice Age when they ventured across the Bering Strait between 30,000 and 12,000 years ago. Over time, they dispersed across the continent and into South America, establishing distinct tribes, territories, and cultures. Waves of people likely continued to arrive at different times and by different means, with some researchers arguing that humans traveled to South America and the West Coast via Pacific routes.
When Christopher Columbus and other explorers sailed to North America, they sought to colonize the Native Americans’ territory and claim it as their own. Through decades of wars and treaties, Native Americans have had a complicated, painful history with European colonists. As they were experts in the North American landscape and its resources, Native Americans were able to build a strong economy based on trade with the Europeans. But as colonial presence grew and Manifest Destiny rhetoric set in, westward expansion sponsored by the U.S. government pushed Native Americans out of the land they had known for generations. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act, which forced many tribes from their ancestral lands and pushed them west onto reservations. About 100,000 Native Americans were forcibly removed under this policy.
Though some customs and traditions have been lost to colonization, war, and missionary efforts, many tribes still maintain a unique identity that honors their rich ancestral history.
In celebration of the robust history of North America’s ancestral people, Stacker used 2020 estimates from the Census, the most comprehensive recent population report on the United States’ Native American population, to compile a list of 50 of the largest Native American tribal populations in the country today.
As of the 2020 Census, about 2.3 million people identify exclusively as Native American or Alaska Native in the United States. Another 4.3 million people identify as Native American or Alaska Native in combination with other races and ethnicities. The tribes are ranked based on the number of people who identify as members of this tribe alone or in any combination.
For example, someone who is Cherokee and white would be included in the Cherokee population. The list also includes people who identify as each tribe in combination with other Native American groups (e.g., Apache and Navajo), as well as people who identify solely as a member of one Native American tribe. Native American groups unconnected to specific tribes (e.g., Mexican American Indian, Canadian, and French American Indian) are not included on this list.
The Census Bureau’s data tracks identity for tribes more generally as well as specific nations. As a result, certain indigenous groups may appear multiple times on the list, like Cherokee and the Cherokee Nation. Some tribal populations cited below, including Micmac and Inca, represent migration from countries outside of the U.S., such as Canada, Peru, and the like. Other groups like Taino are indigenous to the Caribbean including the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.
Read ahead to see the country’s most prominent Native American tribes.
jet 67 // Shutterstock
#50. Aleut
Summer view of the fishing village Unalaska, Alaska.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 13,805
– Tribe alone: 4,878
Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images
#49. Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona
The grounds of the Casino Del Sol Hotel on the Pascua Yaqui Indian Reservation.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 13,810
– Tribe alone: 10,703
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#48. Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
Man poses for a photo wearing Eastern Band of Cherokee ceremonial clothing.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 14,090
– Tribe alone: 8,075
jaimie tuchman // Shutterstock
#47. United Houma Nation
Sunset reflecting in a lake through cypress trees.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 14,116
– Tribe alone: 7,817
Arno Burgi/picture alliance via Getty Images
#46. Oneida
Members of the Oneida Indian Nation smile at a festival.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 14,302
– Tribe alone: 5,740
Jemal Countess // Getty Images for Nez Perce Tribe
#45. Shoshone
Shoshone-Bannock elder Nathan Small speaks during the Salmon Orca Summit IV.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 14,552
– Tribe alone: 4,090
Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
#44. Pueblo
A Zuni Native American plays a drum in a ceremony in Gallup, New Mexico.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 14,578
– Tribe alone: 4,340
Ken Duffney // Shutterstock
#43. Menominee Indian Tribe
Singers and drummers at the Annual Menominee Nation Pow Wow.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 14,682
– Tribe alone: 8,389
Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock
#42. Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota
Aerial view of Eagle Butte.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 15,175
– Tribe alone: 10,064
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#41. Micmac
Lennox Island Mi’kmaq Culture Centre.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 15,253
– Tribe alone: 2,577
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Capture Studio Group // Getty Images
#40. Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation
Governor Stephen Roe Lewis of Gila River Indian Community attends event at Gila River Resorts & Casinos.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 15,301
– Tribe alone: 13,697
Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
#39. Cheyenne
Asantea Eagleface, of the Cheyenne tribe, poses for a portrait during the Two-Spirit Powwow.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 15,820
– Tribe alone: 3,382
Paul McKinnon // Shutterstock
#38. Cree
A group of Cree youth that walked 1600 kilometers from Whapmagoostui.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 16,749
– Tribe alone: 2,059
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#37. Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
Kewadin casino located in Christmas, Michigan.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 17,252
– Tribe alone: 8,415
Jan Sochor // Getty Images
#36. Mixtec
A Mixtec indigenous woman sits on the flower-decorated grave at a cemetery during the Day of the Dead celebrations.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 17,278
– Tribe alone: 12,274
fckncg // Shutterstock
#35. Shawnee
Shawnee Tribe Of Oklahoma Flag.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 17,525
– Tribe alone: 2,162
Rob Hainer // Shutterstock
#34. Seneca Nation of Indians
Exterior facade of the Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 20,025
– Tribe alone: 6,412
David Ryder // Getty Images
#33. Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota
Nikk “Red Weezil” Dakota celebrates during Indigenous Peoples’ Day events at the Daybreak Star Cultural Center in Seattle.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 20,059
– Tribe alone: 13,046
Goldilock Project // Shutterstock
#32. White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona
Overlook of the Becker Butte and the Salt River in the Fort Apache Reservation.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 20,116
– Tribe alone: 15,429
Helen H. Richardson // The Denver Post via Getty Images
#31. Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota
Nathan Chasing Horse of Rosebud leads the color guard during the 37th annual Denver March Pow Wow.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 20,462
– Tribe alone: 15,319
ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP via Getty Images
#30. Tarasco (Purepecha)
twelve members of the recently elected Purepecha indigenous council, display a Purepecha flag.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 21,800
– Tribe alone: 10,785
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
#29. Crow Tribe of Montana
Leonard Bends gives a blessing at the APEC Ministerial Meeting welcome reception in Big Sky, Montana.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 22,151
– Tribe alone: 11,014
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#28. Tlingit
A Tlingit tribe elder in traditional dress in the village of Kake, Alaska.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 22,601
– Tribe alone: 7,792
Lijuan Guo // Shutterstock
#27. Hopi Tribe of Arizona
Blue Canyon on the Hopi Reservation.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 22,921
– Tribe alone: 12,412
Lisa Rapko // Shutterstock
#26. Delaware (Lenni-Lenape)
Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape’s 40th annual Pow-Wow.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 22,946
– Tribe alone: 4,461
Phillippe Diederich // Getty Images
#25. Iroquois
Tia Smith, a Cayuga/Iriquois at the opening of the 20th annual Gathering Of Nations PowWow.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 24,918
– Tribe alone: 1,916
Wangkun Jia // Shutterstock
#24. Tohono O’odham Nation of Arizona
Aerial view of Mission San Xavier del Bac in the Tohono O’odham Nation Indian Reservation.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 25,895
– Tribe alone: 19,451
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#23. The Osage Nation
Members of Osage Nation attend premiere of the movie ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ in New York.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 29,049
– Tribe alone: 8,250
Canva
#22. Inca
Manch Picchu Inca Ruins in Peru.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 31,367
– Tribe alone: 13,305
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#21. Potawatomi
Kansas governor Laura Kelly is presented with a ceremonial blanket by members of the Prairie Band Of The Potawatomi Nation.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 33,722
– Tribe alone: 11,358
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#20. Oglala Sioux Tribe
Dylan Ashley, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe dancing at the Denver March Powwow.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 35,507
– Tribe alone: 25,212
Alina Reynbakh // Shutterstock
#19. Mohawk
Dancers take part in Kahnawake 26th Annual Echoes Of A Proud Nation Pow Wow in Kahnawake reserve.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 36,144
– Tribe alone: 8,522
Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
#18. Seminole
Welcome to Seminole Tribe, Brighton Indian Reservation sign.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 37,879
– Tribe alone: 7,189
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#17. Comanche Nation, Oklahoma
Group of dancers at an event.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 39,808
– Tribe alone: 12,388
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#16. Yaqui
Flag of Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 40,732
– Tribe alone: 17,048
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#15. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Entrance to the Choctaw Casino & Resort in Durant.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 47,955
– Tribe alone: 25,088
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#14. Cherokee Nation
Flag of the Cherokee Nation.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 77,232
– Tribe alone: 31,432
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP // Getty Images
#13. Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina
Dancers at an event.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 79,424
– Tribe alone: 54,293
David McNew // Getty Images
#12. The Chickasaw Nation
Chief Phil Lane of the Yankton Dakota and Chickasaw First Nations speaks at a Climate Change Rally.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 85,511
– Tribe alone: 29,436
JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images
#11. Taino
Jorge Baracutay Estevez speaks about Taino culture at Indigenous Peoples Day in Newton, Massachusetts.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 112,682
– Tribe alone: 28,346
Daniel Koglin // Shutterstock
#10. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation
Two women pose for portraits at a traditional Muskogee Creek nation stomp dance in Okmulgee, Oklahoma.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 121,581
– Tribe alone: 40,677
ROBYN BECK/AFP // Getty Images
#9. Sioux
Flags of Native American tribes at Dakota Access Pipeline protest encampment.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 126,571
– Tribe alone: 30,408
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#8. Apache
Salt River Canyon within the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 129,589
– Tribe alone: 36,492
TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP // Getty Images
#7. Chippewa
Dawn Madahbee performs a spiritual circle dance during the opening ceremony of the inaugural First Nations Economic Opportunities Conference.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 130,048
– Tribe alone: 39,057
Brett Deering // Getty Images for Disney
#6. Choctaw
Choctaw Nation dance performance during the Echo – Choctaw Powwow Special Screening Event.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 255,557
– Tribe alone: 69,454
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#5. Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana
Sign at entrance to Blackfeet Nation Reservation.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 297,899
– Tribe alone: 34,810
Aleksandar Todorovic // Shutterstock
#4. Maya
Tzotzil Maya people selling traditional clothing pose in San Cristobal, Mexico.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 300,519
– Tribe alone: 180,359
Paul Harris // Getty Images
#3. Navajo Nation
A Navajo Chief poses for a portrait at an annual gathering in Window Rock, Arizona.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 423,412
– Tribe alone: 315,086
Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via Getty Images
#2. Aztec
Pre-Hispanic dancers in the Zocalo in Mexico City on the occasion of the Mexica New Year 11 Carrizo.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 583,981
– Tribe alone: 387,122
Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
#1. Cherokee
Cherokee Native American poses at Pow Wow Festival.
– Tribe alone or in any combination: 1,513,326
– Tribe alone: 214,940
Story editing by Ashleigh Graf. Copy editing by Robert Wickwire.
