Indian tribe
Encyclopedia
In the United States
, a Native American tribe is any extant or historical tribe, band, nation, or other group or community of Indigenous peoples in the United States. Tribes are often associated with territory in the form of a reservation
.
A Native American tribe often is self-governing
to roughly the same extent as a city or county.
, established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
[43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.]. Such tribes, including Alaska Native
village or regional or village corporations recognized as such, are known as "federally enrolled tribes" and are eligible for special programs and services provided by the United States
. The US government maintains a list of ("enrolls") the members of these tribes.
Some tribes are recognized at the state
level using procedures defined by various states, without regard to federal recognition. Other tribes are unrecognized because they no longer exist as an organized group or because they have not completed the certification process established by the government entities in question.
Some tribes are federations of other tribes, formed by the US government or by treaty with the US government for the purpose of being assigned to reservations. For example, 12 tribes that existed in 1872 combined at that time to form the Colville Confederated Tribes, which is now the single federally enrolled tribe that occupied the Colville Indian Reservation
in Washington State.
A few of the better-known tribes include:
is a people organized by a non–nation-state government, who typically claim descent from a common founder. Typically a nation
will comprise several tribes. Crudely, a nation speaks a language
, however that is conceived, while its tribes may or may not speak various dialect
s of that language. However, in the United States, the word "tribe" has long been used for any tribal people, whether they are tribes or nations of tribes. The word "band" may be used for the traditional concept of a tribe.
In addition to their status as legal entities, tribes have political, social, historical, and other aspects. The term is also used to refer to various groups of Native Americans bound together for social, political, or religious purposes, including descendants of members of these groups. Tribes are typically characterized by distinct territory, and common language
or dialect
. Other characteristics include common culture
and ethnicity.
Tribes are susceptible to overlapping external and internal definition. Whereas outsiders use their own definitions for what a tribe is, and who is a member, depending on the purpose, tribes may have their own definition of identity and membership. To the extent that many tribes are acknowledged as sovereign nations, the United States does recognize some limited rights of tribes to decide membership by their own criteria.
is somewhat disfavored and there has been some controversy over appropriate terminology, such usage has persisted and is less controversial when referring to the Tribes. The word is often included in the names of the various tribes themselves. The word is used almost exclusively in US law.
The origin of the word goes back to a 15th century misunderstanding: the earliest European explorers in the Americas did not know the Americas existed and thought they had landed near east Asia and the people they encountered were natives of the Indies.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, a Native American tribe is any extant or historical tribe, band, nation, or other group or community of Indigenous peoples in the United States. Tribes are often associated with territory in the form of a reservation
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
.
A Native American tribe often is self-governing
Tribal sovereignty
Tribal sovereignty in the United States refers to the inherent authority of indigenous tribes to govern themselves within the borders of the United States of America. The federal government recognizes tribal nations as "domestic dependent nations" and has established a number of laws attempting to...
to roughly the same extent as a city or county.
Legal definition in the United States
The term is defined in the United States for some federal government purposes to include only tribes that are federally recognized by the Bureau of Indian AffairsBureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
, established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, commonly abbreviated ANCSA, was signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on December 23, 1971, the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve the long-standing issues surrounding aboriginal land claims in...
[43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.]. Such tribes, including Alaska Native
Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives are the indigenous peoples of Alaska. They include: Aleut, Inuit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Eyak, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures.-History:In 1912 the Alaska Native Brotherhood was founded...
village or regional or village corporations recognized as such, are known as "federally enrolled tribes" and are eligible for special programs and services provided by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The US government maintains a list of ("enrolls") the members of these tribes.
Some tribes are recognized at the state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
level using procedures defined by various states, without regard to federal recognition. Other tribes are unrecognized because they no longer exist as an organized group or because they have not completed the certification process established by the government entities in question.
Some tribes are federations of other tribes, formed by the US government or by treaty with the US government for the purpose of being assigned to reservations. For example, 12 tribes that existed in 1872 combined at that time to form the Colville Confederated Tribes, which is now the single federally enrolled tribe that occupied the Colville Indian Reservation
Colville Indian Reservation
The Colville Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Washington, inhabited and managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which is recognized by the United States of America as an American Indian Tribe...
in Washington State.
A few of the better-known tribes include:
- Abenaki
- AlgonquinAlgonquian peoplesThe Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
- ApacheApacheApache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
- BlackfootBlackfootThe Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana....
- Cekakawwon
- CherokeeCherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
- ChoctawChoctawThe Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
- ComancheComancheThe Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
- HopiHopiThe Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
- IroquoisIroquoisThe Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
- Lakota Sioux
- Mahicans (also Mohicans)MahicanThe Mahican are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe, originally settling in the Hudson River Valley . After 1680, many moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. During the early 1820s and 1830s, most of the Mahican descendants migrated westward to northeastern Wisconsin...
- Makah
- Mohave
- MohawkMohawk nationMohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
- Muscogee (Creek)
- NavajoNavajo peopleThe Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
- Nipmuc
- OjibwaOjibwaThe Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...
- PaiutePaiutePaiute refers to three closely related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon; the Owens Valley Paiute of California and Nevada; and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.-Origin of name:The origin of...
- SeminoleSeminoleThe Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
- SenecaSeneca nationThe Seneca are a group of indigenous people native to North America. They were the nation located farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League in New York before the American Revolution. While exact population figures are unknown, approximately 15,000 to 25,000 Seneca live in...
- SiouxSiouxThe Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
- Wyandottes
- Zuni people
Other uses
The original and international meaning of the word tribeTribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
is a people organized by a non–nation-state government, who typically claim descent from a common founder. Typically a nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
will comprise several tribes. Crudely, a nation speaks a language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
, however that is conceived, while its tribes may or may not speak various dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s of that language. However, in the United States, the word "tribe" has long been used for any tribal people, whether they are tribes or nations of tribes. The word "band" may be used for the traditional concept of a tribe.
In addition to their status as legal entities, tribes have political, social, historical, and other aspects. The term is also used to refer to various groups of Native Americans bound together for social, political, or religious purposes, including descendants of members of these groups. Tribes are typically characterized by distinct territory, and common language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
or dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
. Other characteristics include common culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and ethnicity.
Tribes are susceptible to overlapping external and internal definition. Whereas outsiders use their own definitions for what a tribe is, and who is a member, depending on the purpose, tribes may have their own definition of identity and membership. To the extent that many tribes are acknowledged as sovereign nations, the United States does recognize some limited rights of tribes to decide membership by their own criteria.
Naming convention
Although use of the word "Indian" to refer to Native AmericansIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
is somewhat disfavored and there has been some controversy over appropriate terminology, such usage has persisted and is less controversial when referring to the Tribes. The word is often included in the names of the various tribes themselves. The word is used almost exclusively in US law.
The origin of the word goes back to a 15th century misunderstanding: the earliest European explorers in the Americas did not know the Americas existed and thought they had landed near east Asia and the people they encountered were natives of the Indies.
See also
- Classification of indigenous peoples of the AmericasClassification of indigenous peoples of the AmericasClassification of indigenous peoples of the Americas is based upon cultural regions, geography, and linguistics. Anthropologists have named various cultural regions, with fluid boundaries, that are generally agreed upon with some variation...
- Federally recognized tribes
- State recognized tribes
- Unrecognized tribes
- Indian reservationIndian reservationAn American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
- Indian reserveIndian reserveIn Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." The Act also specifies that land reserved for the use and benefit of a band which is not...
- Native American name controversyNative American name controversyThe Native American name controversy is a dispute about the acceptable terminology for the indigenous peoples of the Americas and broad subsets of these peoples, such as those sharing certain cultures and languages by which more discrete groups identify themselves .Many English exonyms have been...
- Tribal councilTribal CouncilA Tribal Council is either: an association of Native American bands in the United States or First Nations governments in Canada, or the governing body for certain tribes within the United States or elsewhere...
- Tribal sovereigntyTribal sovereigntyTribal sovereignty in the United States refers to the inherent authority of indigenous tribes to govern themselves within the borders of the United States of America. The federal government recognizes tribal nations as "domestic dependent nations" and has established a number of laws attempting to...