The 10 Largest Native American Tribes in the United States Today
Upon the arrival of European settlers, it is estimated that around 50 million Indigenous people inhabited the Americas, with 3 to 7 million residing in Canada and the U.S. Within a century, the native population experienced a drastic decline of 80% due to factors such as disease, enslavement, and violence. Currently, there are roughly 3 to 8 million individuals of Indigenous descent from more than 500 tribes. The Cherokee tribe stands as the largest, with over 1.5 million individuals claiming heritage and 450,000 registered members. As of 2021, the Navajo tribe has nearly 400,000 enrolled members. Other notable tribes include the Choctaw (over 250,000), Sioux (over 100,000), Creek (over 100,000), Chippewa (over 130,000), Blackfeet (approximately 17,000), Apache (nearly 150,000), Iroquois (over 110,000), and Lumbee (over 55,000).
Key facts
- Scholars estimate upwards of 50 million native inhabitants occupied the Americas before European arrival, including 3 to 7 million in present-day Canada and the United States.
- Within a century of European arrival, experts estimate the native population dropped by 80% due to disease, enslavement, and slaughter.
- Today, an estimated 3 to 8 million people of Indigenous heritage live in the US, belonging to more than 500 tribes.
- The Cherokee are the largest tribe, with over 1.5 million respondents claiming Cherokee heritage in the 2020 census and 450,000 registered members in the Cherokee Nation.
- The Navajo (Diné) have nearly 400,000 enrolled members as of 2021, residing primarily in Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico.
- The Choctaw have over 250,000 people claiming heritage, and the Sioux (Oceti Sakowin) have over 100,000 living in the US.
- The Lumbee number over 55,000, the largest tribe remaining east of the Mississippi.
- Numbers throughout are approximations due to difficulty in estimating pre-contact populations and disputes over Indigenous identity.
Entities
Artists
- Alfred Jacob Miller
- George Catlin
- Sitting Bull
- Geronimo
- Pleasant Porter
- David F. Barry
- Roland Reed
- Henry Timberlake
Institutions
- The Walters Art Museum
- National Archives
- University of Montana
- Wikimedia Commons
- Oklahoma Historical Society
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Library of Congress
- Native Hope
- Native America Travel
- TheCollector
Locations
- United States
- Canada
- North Carolina
- Lumbee River
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Wisconsin
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Montana
- South Dakota
- North Dakota
- Nebraska
- Minnesota
- Oklahoma
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Florida
- Mississippi
- Utah
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
- Virginia
- Tennessee
- South Carolina
- Great Lakes
- Great Plains
- Mississippi River Valley
- Chesapeake Bay
- Mississippi River
- Pine Ridge Reservation
- Fort Sumner
- Nanih Waiya