FIRST NATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA
A Comprehensive List
Below is a comprehensive list of nations and their tribes which are categorized by geographical location, culture area, and language family.
Many of these nations and tribes no longer exist today due to the genocide committed against them by the collaborative efforts of the Church and State. Prior to colonization there were approximately 160 million peoples. *The current 2010 government census reports a total of 5 .2 million; 2.9 million of which are pure blood.
We humbly ask that prior to viewing this page you offer a moment of silence
in honor and remembrance of those lost.
Thank you.
Tribes by Culture Area & Language Family
List groupings derive from the comparative research and scholarly review of Jay Miller.
NOTE: Instead of brackets, color coding has been used to identify related languages or dialects on this page.
CLICK THE IMAGE TO VIEW
Years of research by anthropologists and linguists have established larger groupings of native Americans based on similarities of lifestyle and language. About ten geographical culture areas and a dozen language stocks have been identified. Each culture area represents a particular ecological adaptation sharing commonalities of technology, staple foods, kinship groups, and rituals. Language stocks are based on the detailed study of underlying grammar and essential vocabulary. Some unique languages are referred to as “isolates” because they have no close relatives. As arranged on the opposite list, each category begins with the culture area followed by the language stock (IN BOLD CAPS), stock subdivisions (IN CAPS), regional subdivisions (in bold lowercase), and then representative tribes (in lowercase). Since many tribes are best known by the names given to them by outsiders, their own names for themselves, as of current usage, are given in italics between parentheses. Tribes that speak closely related languages or dialects are indicated by a bracket” (The Native Americans: An Illustrated History, Thomas, pg. 467).
Arctic
ESKALEUT
ALEUT
INUIT
YUPIK
Siberian
Pacific (Alutiiq)
- Alaskan
- Kogmiut
- Magemiut
- Kaialigamiut
- Kuskokwagmiut
- Togagamiut
- Nushagamiut
- Ogulmiut
- Kaniagmiut
- Chugachigmiut
INUPIAQ
Alaskan
Canadian
- Kinugmiut
- Malemiut
- Nunatagmiult
- Noatagmiut
- Kopagmiut
- Point Barrow
- MacKenzie
- Copper
- Caribou
- Netsilikmiut
- Aivilirmiut
- Baffin Island
- Kigiktagmiut
- Itivimiut
- Tahagmiut
- Sukininmiut
Greenlandic
- Polar (Thule)
- West Greenlanders
- East Greenlanders (Ammassalik)
Subarctic
ATHAPASKAN
Arctic Drainage
- Bear Lake
- Beaver (Dunne-za)
- Chipewayan
- Dogrib
- Hare
- Sarsi
- Slavey
- Yellow-knife
Yukon-Kuskokwim Drainage
- Ingalik
- Koyukon
- Tanana
Cook Inlet
- Tanaina
Cordilleran
- Babine
- Upper Koyukon
- Kutchin (Gwich’in)
- Mountain
- Han
- Upper Tanana
- Tutchone
- Tagish
- Kaska
- Tahltan
- Tsetsaut
- Sekani
- Carrier
- Chilcotin
ALGONQUIAN (ALGIC)
Maritime
- Montagnais (Innu)
- Naskapi
- Algonquin
- Cree
Northeast
ALGONQUIAN
- Pennacook
- Massachusetts
- Wampanoag
- Narragansett
- Niantic
- Podunk
- Montauk
- Mohegan
- Pequot
- Mahican
- Delaware (Lenape)
- Unami
- Monsey
- Nanticoke
Great Lakes
- Ojibwa/Chippewa
- Ottawa (Odawa)
- Potawatomi
- Menominee
- Sauk
- Fox (Mesquaki)
- Kickapoo
- Shawnee
- Miami
- Illinois
Maritime
- Abenaki
- Penobscot
- Micmac
Malecite
IROQUOIAN
- Erie
- Huron (Wyandot)
- Neutral
- Tobacco (Petun)
- Iroquois
- Mohawk
- Oneida
- Onondaga
- Cayuga
- Seneca
- Tuscarora (post 1712)
- Susquehanna
- Conestoga
Southeast
ALGONQUIAN
- Powhatan
- Pamlico
MUSKOGEAN
- Choctaw
- Chickasaw
- Koasati
- Alabama
- Hitchiti
- Mikasuki
- Creek (Muskogee)
- Seminole
- Atakapa
- Tunica
- Natchez
- Timucua
- Chitimacha
IROQUOIAN
- Cherokee
- Tusacarora (pre-1712)
- Nottaway
- Meherrin
SIOUIAN
- Tutelo
- Catawba
- Biloxi
- Saponi
YUCHI [Isolate]
Great Plains
SIOUIAN
Village Tribes
- Dakota (Santee)
- Mandan
- Hidatsa
- Iowa
- Oto
- Missouri
- Winnebago
- Omaha
- Ponca
- Osage
- Kansa
- Quapaw
Hunting Tribes
- Nakota (Yankton)
- Lakota (Teton)
- Assiniboine (Nakota,Stoney)
- Crow
CADDOAN
Village Tribes
- Caddo
- Pawnee
- Arikara
- Wichita
- Kichai
ALGONQUIAN
Hunting Tribes
- Arapaho
- Gros Ventre (Atsina)
- Blackfeet
- Blood
- Piegan
- Siksika
- Cheyenne
- Sutai
- Plains Ojibwa (Bungi)
- Plains Cree
UTO-AZTECAN
Hunting Tribes
- Shoshone (Numa)
- Comanche
- Ute
- Kiowa
ATHAPASKAN
Hunting Tribes
- Plains Apache (Kalthdin)
- Sarsi
Plateau
PENUTIAN
- Klamath
- Modoc
- Cayuse
- Molala
SAHAPTIAN
- Nez Perce (Numipu)
- Sahaptin
- Klickitat
- Kititas
- Tenino
- Umatilla
- Walla Walla
- Yakima
- Wanapum
- Palus
ATHAPASKAN
- Nicola
SALISHAN
North Interior Salish
- Shuswap (Sexwepemx)
- Thompson (Nl’akapamux)
- Lillooet (St’at’imx)
South Interior Salish
- Coeur d’Alene
- Flathead (Selish)
- Kalispel
- Spokan
- Colville (Sweelpoo)
- Okanagan
- Lake
- Sanpoil
- Nespelem
- Methow
- Columbia (Sinkiuse)
- Wenatchee
- Chelan
- Entiat
KUTENAI [Isolate]
Great Basin
UTO-AZTECAN NUMIC
Western
- Northern Paiute
- Bannock
- Mono
Central
- Western Shoshone
- Goshiute
- Panamint
- Lehmi
- Wind River
- Comanche
Southern
- Ute
- Kwaiisu
- Chemehuevi
- Southern Paiute
HOKAN
- Washo
Southwest
HOKAN
- Quechan (Yuma)
- Cocopa
- Mohave
- Walapai
- Yavapai
- Havasupai
ATHAPASKAN
- Navajo (Dene)
- Apache
Southern Plains
- Llanero
- Mescalero
- Jicarilla
- Lipan
Western Plains
- Tonto
- White
- Mountain
- San Carlos (Pinalanos)
- Cibecue (Coyoteros)
UTO-AZTECAN PIMAN
- Pima (O’odham)
- Papago (Tohono O’odham)
Puebloans
TANOAN
TEWA
- San Juan
- Santa Clara
- San Ildefonso
- Nambe
- Tesuque
- Pojoaque
TANO [Southern Tewa]
- Hano
TIWA
- Taos
- Picuris
- Sandia
- Isleta
TOWA
- Jemez
- Pecos
NUMIC
HOPIC
- Hopi
First Mesa
- Walpi
- Sichomovi
- Polacca
Second Mesa
- Shimopovi
- Shipaulovi
- Mishongnovi
Third Mesa
- Old Oraibi
- Kykotsmovi
- (New Oraibi)
- Hotevilla
- Bacavi
- Moenkopi
KERESAN [Isolate]
- Cochiti
- Santo Domingo
- San Felipe
- Santa Ana
- Sia
- Acoma
- Laguna
PENUTIAN
- Zuni
California
HOKAN
- Palaihnihan
- Achomawi
- Atsugewi
- Shasta
- Karuk
- Chimariko
- Yana
- Yahi
- Pomo
- Salinan
- Esselen
- Chumash
- Diegeno
- Kamia
- Yumans
PENUTIAN
- Yokut
- Miwok
- Costanoan
- Maidu
- Wintun
ATHAPASKAN
- Hupa
- Kato
- Mattole
- Tolowa
- Wailaki
- Sinkyone
NUMIC
- Tubatulabal
- Takic
- Serrano
- Cupan
- Luiseno
- Juaneno
- Cahuilla
- Cupeno
- Gabrielino
- Fernandeno
- Numa
RITWAN
- Wiyot
- Yurok
YUKIAN [Isolate]
- Yuki
- Coast
- Huchnom
- Wappo
Pacific Northwest
NA-DENE
EYAK
TLINGIT
ATHAPASKAN
- Kwaliokwa
- Tlatskanie
- Umpqua
- Chetco
- Tututni
- Tolowa
- Hupa
PENUTIAN
CHINOOKAN
- Wishram
- Wasco
- Chinook
- Klatsop
- Kathlamet
- Clackamas
OREGON
PENUTIAN
- Takelma
- Kalapuyan
- Coosan (Coos)
- Miluk
- Hanis
- Yakonan
- Yaquina
- Alsea
- Siuslaw
CHIMAKUAN
- Chimakum
- Quileute
WAKASHAN
NOOTKAN
- Makah
- Nitinat
- Nootka (Nuuchanuth)
KWAKIUTLAN
Northern
- Bella Bella (Heiltsuk)
- Xai Xais
- Owikeno
- Haisla (Kitimat)
Southern
- Kwakiutl (Kwa-kwaka’ wakw)
SALISHAN
COAST SALISHAN
Northern
- Bella Coola (Nuxalk)
Central
- Comox
- Pentlatch
- Sechelt
- Squamish
- Halkomelem
- Cowichan
- Musqueam
- Chilliwack
- Nooksack
- Lushootseed (Puget)
- Twana
Straits
- Lummi
- Songish (Lkungen)
- Sooke
- Klallam (S’klallam)
Tsamosan
- Quinault
- Chehalis
- Cowlitz
Southern
- Tillamook
HAIDA [Isolate]
- Kaigani
- Masset
- Skidegate
TSIMSHIAN [Isolate]
- Coast
- Southern
- Niska
- Gitksan
References:
The Native Americans: An Illustrated History by David Hurst Thomas, Turner Publishing, Atlanta, Georgia, 1993, pg. 466.
*Current 2010 government census obtained from United States Census Bureau at www.census.gov
Did you enjoy this page? Please share it! 
Featured Image Credit: cnstnt | Pixabay
