Classification of Native Americans: United States and Canada

Ethnographers commonly classify the native peoples of the United States and Canada into ten geographical regions with shared cultural traits. The following list groups peoples by their region of origin, followed by the current location. See the individual article on each tribe for a history of their movements. The regions are:

Arctic

• Aleut
• Inuit
• Yupik

Subarctic

• Ahtna (Ahtena, Nabesna )
• Atikamekw
• Babine
• Bearlake
• Carrier
• Chipewyan
• Chilcotin
• Cree
• Degexit'an (Ingalik )
• Dogrib
• Han
• Hare
• Holikachuk
• Innu
• Kaska (Nahane )
• Kolchan (Upper Kuskokwim )
• Koyukon
• Kutchin
• Mountain
• Naskapi
• Nishka
• Ojibwa
• Sekani
• Slavey (Dialects: Hay River, Simpson Providence , Liard, Fort Nelson)
• Tagish
• Tahltan
• Lower Tanana
• Middle Tanana
• Upper Tanana
• Tanacross
• Tanaina (Dialects: Outer Inlet , Upper Inlet , Iliama , Inland, Kachemak Bay, Kenai, Susitna River)
• Tasttine (Beaver)
• Inland Tlingit
• Tsetsaut
• Tsimishian
• Northern Tutchone
• Southern Tutchone
• Wet'suweten
• Yellowknife

California

• Achomawi (Pit River Indians )
• Antoniaño
• Atsugewi
• Bear River
• Cahuilla
• Campo
• Chemehuevi
• Chukchansi
• Chumash (Dialects: Roseño , Purisimeño , Barbareño , Inezeño , Ventureño , Obispeño , Santa Paula, Cruzeño , Emigdiano Allilik )
• Chilula
• Chimariko
• Costanoan (Dialects: Ramaytush , San Jose, Juichen , Chocheño , Tamyen , Awaswas , Chalon , Mutsun , Rumsen)
• Cupeño
• Diegueño
• Esselen
• Fernandeño: see Tataviam
• Gabrieliño: see Tongva
• Giamina
• Huchnom
• Hupa
• Ipai
• Jamul
• Juaneño
• Kamia
• Karok
• Kato
• Kiliwa
• Kitanemuk
• Klamath
• Konomihu
• Konkow
• Kumeyaay (Diegueño)
• Lassik
• Luiseño
• Maidu
• Mattole
• Mesa Grande
• Migueleño
• Mission Indians
• Miwok (Me-wuk)
• Modoc
• Mohave
• Monache
• Nakipa
• Nisenan
• Nomlaki
• Nongatl
• Ohlone
• Paipai (Akwa'ala )
• Paiute
• Patwin
• Pomo
• Quechan
• Rumsen
• Salinan
• San Clemente
• San Nicolas
• Santa Catalina
• Serrano
• Shasta tribe
• Sinkyone
• Tache
• Tachi tribe
• Tataviam (Fernandeño)
• Tipai
• Tolowa
• Tongva (Gabrieliño)
• Tsnungwe
• Tubatulabal
• Wailaki
• Wappo
• Washoe
• Whilkut
• Wintu
• Wintun
• Wiyot
• Yahi
• Yana
• Yocha Dehe
• Yokuts
• Yuki
• Coast Yuki
• Yurok

Eastern Woodlands

• Accohannock Maryland
• Algonquian lower Saint Lawrence River
• Algonquins Outaouais and Abitibi in Quebec
• Beothuk formerly Newfoundland, no longer exist
• Caniba
• Conoy
• Erie
• Etchemin Quebec (Maliseet)
• Fox
• Ho-Chunk
• Huron/Wyandot Ontario south of Georgian Bay, now Oklahoma and Wendake, Quebec
• Illinois (Illini) Illinois
• Iroquois New York
  • Cayuga
  • Mohawk Kahnawake, Quebec
  • Oneida
  • Onondaga
  • Seneca
  • Tuscarora
• Kickapoo Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas
• Laurentian
• Lenni-Lenape Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, now Oklahoma
• Loup A
• Loup B
• Maliseet Maine, Quebec, and New Brunswick, Canada
• Mascouten
• Massachusett Massachusetts
• Menominee
• Miami Indiana, now Oklahoma
• Mingo Pennsylvania, Ohio
• Mahican
• Mohegan
• Montauk New York
• Munsee
• Nanticoke
• Narragansett Rhode Island
• Natick
• Neutral
• Nipissing
• Nipmuc Massachusetts
• Ojibwe (Chippewa, Anishaabe) Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Montana)
• Oji-Cree
• Ottawa
• Paugusset Connecticut
• Passamaquoddy Maine
• Penobscot Maine
• Peoria Illinois, now Oklahoma
• Pequot
• Petun
• Pocumtuk
• Poospatuck New York
• Potawatomi Michigan
• Powhatan Virginia
• Quiripi
• Ramapough Mountain Indians New Jersey
• Hopewell Ohio and Black River region
• Sauk
• Saulteaux
• Secotan
• Shawnee Ohio, Pennsylvania [most ended up in Oklahoma]
• Shinnecock New York
• Souriquoian
• Susquahannock
• Tarrantine Tarranteen
  • Abenaki
  • Micmac
• Unalachtigo
• Unami
• Unquachog
• Wampanoag Massachusetts
• Wappinger
• Wawenoc
• Wea
• Wenro
• Wyandot/Huron Ontario south of Georgian Bay, now Oklahoma and Wendake, Quebec

Great Basin

• Bannock
• Chemehuevi
• Gosiute Utah
• Kawaiisu
• Koso
• Mono
• Owen's Valley (Native Amricans)
• Northern Paiute California, Nevada, Oregon [Burns-Paiute], Arizona
• Southern Paiute (Kaibab )
• Panamint
• Paviotso
• Shoshone (Shoshoni) Nevada, Wyoming, California
• Wind River Shoshone
• Timbisha
• Ute Utah, Colorado
• Washo Nevada, California

Plateau

• Cayuse Oregon
• Celilo (Wayampam )
• Upper Chinookan (Dialects: Clackamas, Cascades, Hood River Wasco, Wishram Kathlamet , Wishram , Cathlamet , Multnomah,
• Columbian (Dialects: Wenatchee, Sinkayuse , Chelan)
• Coeur d'Alene Idaho
• Colville Washington
• Upper Cowlitz
• Flatbow
• Flathead
• Fountain
• John Day
• Kalispel Washington
• Kittitas
• Klamath
• Klikitat Washington
• Kootenai Idaho
• Lakes
• Lillooet
• Lower Snake (Chamnapam , Wauyukma , Naxiyampam )
• Modoc
• Molala (Molale ) Oregon
• Nez Perce Idaho
• Nicola
• Okanagan (Dialects: Northern and Southern)
• Palus (Palouse)
• Pend'Oreilles
• Rock Creek
• Sahaptin
• Sanpoil
• Shuswap
• Spokane Washington
• Tenino
• Thompson
• Tygh
• Tygh Valley
• Umatilla Oregon
• Upper Nisqually (Mishalpan )
• Walla Walla Oregon
• Wanapum
• Wasco Oregon
• Yakima Washington

Northwest Coast

• Alsea
• Applegate
• Bella Bella
• Bella Coola
• Calapooia (see Kalapuya)
• Calapuya (see Kalapuya)
• Chasta Costa
• Chehalis (Upper and Lower) Washington
• Chemakum Washington
• Chetco
• Chilliwak
• Chinook Dialects: (Lower Chinook , Upper Chinook , Clackamas, Wasco)
• Chinook Jargon
• Clatsop
• Clatskanie (Tlatskanie )
• Comox
• Coos {Hanis} Oregon
• Lower Coquille (Miluk) Oregon
• Upper Coquille
• Cowichan
• Lower Cowlitz Washington
• Duwamish Washington
• Eyak Alaska
• Galice
• Haida (Dialects: Kaigani , Skidegate , Masset ) Alaska
• Haihai
• Haisla
• Halkomelem
• Heiltsuk
• Hoh Washington
• North Kalapuya (Dialects: Yamhill or Yamel , Tualatin or Tfalati or Atfalati )
• Central Kalapuya (Dialects: Santiam , Mary's River, Lakmiut , Ahantchuyuk , Lower McKenzie or Mohawk )
• South Kalapuya (Yonkalla or Yoncalla )
• Kimsquit
• Kitimat
• Klallam (Clallam, Dialects: Klallam (Lower Elwha) , S'Klallam (Jamestown), S'Klallam (Port Gamble) )
• Klemtu
• Klickitat
• Koskimo
• Kwalhioqua
• Kwakiutl (Kwakwala or Kwakwa'kwa'kw )
• Kwalhioqua
• Kwantlem
• Kwatami
• Lummi Washington
• Lushootseed
• Makah Washington
• Muckleshoot Washington
• Musqueam
• Nanaimo
• Niskwalli
• Nooksack Washington
• Nisqually Washington
• Pentlatch
• Puyallup Washington
• Quileute Washington
• Quinault Washington
• Rogue River or Upper Illinois Oregon, California
• Saanich
• Samish
• Sauk-Suiattle Washington
• Sechelt
• Shoalwater Bay Tribe Washington
• Siletz Oregon
• Siuslaw Oregon
• Skagit
• Skokomish Washington
• Sliammon
• Snohomish
• Stó:lō
• Songish
• Sooke
• Squaxin Island Tribe Washington
• Spokane Washington
• Stillaguamish Washington
• Squamish Washington
• Swinomish Washington
• Tait
• Takelma Oregon
• Talio
• Tillamook (Nehalem ) Oregon
• Tlatlasikoala
• Tlingit Alaska
• Tolowa-Tututni
• Tsimshian (Dialects: Hartley Bay , Prince Rupert, Gitando , Kitkatla )
• Tulalip Washington
• Twana
• Lower Umpqua Oregon
• Upper Umpqua Oregon
• Upper Skagit Washington
• Oowekyala
• Yaquina

Plains

• Aranama
• Arapaho Wyoming, Oklahoma
• Arikara (aka Arikaree or Ree) North Dakota
• Assiniboine Montana Fort Peck Indian Reservation is home to Assiniboine and Lakota (Sioux)
• Atsina
• Besawunena
• Blackfoot Montana/Alberta (bands: Kainah or Blood, Siksiki, Northern Peigan, Piegan or Blackfeet)
• Brule
• Caddo
• Cheyenne Montana, South Dakota; Oklahoma
• Chickasaw Oklahoma
• Comanche Oklahoma
• Crow (Absaroka or Apsáalooke) Montana, South Dakota
• Chippewa Cree, Montana
• Plains Cree Montana
• Dakota
• Gros Ventre
• Hasinai
• Hidatsa North Dakota
• Iowa (Ioway) Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma
• Karankawa Texas
• Kaw (Kansa ) Oklahoma
• Kiowa Oklahoma
• Kitsai
• Lakota (Sioux) South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska
• Lipan Apache
• Mandan North Dakota
• Missouri tribe (Missouria ) Missouri
• Nawathinehena
• Oglala Sioux
• Plains Ojibwe
• Omaha Nebraska
• Mississaugas
• Osage Nation Oklahoma
• Otoe ( also spelled Oto) Oklahoma
• Ottawa Michigan; Oklahoma
• Pawnee (Dialects: South Band , Skiri ) Oklahoma
• Piegan
• Plains Apache Oklahoma
• Ponca Nebraska, Oklahoma
• Quapaw (Arkansas) Arkansas, Oklahoma
• Santee
• Sauk (originally Great Lakes now Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa
• Siksika
• Sioux (Lakota, Dakota, Nakota) Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota)
• Stoney
• Tamique
• Teton
• Tonkawa Oklahoma
• Tsuu T’ina (Sarcee, Sarsi, Tsuut’ina)
• Wichita Oklahoma [Affiliated Tribes - Wichita, Waco, Tawakoni, Keechi]
• Wyandot Ontario, Michigan
• Yankton
• Yanktonai

Southeast

• Adai
• Ais Florida
• Akokisa
• Alabama Alabama
• Apalachee Florida
• Atakapa
• Bidai
• Biloxi Mississippi
• Caddo Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas
• Calusa Florida
• Catawba South Carolina
• Chatot
• Chawasha
• Cherokee North Carolina; later Oklahoma
• Chiaha
• Chickahominy Virginia
• Chickamauga
• Chickasaw Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, later Oklahoma
• Chitimacha Louisiana
• Choctaw Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama; later Oklahoma
• Creek Alabama; Oklahoma, Georgia
• Coahuiltecan Texas
• Coushatta Louisiana
• Coharie North Carolina
• Cusabo
• Hitchiti
• Houma Louisiana
• Iswa
• Jeaga Florida
• Koasati
• Lumbee North Carolina
• Mattaponi Virginia
• Meherrin North Carolina
• Mikasuki Florida
• Mobile
• Mocama
• Monacan Virginia
• Nansemond Virginia
• Natchez Mississippi, Louisiana
• Nottoway
• Ofo
• Pamlico (Carolina)
• Pamunkey Virginia
• Pee Dee South Carolina, North Carolina
• Pensacola
• Rappahannock Virginia
• Saponi
• Seminole Florida; Oklahoma
• Taensa
• Tawasa
• Tekesta Florida
• Timucua (Utina) Florida
• Topachula Florida
• Tuscarora North Carolina, Virginia (later Niagra Falls, NY)
• Tuskegee
• Tutelo
• Tunica Mississippi
• Waccamaw North Carolina, South Carolina
• Woccon
• Yamasee
• Yuchi

Southwest

• Acoma
• Ak Chin Arizona
• Apache Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma
• Chiricahua Apache
• Cochimi Baja California
• Cochiti
• Cocopa Arizona
• Halchidhoma
• Hano
• Hualapai
• Havasupai Arizona
• Hohokam Arizona
• Hopi Arizona
• Isleta
• Isleta del Sur
• Jemez
• Jicarilla Apache
• Jumano
• Karankawa
• Kavelchadhom
• Keres
• Laguna
• Los Luceros
• Maricopa
• Mescalero Apache
• Mohave
• Nambe
• Navaho Arizona, New Mexico
• Opata
• Pecos
• Pericu Baja California
• Picuris
• Pima Arizona
• Pima Bajo
• Piro
• Pueblo people New Mexico
• Qahatika
• Quechan Arizona
• Sandia (Nafiat was the name for the Bernalillo pueblo)
• San Carlos
• San Felipe
• San Idelfonso
• San Juan
• Santa Ana
• Santa Clara
• Santo Domingo
• Seri
• Suma
• Taos
• Tesuque
• Tewa
• Tigua
• Toboso
• Tohono O'odham (Papago) Arizona
• Northern Tonto
• Southern Tonto
• Waicuri (Guaicura ) Baja California
• Walapai
• Western Apache
• White Mountain
• Yavapai see Yavapai-Apache Nation, Yavapai-Prescott Tribe Arizona
• Yuma (Quechan)
• Zia
• Zuni

Classification – Central and South America

Indians of Central and South America are generally classified by language, environment, and cultural similarities.

Caribbean

• Arawak
  • Taino
  • Lucayan
• Carib
• Ciboney
• Kuna

Mesoamerica

• Aztec
• Huastec
• Lenca
• Maya
  • Mam
  • Quiché
• Mazatec
• Mixtec
• Olmec
• Tarascan
• Teotihuacan
• Toltec
• Totonac
• Zapotec

Andean

• Inca
• Wanka
• Conchucos
• Aymara
• Diaguita
• Atacameño
• Saraguro

Sub-Andean

• Panoan
• Jivaro

Western Amazon

• Tukanoan

Central Amazon

• Arawak
• Tupian

Eastern and Southern Amazon

• Ge
  • Bororo
• Tupian
  • Guarani Paraguay

Southern Cone

• Araucanian (Mapuche)
• Puelche
• Tehuelche
• Yamana
• Kaweshkar
• Selknam

Languages

For a general discussion, see Native American languages