This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. As of December 18, 2025, 575 Indian tribes are legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States. Of these, 228 are located in Alaska, and 109 are located in California. Of the 575 federally recognized tribes, 347 are located in the contiguous United States.

Description

Federally recognized tribes are those Native American tribes recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs as holding a government-to-government relationship with the US federal government. For Alaska Native tribes, see list of Alaska Native tribal entities.

In the United States, the Native American tribe is a fundamental unit of sovereign tribal government. As the Department of the Interior explains, "federally recognized tribes are recognized as possessing certain inherent rights of self-government (i.e., tribal sovereignty) ..." The constitution grants to the U.S. Congress the right to interact with tribes. More specifically, the Supreme Court of the United States in United States v. SandovalUnited States v. Sandoval, 231 U.S. 28 (1913) warned, "it is not... that Congress may bring a community or body of people within range of this power by arbitrarily calling them an Indian tribe, but only that in respect of distinctly Indian communities the questions whether, to what extent, and for what time they shall be recognized and dealt with as dependent tribes" (at 46).Sheffield (1998) p. 56 Federal tribal recognition grants to tribes the right to certain benefits, and is largely administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

While trying to determine which groups were eligible for federal recognition in the 1970s, government officials became aware of the need for consistent procedures. To illustrate, several federally unrecognized tribes encountered obstacles in bringing land claims; United States v. Washington (1974) was a court case that affirmed the fishing treaty rights of Washington tribes; and other tribes demanded that the U.S. government recognize aboriginal titles. All the above culminated in the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, which legitimized tribal entities by partially restoring Native American self-determination.

Federal acknowledgment Following the decisions made by the Indian Claims Commission in the 1950s, the BIA in 1978 published final rules with procedures that groups had to meet to secure federal tribal acknowledgment. There are seven criteria. Four have proven troublesome for most groups to prove: long-standing historical community, outside identification as Indians, political authority, and descent from a historical tribe. Tribes seeking recognition must submit detailed petitions to the BIA's Office of Federal Acknowledgment.

To be formally recognized as an Indian tribe, the US Congress can legislate recognition or a tribe can meet the seven criteria outlined by the Office of Federal Acknowledgment. These seven criteria are summarized as: 83.7(a): "Indian entity identification: The petitioner demonstrates that it has been identified as an American Indian entity on a substantially continuous basis since 1900." 83.7(b): "Community: The petitioner demonstrates that it comprises a distinct community and existed as a community from 1900 until the present." 83.7(c): "Political influence or authority: The petitioner demonstrates that it has maintained political influence or authority over its members as an autonomous entity from 1900 until the present." 83.7(d): "Governing document: The petitioner provides a copy of the group's present governing document including its membership criteria. In the absence of a written document, the petitioner must provide a statement describing in full its membership criteria and current governing procedures." 83.7(e): "Descent: The petitioner demonstrates that its membership consists of individuals who descend from a historical Indian tribe or from historical Indian tribes which combined and functioned as a single autonomous political entity." 83.7(f): "Unique membership: The petitioner demonstrates that the membership of the petitioning group is composed principally of persons who are not members of any acknowledged North American Indian tribe." 83.7(g): "Congressional termination: The Department demonstrates that neither the petitioner nor its members are the subject of congressional legislation that has expressly terminated or forbidden the Federal relationship."

The federal acknowledgment process can take years, even decades; delays of 12 to 14 years have occurred. The Shinnecock Indian Nation formally petitioned for recognition in 1978 and was recognized 32 years later in 2010. At a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing, witnesses testified that the process was "broken, long, expensive, burdensome, intrusive, unfair, arbitrary and capricious, less than transparent, unpredictable, and subject to undue political influence and manipulation."Fixing the Federal Acknowledgment Process (S. Hrg. 111-470), Hearing Before the Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate (November 4, 2009).

Recent additions The number of tribes increased to 567 in May 2016 with the inclusion of the Pamunkey tribe in Virginia who received their federal recognition in July 2015.Federal Acknowledgment of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe The number of tribes increased to 573 with the addition of six tribes in Virginia under the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2017, signed in January 2018 after the annual list had been published. In July 2018 the United States' Federal Register issued an official list of 573 tribes that are Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana became the 574th tribe to gain federal recognition on December 20, 2019 and the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina the 575th on December 18, 2025. The website USA.gov, the federal government's official web portal, also maintains an updated list of tribal governments. Ancillary information present in former versions of this list but no longer contained in the current listing has been included here in italic print.

Alphabetical list of federally recognized tribes A

Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, California Ak-Chin Indian Community(previously listed as Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona) Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas(previously listed as Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas) Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Oklahoma Alturas Indian Rancheria, California Apache Tribe of Oklahoma Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians, California(previously listed as Augustine Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of the Augustine Reservation)

B

Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, California Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California Big Lagoon Rancheria, California Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley(previously listed as Big Pine Band of Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Indians of the Big Pine Reservation, California) Big Sandy Rancheria of Western Mono Indians of California(previously listed as Big Sandy Rancheria of Mono Indians of California) Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians of the Big Valley Rancheria, California Bishop Paiute Tribe(previously listed as Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony, California) Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana Blue Lake Rancheria, California Bridgeport Indian Colony(previously listed as Bridgeport Paiute Indian Colony of California) Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California Burns Paiute Tribe(previously listed as Burns Paiute Tribe of the Burns Paiute Indian Colony of Oregon)

C

Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Indians(previously listed as Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, California; Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of the Cabazon Reservation) Cachil DeHe Band of Wintun Indians of the Colusa Indian Community of the Colusa Rancheria, California Caddo Nation of Oklahoma(previously listed as Caddo Indian Tribe of Oklahoma) Cahto Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria(previously listed as Cahto Indian Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria, California) Cahuilla Band of Indians(previously listed as Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians of the Cahuilla Reservation, California) California Valley Miwok Tribe, California(previously listed as Sheep Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California) Campo Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Campo Indian Reservation, California Capitan Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of California: Barona Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Barona Reservation, California Viejas (Baron Long) Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Viejas Reservation, California Catawba Indian Nation(previously listed as Catawba Tribe of South Carolina) Cayuga Nation(previously listed as Cayuga Nation of New York) Cedarville Rancheria, California Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi Reservation, California Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria, California Cherokee Nation Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma(previously listed as Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma) Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (or Cheyenne River Lakota Nation) of the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, South Dakota Chickahominy Indian Tribe Chickahominy Indian Tribe–Eastern Division Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana(previously listed as Chippewa-Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana) Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California Cocopah Tribe of Arizona Coeur D'Alene Tribe(previously listed as Coeur D'Alene Tribe of the Coeur D'Alene Reservation, Idaho) Cold Springs Rancheria of Mono Indians of California Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, Arizona and California Comanche Nation, Oklahoma(previously listed as Comanche Indian Tribe) Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation(previously listed as Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Indian Nation of the Yakama Reservation) Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon(previously listed as Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation) Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians(previously listed as Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon) Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, Nevada and Utah Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation(previously listed as Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon) Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon Coquille Indian Tribe(previously listed as Coquille Tribe of Oregon) Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians(previously listed as Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon) Cowlitz Indian Tribe Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California(previously listed as Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California) Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Indian Reservation, South Dakota Crow Tribe of Montana

D