Biggest Native American tribes in the US today

It’s commonly believed that the first people arrived in North America during the Ice Age when they ventured across the Bering Strait between 30,000 and 12,000 years ago. Over time, they dispersed across the continent and into South America, establishing distinct tribes, territories, and cultures. Waves of people likely continued to arrive at different times and by different means, with some researchers arguing that humans traveled to South America and the West Coast via Pacific routes.

When Christopher Columbus and other explorers sailed to North America, they sought to colonize the Native Americans’ territory and claim it as their own. Through decades of wars and treaties, Native Americans have had a complicated, painful history with European colonists. As they were experts in the North American landscape and its resources, Native Americans were able to build a strong economy based on trade with the Europeans. But as colonial presence grew and Manifest Destiny rhetoric set in, westward expansion sponsored by the U.S. government pushed Native Americans out of the land they had known for generations. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act, which forced many tribes from their ancestral lands and pushed them west onto reservations. About 100,000 Native Americans were forcibly removed under this policy.

Though some customs and traditions have been lost to colonization, war, and missionary efforts, many tribes still maintain a unique identity that honors their rich ancestral history.

In celebration of the robust history of North America’s ancestral people, Stacker used 2020 estimates from the Census, the most comprehensive recent population report on the United States’ Native American population, to compile a list of 50 of the largest Native American tribal populations in the country today.

As of the 2020 Census, about 2.3 million people identify exclusively as Native American or Alaska Native in the United States. Another 4.3 million people identify as Native American or Alaska Native in combination with other races and ethnicities. The tribes are ranked based on the number of people who identify as members of this tribe alone or in any combination.

For example, someone who is Cherokee and white would be included in the Cherokee population. The list also includes people who identify as each tribe in combination with other Native American groups (e.g., Apache and Navajo), as well as people who identify solely as a member of one Native American tribe. Native American groups unconnected to specific tribes (e.g., Mexican American Indian, Canadian, and French American Indian) are not included on this list.

The Census Bureau’s data tracks identity for tribes more generally as well as specific nations. As a result, certain indigenous groups may appear multiple times on the list, like Cherokee and the Cherokee Nation. Some tribal populations cited below, including Micmac and Inca, represent migration from countries outside of the U.S., such as Canada, Peru, and the like. Other groups like Taino are indigenous to the Caribbean including the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.

Read ahead to see the country’s most prominent Native American tribes.

jet 67 // Shutterstock

#50. Aleut

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 13,805
– Tribe alone: 4,878

Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images

#49. Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 13,810
– Tribe alone: 10,703

starryvoyage // Shutterstock

#48. Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 14,090
– Tribe alone: 8,075

jaimie tuchman // Shutterstock

#47. United Houma Nation

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 14,116
– Tribe alone: 7,817

Arno Burgi/picture alliance via Getty Images

#46. Oneida

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 14,302
– Tribe alone: 5,740

Jemal Countess // Getty Images for Nez Perce Tribe

#45. Shoshone

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 14,552
– Tribe alone: 4,090

Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

#44. Pueblo

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 14,578
– Tribe alone: 4,340

Ken Duffney // Shutterstock

#43. Menominee Indian Tribe

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 14,682
– Tribe alone: 8,389

Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock

#42. Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 15,175
– Tribe alone: 10,064

meunierd // Shutterstock

#41. Micmac

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 15,253
– Tribe alone: 2,577

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Capture Studio Group // Getty Images

#40. Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 15,301
– Tribe alone: 13,697

Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

#39. Cheyenne

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 15,820
– Tribe alone: 3,382

Paul McKinnon // Shutterstock

#38. Cree

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 16,749
– Tribe alone: 2,059

ehrlif // Shutterstock

#37. Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 17,252
– Tribe alone: 8,415

Jan Sochor // Getty Images

#36. Mixtec

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 17,278
– Tribe alone: 12,274

fckncg // Shutterstock

#35. Shawnee

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 17,525
– Tribe alone: 2,162

Rob Hainer // Shutterstock

#34. Seneca Nation of Indians

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 20,025
– Tribe alone: 6,412

David Ryder // Getty Images

#33. Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 20,059
– Tribe alone: 13,046

Goldilock Project // Shutterstock

#32. White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 20,116
– Tribe alone: 15,429

Helen H. Richardson // The Denver Post via Getty Images

#31. Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 20,462
– Tribe alone: 15,319

ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP via Getty Images

#30. Tarasco (Purepecha)

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 21,800
– Tribe alone: 10,785

ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

#29. Crow Tribe of Montana

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 22,151
– Tribe alone: 11,014

Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images

#28. Tlingit

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 22,601
– Tribe alone: 7,792

Lijuan Guo // Shutterstock

#27. Hopi Tribe of Arizona

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 22,921
– Tribe alone: 12,412

Lisa Rapko // Shutterstock

#26. Delaware (Lenni-Lenape)

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 22,946
– Tribe alone: 4,461

Phillippe Diederich // Getty Images

#25. Iroquois

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 24,918
– Tribe alone: 1,916

Wangkun Jia // Shutterstock

#24. Tohono O’odham Nation of Arizona

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 25,895
– Tribe alone: 19,451

lev radin // Shutterstock

#23. The Osage Nation

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 29,049
– Tribe alone: 8,250

Canva

#22. Inca

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 31,367
– Tribe alone: 13,305

mark reinstein // Shutterstock

#21. Potawatomi

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 33,722
– Tribe alone: 11,358

Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images

#20. Oglala Sioux Tribe

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 35,507
– Tribe alone: 25,212

Alina Reynbakh // Shutterstock

#19. Mohawk

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 36,144
– Tribe alone: 8,522

Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

#18. Seminole

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 37,879
– Tribe alone: 7,189

Universal Images Group via Getty Images

#17. Comanche Nation, Oklahoma

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 39,808
– Tribe alone: 12,388

Maxim Studio // Shutterstock

#16. Yaqui

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 40,732
– Tribe alone: 17,048

Moab Republic // Shutterstock

#15. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 47,955
– Tribe alone: 25,088

George Rose // Getty Images

#14. Cherokee Nation

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 77,232
– Tribe alone: 31,432

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP // Getty Images

#13. Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 79,424
– Tribe alone: 54,293

David McNew // Getty Images

#12. The Chickasaw Nation

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 85,511
– Tribe alone: 29,436

JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

#11. Taino

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 112,682
– Tribe alone: 28,346

Daniel Koglin // Shutterstock

#10. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 121,581
– Tribe alone: 40,677

ROBYN BECK/AFP // Getty Images

#9. Sioux

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 126,571
– Tribe alone: 30,408

Jim Parkin // Shutterstock

#8. Apache

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 129,589
– Tribe alone: 36,492

TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP // Getty Images

#7. Chippewa

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 130,048
– Tribe alone: 39,057

Brett Deering // Getty Images for Disney

#6. Choctaw

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 255,557
– Tribe alone: 69,454

kavram // Shutterstock

#5. Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 297,899
– Tribe alone: 34,810

Aleksandar Todorovic // Shutterstock

#4. Maya

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 300,519
– Tribe alone: 180,359

Paul Harris // Getty Images

#3. Navajo Nation

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 423,412
– Tribe alone: 315,086

Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via Getty Images

#2. Aztec

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 583,981
– Tribe alone: 387,122

Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

#1. Cherokee

– Tribe alone or in any combination: 1,513,326
– Tribe alone: 214,940

Story editing by Ashleigh Graf. Copy editing by Robert Wickwire.