States With The Biggest Native American Populations

Above, Zuni Pueblo dancer in Gallup. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Native American population in the region where I live is the most in the U.S. It is dominated by the Navajo Nation.

What are the states with the biggest Native American population, you may ask? 

Herald Community Newspapers has posted an article with the answer.

They begin with:

More than 5 million Native Americans live in the United States as members of 574 federally recognized and 63 state-recognized tribes. That number is projected to rise to 10 million by 2060.

A federally recognized tribe is a sovereign entity with a government-to-government relationship with the United States, as well as the rights of self-governance in such areas as tribal law and taxation.

Just 13% of Native Americans live within 324 recognized reservations. Land held in trust by the U.S. government for Native American settlement is roughly 56 million acres. The 16 million-acre Navajo Nation Reservation in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah is the largest, and the 1.32-acre Pit River Tribe cemetery in California is the smallest.

Stacker ranked the states with the largest Native American populations using data from the Census Bureau's 2021 American Community Survey. The Census Bureau's definition of Native Americans includes Alaskan Natives but excludes Native Hawaiians.

To read more, go here.