Glendale: Indigenous Communities

Participants learned about the Indigenous communities of Arizona through a visit to the Phoenix Indian School Visitor Center.

AICGS Social Divisions

History and Legacy

When European colonists arrived in the Americas, historians estimate over 60 million Indigenous people were already there. 90 percent of that population was soon wiped out because of smallpox, measles, or flu bacteria the colonists carried. Those that remained were subjected to many different forms of violence, all with the intention of destroying the community; including forced displacement, war, and kidnapping.

Indigenous people inhabited what became Arizona more than 12,000 years ago. Today, the state has 22 federally-recognized tribes and is the state with the third largest American Indian population.

Federally Recognized Native Nations in Arizona

1. Ak-Chin Indian Community 2. Cocopah Indian Tribe 3. Colorado River Indian Tribes* 4. Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation 5. Fort Mojave Indian Tribe* 6. Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe 7. Gila River Indian Community 8. Havasupai Tribe 9. Hopi Tribe 10. Hualapai Tribe 11. Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians 12. Navajo Nation* 13. Pascua Yaqui Tribe 14. Pueblo of Zuni 15. Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community 16. San Carlos Apache Tribe 17. San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe 18. Tohono O'odham Nation 19. Tonto Apache Tribe 20. White Mountain Apache Tribe 21. Yavapai-Apache Tribe 22. Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe