Native American tribes in Texas are the Native American tribes who are currently based in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and the

Indigenous peoples of the Americas In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

who historically lived in Texas. Many individual Native Americans, whose tribes are headquartered in other states, reside in Texas. The

Texas Historical Commission The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the U.S. state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas. The commission also identifies Recorded Texas Histor ...

by law consulted with the three

federally recognized This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States.

tribes in Texas and as well as 26 other federally recognized tribes headquartered in surrounding states. In 1986, the state formed the Texas Commission for Indian Affairs, later renamed the Texas Indian Commission, to manage trust lands and assist three federally recognized tribes headquartered in Texas. However, the commission was dissolved in 1989.

Federally recognized tribes

Texas has three

federally recognized tribes This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States.

. They have met the seven criteria of an American Indian tribe: # being an American Indian entity since at least 1900 # a predominant part of the group forms a distinct community and has done so throughout history into the present # holding political influence over its members # having governing documents including membership criteria # members having ancestral descent from historic American Indian tribes # not being members of other existing federally recognized tribes # not being previously terminated by the U.S. Congress. The three federally recognized tribes in Texas are: * Alabama–Coushatta Tribes of Texas, originally from Tennessee and Alabama *

Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas The Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, based in Eagle Pass, is a federally recognized tribe that uses revenue from its gaming and business operations to provide housing, education, and social services to its members. The tribe has been held as ...

, originally from the Great Lakes * Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo of Texas originally from New Mexico. These three tribes are served by the Southern Plains Regional Office of the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs located in

Anadarko, Oklahoma Anadarko is a city in and the county seat of Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The city is 50 miles (80.5 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. The population was 5,745 at the 2020 census. History Anadarko got its name when its post offic ...

American Indian reservations

These are three

Indian Reservations An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...

in Texas: * Alabama–Coushatta Reservation, in Polk County, Texas * Kickapoo Reservation, in

Maverick County, Texas Maverick County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 57,887. Its county seat is Eagle Pass, Texas, Eagle Pass. The county was created in 1 ...

* Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, in

El Paso County, Texas El Paso County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 865,657, making it the ninth-most populous county in the state of Texas. Its county seat is the city of El Paso, the sixth-mos ...

State-recognized tribes

State-recognized tribes do not have the government-to-government relationship with the

United States federal government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

that federally recognized tribes do. Texas has "no legal mechanism to recognize tribes," as journalists Graham Lee Brewer and Tristan Ahtone wrote. The Texas Commission for Indian Affairs, later Texas Indian Commission, only dealt with the three federally recognized tribes and did not work with any state-recognized tribes before being dissolved in 1989. Texas has no state-recognized tribes. Several groups have claimed to be state-recognized based on

congratulatory resolutions Courtesy resolution is a non- controversial resolution in the nature of congratulations on the birth of a child, celebration of a wedding anniversary, congratulations of an outstanding citizen achievement or a similar event. It is "a resolution exp ...

; however, "Resolutions are statements of opinions and, unlike bills, do not have the force of law." For example, the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas were honored in Texas Senate Resolution 438 in 2009 and Texas State Concurrent Resolution 61 and Texas House Concurrent Resolution 171, both in 2019. Texas Senate Bill 274 to formally recognize the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, introduced in January 2021, died in committee, as did Texas Senate Bill 231 introduced in November 2022. Texas Senate Bill 1479, introduced in March 2023, and Texas House Bill 2005, introduced in February 2023, both to state-recognize the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation also died in committee.

Historical tribes of Texas

These are some of the tribes that have existed in what is now Texas. Many were forcibly removed to

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

, now

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, in the 19th century, and few to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. Others no longer exist as tribes but may have living descendants. * Adai people, formerly eastern Texas *

Apache people The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan homelands in the north into th ...

, western Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma :*

Lipan Apache Lipan Apache are a band of Apache, a Southern Athabaskan languages, Southern Athabaskan Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people, who have lived in the Oasisamerica, Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European ...

, southwest :* Salinero, formerly west :* Teya, formerly Panhandle :*

Vaquero The ''vaquero'' (; , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in what what is today Mexico (then New Spain) and Spanish Florida from a method brought to the Americ ...

, also

Querecho The Querecho Indians were an historical band of Apache people living on the Southern Plains. In 1541 the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and his army journeyed east from the Rio Grande Valley in search of a rich land called Q ...

, formerly northwestern Texas, possible ancestral Apache people * Aranama, formerly southeast *

Atakapa The Atakapa Sturtevant, 659 or Atacapa were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, who spoke the Atakapa language and historically lived along the Gulf of Mexico in what is now Texas and Louisiana. They included several distinct b ...

, formerly Gulf Coast :* Akokisa, formerly Galveston Bay, Gulf Coast :* Bidai, formerly Trinity River, Gulf Coast :* Deadose, formerly southeast :* Patiri, formerly San Jacinto River *

Biloxi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...

, formerly Neches River in the 19th century, now Louisiana *

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...

, formerly eastern Texas, now Oklahoma :* Cacachau, formerly eastern, now Oklahoma :* Eyeish, formerly eastern, now Oklahoma :* Hainai, formerly eastern, now Oklahoma :* Kadohadacho, formerly northeast, now Oklahoma :* Nabedache, formerly eastern, now Oklahoma :* Nabiti, formerly eastern, now Oklahoma :*

Nacogdoche The Nacogdoche (Caddo: Nakúʔkidáawtsiʔ) are a Native American tribe from eastern Texas.Sturtevant, 617 History The Nacogdoche were part of the Hasinai branch of the Caddo Confederacy and closely allied with the Lower Nasoni. They historica ...

, formerly eastern, now Oklahoma :* Nacono, formerly eastern, now Oklahoma :* Nadaco, formerly eastern, now Oklahoma :*

Nanatsoho The Nanatsoho were a Native American tribe that lived at the border of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.Sturtevant, 617 History The Nanatsoho were part of the Kadohadacho branch of the Caddo Confederacy. During the late 17th and early 18th centur ...

, formerly Red River, now Oklahoma :*

Nasoni The Nasoni are a Native American tribe from eastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas. History The Nasoni were divided into two bands. The Upper Nasoni, who lived along the Red River in the southwestern corner of Arkansas.Natchitoches, formerly Red River, now Oklahoma :*

Nechaui The Nechaui were a Native American tribe from eastern Texas. Their name is thought to be derived from Nachawi, the Caddo language word for Osage orange.

, formerly eastern, now Oklahoma :* Neche, formerly eastern, now Oklahoma *

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

, formerly north and west, now Oklahoma *

Coahuiltecan The Coahuiltecan were various small, autonomous bands of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans who inhabited the Rio Grande valley in what is now northeastern Mexico and southern Texas. The various Coahuiltecan groups were hunter ga ...

, formerly southern :* Comecrudo, formerly southern :*

Ervipiame The Ervipiame were an Indigenous people of what is now northeastern Coahuila and southern Texas. They were a Coahuitecan people, who likely merged into the Tonkawa. Name The Ervipiame were also known as the Chivipane, Cibipane, Hierbipiane, Hu ...

, formerly south and central Texas :* Geier, formerly south central :* Pajalat, formerly central :* Pastia, formerly south-central :*

Payaya The Payaya people were Indigenous people whose territory encompassed the area of present-day San Antonio, Texas. The Payaya were a Coahuiltecan people, Coahuiltecan band and are the earliest recorded inhabitants of San Pedro Springs Park, the geog ...

, formerly south-central :* Quepano, formerly south-central :* Unpuncliegut, formerly south coast :* Xarame, formerly south-central * Dotchetonne, formerly northeastern * Escanjaque Indians, formerly north-central * Jumano, formerly southwestern * La Junta, formerly west * Karankawa, formerly south coast *

Kiowa Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colora ...

, formerly panhandle, now Oklahoma * Manso, formerly west * Quems, formerly southwest * Quicuchabe, formerly west * Quide, formerly west * Suma, formerly west, joined Apaches * Teyas, Panhandle *

Tonkawa The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe from Oklahoma and Texas. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct language, extinct, is a linguistic isolate. Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Tonkawa ...

, formerly southeast, now Oklahoma :* Mayeye, formerly south :* Yojuane, formerly east-central * Wichita, formerly north-central, now Oklahoma :* Kichai, formerly north, now Oklahoma :* Taovaya, formerly north in the 19th century, now Oklahoma :*

Tawakoni The Tawakoni (also Tahuacano and Tehuacana) are a Southern Plains Native American tribe, closely related to the Wichitas. They historically spoke a Wichita language of the Caddoan language family. Currently, they are enrolled in the Wichita ...

, formerly north and east in the 19th century, now Oklahoma :* Waco, formerly north, now Oklahoma

Contemporary tribes headquartered outside of Texas

Descendants of the tribes with historical ties to Texas that are now headquartered in surrounding states are: * Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma * Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Oklahoma *

Apache Tribe of Oklahoma The Plains Apache are a small Southern Athabaskan tribe who live on the Southern Plains of North America, in close association with the linguistically unrelated Kiowa Tribe. Today, they are headquartered in Southwestern Oklahoma and are federally ...

* Caddo Nation, Oklahoma *

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

, Oklahoma * Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma *

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw language, Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Indian reservation, Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly , it is the second-largest reservation ...

* Comanche Nation, Oklahoma *

Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana (Coushatta: ''Kowassaatiha'') is one of three federally recognized tribes of Koasati people. They are located in Allen and Jefferson Davis Parishes, Louisiana. The tribe hosts an annual pow wow during the sec ...

Delaware Nation The Delaware Nation (), based in Anadarko, OklahomaDe ...

, Oklahoma *

Jena Band of Choctaw Indians The Jena Band of Choctaw Indians () are one of three Federally recognized tribe, federally recognized Choctaw tribes in the United States. They are based in La Salle Parish, Louisiana, La Salle, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, Catahoula, and Grant Pa ...

, Louisiana * Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico * Kialegee Tribal Town, Oklahoma *

Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma The Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma is one of three Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Kickapoo people, Kickapoo tribes in the United States. There are also Kickapoo tribes in Kansas, Texas, and Mexico. The Kickapoo are a Eastern Woodlan ...

Mescalero Apache Tribe Mescalero or Mescalero Apache () is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan–speaking Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, located in south-central New Mexico. In ...

, New Mexico *

Muscogee (Creek) Nation The Muscogee Nation, or Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy, a large group of indigenous peoples of the South ...

, Oklahoma *

Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) () is a Midwestern Native American nation of the Great Plains. The tribe began in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 1620 A.D along with other groups of its language family, then migrated west in the 17th cen ...

, Oklahoma * Quapaw Nation, Oklahoma *

Seminole Nation of Oklahoma The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma is a federally recognized This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized b ...

Shawnee Tribe The Shawnee Tribe is a Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma. Formerly known as the Loyal Shawnee, they are one of three federally recognized Shawnee tribes. The others are the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe ...

, Oklahoma * Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Oklahoma * Tonkawa Tribe, Oklahoma * Tunica-Biloxi Tribe, Louisiana *

United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma ( or , abbreviated United Keetoowah Band or UKB) is a federally recognized tribe of Cherokee Native Americans headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. According to the UKB website, its memb ...

, Oklahoma * Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, Oklahoma

Unrecognized organizations

More than 30 organizations claim to represent historic tribes within Texas; however, these groups are unrecognized, meaning they do not meet the minimum criteria of federally recognized tribes and are not state-recognized tribes. Some of these cultural heritage groups form

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

nonprofit organizations A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

References

External links

Tribal Contacts
Texas Historical Commission
American Indians
Texas State Historical Society
"What happened to Native American tribes that once existed in North Texas? Curious Texas investigates"
''Dallas Morning News'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Native American tribes In Texas