Part of a series on
Native Americansin the United States
History Paleo-Indians Lithic stage Archaic period in the Americas Formative stage Classic stage Post-Classic stage Woodland period Age of Discovery European colonization of the Americas Population history of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas Genocide Paper genocide Slavery Slavery in the United States Partus sequitur ventrem Indian Removal Act Trail of Tears Native American slave ownership Indian Territory American Civil War Dawes Rolls Cultural assimilation of Native Americans Racism against Native Americans Indian Appropriations Act Racial Integrity Act Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 Jim Crow laws Blood quantum laws Native Americans and World War II American Indian boarding schools Civil rights movement Red Power movement Native American rights Alcohol and Native Americans Native American temperance activists
Culture Mississippian culture Adena culture Hohokam culture Iroquois culture Art Food Music Pow wow Dance Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Film Indigenous Peoples' Day Literature Fashion Neighborhoods Health Tribal sovereignty
Wars Beaver Wars Anglo-Powhatan Wars Pequot War Kieft's War Peach Tree War Esopus Wars King Philip's War Tuscarora War Yamasee War Dummer's War Pontiac's War Lord Dunmore's War American Revolutionary War Cherokee–American wars Northwest Indian War War of 1812 Creek War Arikara War Seminole Wars / Second Seminole War Osage Indian War American Civil War Texas–Indian wars (1836–1877) / Comanche Wars (1836–1877) / Antelope Hills expedition (1858) / Comanche Campaign (1867–1875) / Red River War (1874–1875) / Buffalo Hunters' War (1876–1877) Cayuse War Apache Wars (1849–1924) / Jicarilla War (1849–1855) / Chiricahua Wars (1860–1886) / Tonto War (1871–1875) / Victorio's War (1879–1880) / Geronimo's War (1881–1886) / Post 1887 Apache Wars period (1887–1924) Yuma War Ute Wars(1850–1923) / Battle at Fort Utah (1850) / Walker War (1853–1854) / Tintic War (1856) / Black Hawk War (1865–1872) / White River War (1879) / Ute War (1887) / Bluff War (1914–1915) / Bluff Skirmish (1921) Posey War (1923) Sioux Wars (1854–1891) / First Sioux War (1854-1856) / Dakota War (1862) / Colorado War (1863–1865) / Powder River War (1865) / Red Cloud's War (1866–1868) / Great Sioux War (1876–1877) / Northern Cheyenne Exodus (1878-1879) / Ghost Dance War (1890–1891) Rogue River Wars (1855–1856) Yakima War (1855–1858) / Puget Sound War (1855–1856) / Coeur d'Alene War (1858) Mohave War(1858–1859) Navajo Wars (1849–1866) Paiute War(1860) Yavapai Wars(1861–1875) Snake War (1864–1869) Hualapai War (1865–1870) Modoc War (1872–1873) Nez Perce War (1877) Bannock War (1878) Crow War (1887) Bannock Uprising (1895) Yaqui Uprising (1896) Battle of Sugar Point (1898) Crazy Snake Rebellion (1909) Last Massacre (1911) Battle of Kelley Creek (1911) Battle of Bear Valley (1918)
Political movements Civil rights movement Self-determination Women in politics Nationalism American Indian Movement (AIM) Red Power Movement Occupation of Alcatraz Trail of Broken Treaties Wounded Knee Occupation MMIW Red handprint Dakota Access Pipeline protests
Religion American Indian Religious Freedom Act Christianity Eagle Feather law Mormonism Traditional religions Native American Church Longhouse Religion Sun Dance Keetoowah Society Midewiwin Wabunowin Wocekiye
Groups National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Native American Rights Fund (NARF) National Congress of American Indians National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) Women of All Red Nations (WARN) The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC)
Ethnic subdivisions Black Indians Indigenous peoples of the Americas Louisiana Creole
Languages English American English Native American languages
Demographics Neighborhoods Societal statistics Reservations Tribal disenrollment Reservation poverty
Geography by region Great Basin Northeastern Woodlands Northwest Plateau Pacific Northwest Great Plains Southeastern Woodlands Southwest by state Alaska Arizona California Colorado Florida Hawaii Iowa Maryland Michigan Nebraska North Carolina Oklahoma Oregon Virginia Wisconsin
Lists Native Americans artists actors war leaders musicians congressional politicians Native American Medal of Honor recipients List of federally recognized tribes List of federally recognized tribes by state List of Indian reservations in the United States
v t e

Indigenous peoples of Arizona are theNative American people who currently live or have historically lived in what is now the state ofArizona. There are 22federally recognized tribes in Arizona, including 17 withreservations that lie entirely within its borders. Reservations make up over a quarter of the state's land area.^[1][2] Arizona has the third largest Native American population of any U.S. state.^[2]

Archaeological evidence for the presence ofPaleo-Indians in Arizona dates back at least 13,000 years.^[3] Over subsequent millennia, several complex and long-lived cultures emerged; these included theHohokam,Mogollon,Sinagua, andAncestral Puebloans, who are all thought to be ancestors of multiple modern tribes.^[4][5][6][7] The firstSpanish settlers arrived in present-day Arizona in the mid-16th century, later establishingmissions and drastically disrupting the indigenous way of life.^[3]

Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, present-day Arizona was ruled in turn by Spain, Mexico, and the United States. Settlers from all three nations encountered resistance from native Arizona communities, particularly theApache.^[3] During 19th and 20th century American rule, Arizona Natives faced forcedcultural assimilation under theboarding school system, environmental degradation on reservation lands, and, in some cases,ethnic cleansing.^[3]

In the 21st century, Arizona's Native communities continue to play a prominent role in its culture, notably in its tourism industry.^[8] However, they also face systemic inequality, including a lack of water infrastructure and an increased susceptibility to health crises such as theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[9][10]

Paleo-Indians are believed to have first settled present-day Arizona at least 13,000 years ago.Clovis spear points have been discovered in several locations along theSan Pedro River, including at theNaco andLehner Mammoth Kill Sites. Paleo-Indian peoples were hunter-gatherers who relied highly on North Americanmegafauna for food.^[3] The followingArchaic period saw these early cultures transition from specializing in big game to a more varied diet, including the advent of early agricultural practices. Archaic cultures identified in present-day Arizona include theSan Dieguito complex, thePicosa and subsequentOshara traditions, and theearly Basketmakers.^[11]

Following the end of the Archaic period, several prominent cultures emerged in present-day Arizona, including theHohokam,Mogollon,Sinagua, andAncestral Puebloans. All of these peoples constructedpueblos, a type of monumental, multi-storied structure that could house as many as several thousand individuals. Several archaeological sites in Arizona that preserve pueblos include the HohokamCasa Grande Ruins, the SinaguaMontezuma Castle andTuzigoot, and the Ancestral Puebloan structures ofWupatki National Monument. The Hohokam are also known for constructing an elaborate system of canals in what is now thePhoenix metropolitan area, which formed the foundation of the modern-daySalt River Project that provides water for much of Central Arizona.^[12]

During the 13th and 14th centuries CE, the Hohokam, Mogollon, Sinagua, and Ancestral Puebloan peoples all experienced a period of severe depopulation.^[3] While the precise causes of this are not definitively known, localized climate change, including severe drought and flooding, has been suggested as a driving factor, as has resource depletion and warfare with newly arrived groups in the region. This time saw the migration of theAthabaskan-speaking ancestors of theNavajo andApache from theRocky Mountains,^[13] as well as the ancestors of theYavapai.^[14] By contrast, the Hohokam, Mogollon, Sinagua, and Ancestral Puebloans are thought to be ancestral to the modern-dayOʼodham,Hopi, andZuni people, although this can be difficult to determine with certainty.^[4][5][6][7]

The first Europeans to enter present-day Arizona wereMarcos de Niza in 1539 andFrancisco Vázquez de Coronado in 1540, both of whom encountered the Zuni and were met with resistance. In the second half of the 17th century, theSpanish Empire began widespread exploration of present-day Arizona, including the establishment of over twentymissions in thePimería Alta byEusebio Kino to introduceChristianity to the localAkimel andTohono Oʼodham populations.^[3]

By the mid-18th century, decades of violence and forcible lifestyle changes from Spanish colonization led to discontent among the O'odham, who in 1751 ignited thePima Revolt under the leadership ofLuis Oacpicagigua.^[15] The late 18th century saw intense rebellion against Spanish rule by the Apache, particularly during the 1770s, which led to the expansion ofpresidios in present-day Arizona, including thePresidio San Agustín del Tucsón.^[16] In the late 1780s, the presidios began to hand out rations to the Apache, which reduced the scope of the conflict.

In 1821, the end of theMexican War of Independence transferred control over present-day Arizona from the Spanish to the newly-establishedMexican Empire, leading to the withdrawal of Spanish troops and the eventual abandonment of every mission butMission San Xavier del Bac, nearTucson. The end of the Spanish policies that had led to relative peace with the Apache reignited the conflict, leading to decades of bloodyApache–Mexico Wars.^[3]

A majority of Arizona and a part ofNew Mexico became administered by theUnited States during the late 1840s as a result of the American victory in theMexican–American War; the southernmost portion of the state, including Tucson, waspurchased by the U.S. in 1854. Soon after establishing control over the area, the United States government constructed a series of military forts to enforce its authority over the Native population; the first of these,Fort Defiance, was established in Navajo territory in 1851.^[17] After a series of conflicts, including the 1860Second Battle of Fort Defiance, the military commander of New Mexico Territory,James H. Carleton, and Col.Kit Carson launched a relentless campaign against the Navajo. Upon their surrender in 1864, they, along with theMescalero Apache, were forced to migrate from their land in present-day Arizona to internment camps atFort Sumner/Bosque Redondo, in an act ofethnic cleansing that would become known as theLong Walk. It is estimated that hundreds of Navajo died during the migration itself, and upward of 2,000 died due to poor conditions at Bosque Redondo.^[18] The Army's difficulties in managing the reservation led them to negotiate the 1868Treaty of Bosque Redondo with the Navajo, which allowed them to return to their land in exchange for establishing a separate reservation there.

The U.S. government also engaged in a series of conflicts with the Apache. Lasting for nearly forty years between 1849 and 1886, theApache Wars remain the longest armed conflict in U.S. history.^[19] Though conflict had erupted earlier in New Mexico, fighting in present-day Arizona was sparked by the 1861Bascom affair. U.S. campaigns against the Apache, as well as the Yavapai, continued for decades; they were particularly intense following the end of theCivil War, when up to a quarter of all U.S. troops were stationed in the Southwest.^[3] The Tohono O'odham, who had themselves been hostile with the Apache since at least the late seventeenth century, were occasional allies for the Americans, such as in 1871, when a coalition of O'odham and American settlers conducted amassacre of 144 Apaches atCamp Grant. The formal end of the Apache Wars is not clearly defined; while 1886, which saw the Apache leaderGeronimo surrender to the Americans and manyChiricahua Apache deported toFlorida, is often cited,sporadic fighting continued until the early 20th century.^[3]

In addition to direct conflicts, other aspects of the United States' policy toward Native peoples profoundly affected Arizona Natives' way of life. The establishment of reservations, beginning with theGila River Indian Community in 1859, sometimes involved the resettlement of indigenous groups away from their traditional land.^[20] The second half of the 19th century also saw the establishment of theAmerican Indian boarding school system, including thePhoenix Indian School, founded in 1891. Intended to forciblyassimilate Arizona Native children into American culture, school policies prohibited the use of native languages and clothing and separated children from the same tribe.^[20] Although the curriculum underwent heavy reform during the 1930s at the behest of reformistBureau of Indian Affairs chiefJohn Collier, the school remained open until 1990.

Around the turn of the 20th century, brutal oppression during the MexicanYaqui Wars drove many Yaquis to flee north to Arizona, becoming thePascua Yaqui Tribe; by 1940, Arizona was home to around 2,500 Yaquis.^[21] Despite this, the Pascua Yaquis were not recognized by the United States government until 1978, when the Pascua Yaqui Reservation was established on the outskirts of Tucson. It is the most recent reservation to be established entirely within Arizona.^[20]

The 20th century also saw an increasingly strong movement for self-determination among Arizona Natives, particularly the Navajo. During the construction of theHoover Dam, John Collier and the U.S. government, believing that Navajo agriculture was causing environmental damage to the area, forced farmers to cull their livestock; the resulting economic impact led the Navajo to engage in organized political resistance and more robust self-governance, a process which accelerated further afterWorld War II.^[20] Some Arizona tribes have also engaged inlanguage revitalization initiatives by incorporating indigenous languages into schooling, although state educational standards have at times come into conflict with these programs.^[22]

Following the passage of the 1988Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which established a regulatory structure forNative American gaming in the United States, many Arizona Native tribes have turned to casinos as a source of income. Although only around forty percent of tribes nationwide operate gaming facilities, that proportion is much higher in Arizona, with 16 of the 22 recognized tribes being involved in gaming.^[20] Native-run casinos, along with sites on tribal land, museums, and cultural festivals, have become an important contributor to Arizona's tourism industry in the 21st century.^[8]

Native Americans in contemporary Arizona continue to face systemic inequality, compounded by a lack of critical infrastructure. During theCOVID-19 pandemic, indigenous peoples, particularly on tribal land, faced disproportionately higher rates of illness.^[10] In theNavajo Nation, by far the largest reservation in Arizona, 36% of residents live below the poverty line, 35% of residents lack running water, and thousands of residents lack electricity.^[23] Issues of water access have been compounded in recent years by droughts affecting theColorado River; moreover, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled inArizona v. Navajo Nation (2023) that the U.S. government has no obligation under the Treaty of Bosque Redondo to supply water to the Navajo.^[9]

• Apache
  • Chiricahua, southeastern Arizona
  • Western Apache
    • San Carlos Apache, southeastern Arizona
    • Tonto Apache, central Arizona
    • White Mountain Apache, eastern Arizona
• Cocopah, southwestern Arizona
• Halchidhoma, central Arizona
• Havasupai, northern Arizona
• Hopi, northeastern and western Arizona
• Hopi-Tewa, northeastern Arizona
• Hualapai, northwestern Arizona
• Maricopa (Piipaash), central Arizona
• Mohave, western Arizona
• Navajo, northeastern Arizona
• O'odham
  • Akimel O'odham (Pima), southern Arizona
  • Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham, southwestern Arizona
  • Tohono O'odham, southern Arizona
• Quechan (Yuma), southwestern Arizona
• Southern Paiute
  • Chemehuevi, western Arizona
  • Kaibab, northwestern Arizona
  • San Juan, northern Arizona
• Yaqui
  • Pascua Yaqui, southeastern Arizona
• Yavapai
  • Kwevkepaya (Southern Yavapai), south-central Arizona
  • Tolkepaya (Western Yavapai), western Arizona
  • Wipukepa (Northeastern Yavapai), north-central Arizona
  • Yavapé (Northwestern Yavapai), northern Arizona
• Zuni, eastern Arizona

TheSan Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, headquartered inTuba City, is federally recognized, but does not currently have a reservation.

The indigenous peoples of Arizona speak a variety of languages from several different language families. Speakers ofYuman–Cochimí languages include theHavasupai,Hualapai,Yavapai,Mohave,Halchidhoma,Quechan,Maricopa (Piipaash), andCocopah. The Navajo and Apache areSouthern Athabaskan-speaking people who migrated into the American Southwest from the north, possibly around 1300 CE.^[13] Apache bands connected to Arizona include theTonto Apache,Chiricahua,San Carlos Apache, andWhite Mountain Apache. TheSouthern Paiute, including theChemehuevi, speak theColorado River Numic language, aUto-Aztecan language; other Uto-Aztecan speakers include theHopi,O'odham, andPascua Yaqui. TheHopi-Tewa speak bothHopi and theTanoanTewa language.

TheZuni speak alanguage isolate. Various theories for relationships between theZuni language and other languages have been proposed, but none have been widely accepted by researchers.

• List of Indian reservations in Arizona
• Indigenous languages of Arizona

• People from Arizona
• Native American tribes in Arizona
• Lists of Indigenous peoples of the Americas
• Native American history of Arizona

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata