Arizona, a state in the southwestern region of theUnited States of America, is known for its high population ofNative Americans. Arizona has the third highest number (and the sixth highest percentage) of Native Americans of any state in the Union (SeeDemographics of Arizona). Out of the entire US population of 2.9 million Native Americans,[1] roughly 286,680 live in Arizona, representing 10% of the country's total Native American population. OnlyCalifornia andOklahoma have more Native Americans than Arizona by number. Arizona also has the highest proportion of land allocated to Native American reservations, at 28%.[2] Arizona has five of the twelvelargest Indian reservations in the United States, including the largest, theNavajo Nation, and the third-largest, theTohono O'odham Nation. Also, Arizona has the largest number of Native American language speakers in the United States.[3]
There are twelve Native American languages spoken in Arizona, in addition to three other languages that are primarily spoken outside the state and one language with a disputed existence.
Population estimates are based on figures from Ethnologue and U.S. Census data, as given in sub-pages below. The twelve languages are shown in the table below:
In addition to the languages listed in the table above, there are three other Native American languages spoken in Arizona that are primarily found inNew Mexico, located immediately to the east:
Zuni is alanguage isolate spoken primarily in theZuni Pueblo, which is located in northern New Mexico. Out of the approximately 10,000 people that form theZuni tribe, only 538 live in Arizona, located on trust lands inApache County. Unlike many other Native American languages, a vast majority of Zuni are able to speak their language, and Zuni is at a comparatively lower risk of extinction.[4]
Tewa is aTanoan language spoken by theTewa people of New Mexico. TheArizona Tewa are a group of Tewa that currently reside on theHopi reservation of northeastern Arizona, primarily in two villages aroundFirst Mesa: Hano andPolacca. The Tewa language is considered endangered.
^"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2011-04-29. Retrieved2014-05-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) 2010 Census Bureau
^Newman, Stanley. (1996). Sketch of the Zuni language. In I. Goddard (Ed.) Handbook of North American Indians: Languages (Vol. 17, pp. 483–506). Washington: Smithsonian Institution.
