The Indigenous World 2025: United States of America

Written on 25 April 2025. Posted in United States

The number of Indigenous people in the United States of America is estimated at between 3.3 and 8.8 million,1 of which around 20% live in American Indian areas or Alaska Native villages.

Indigenous Peoples in the United States are more commonly referred to as Native groups. The state with the largest Native population is California; the place with the largest Native population is New York City.

With some exceptions, official status as American Indian or Alaska Native is conferred on members of federally-recognized tribes. Five hundred and seventy-four Native American tribal entities were recognized as American Indian or Alaska Native tribes by the United States in January 2024,2 and most of these have recognized national homelands. Federally-recognized Native nations are inherently sovereign nations but their sovereignty is legally curbed by being unilaterally defined as wards of the federal government. The federal government mandates tribal consultation for many issues but has plenary authority over Indigenous nations. Many Native nations have specific treaty rights and the federal government has assumed responsibility for Native peoples through its guardianship, although those responsibilities are often underfunded. There are also State-recognized and non-recognized American Indian tribes but these are not officially Native nations in the eyes of the federal government.

While socio-economic indicators vary widely across different regions, the poverty rate for those who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native is around 22-24%.3

The United States announced in 2010 that it would support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as moral guidance, after voting against it in 2007. The United States has not ratified ILO Convention No. 169.

All American Indians born within the territory claimed by the United States have been American citizens since 1924; they are also citizens of their own nations.

This article is part of the 39^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous activist Funa-ay Claver, a Bontok Igorot, standing alongside Indigenous youth activists and others. They are protesting against the repressive laws and human rights violations suffered through the actions and projects of the Government of the Philippines and other actors against Indigenous Peoples at President Marcos Jr’s national address on 22 July 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken by Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2025 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2025 in full here

In October 2024, President Joe Biden (D) apologized for the boarding school policies of the United States during the era of forced assimilation.4 This apology followed the publication of the second and final volume of the Federal Indian Boarding School Investigative Report in July.5 The report issued eight recommendations, one of which was an apology. The apology was welcomed; some people saw its timing right before the election as suspect.

Native children

After the U.S. Supreme Court defended the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) in 2023, new challenges against the act were introduced in 2024. A case in Minnesota is currently challenging ICWA and the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act (MIFPA) as supposedly enacting racial discrimination. ICWA and state laws specify that Native children should preferentially be fostered and adopted by Native people and gives tribes rights to intervene in adoption proceedings (see The Indigenous World 2022). Native children are over-represented in foster care, especially in states with the largest relative Native population. In Montana, where about 10% of children are Native, Native children make up 30% of the foster child population. In South Dakota, with a similar percentage of Native children, Native children make up over 70% of the state’s foster child population. One solution that states are turning to is to make it easier for relatives to foster children without having to qualify as foster parents. In November, the Center for Native American Youth released a report which indicates that youth who feel they have cultural knowledge are four times more likely to see themselves as capable of making a difference in their lives and communities.6

Mining

In October, the Bureau of Land Management gave final approval to the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada (see The Indigenous World 2024), and the Department of Energy finalized a USD $2.2 billion loan to the project. In December, Lithium Americas Corp. announced a joint venture with General Motors to develop the mine, which is located on ancestral Shoshone and Paiute territory.

Over 120 lithium mining projects are in various stages of development, the majority in Nevada. In November, the Hualapai Tribe received a restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the further development of one lithium project that threatens the Ha’Kwamwe’ sacred site in Arizona.7 A federal court siding with a tribe to stop a development project on religious grounds is a significant development.

However, in March, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in a very close decision (6-5) that the destruction of Oak Flat, a sacred place for the Apache, would not constitute a substantial burden for their religion.8 Oak Flat lies on top of the planned Resolution Copper mine in Arizona (see The Indigenous World 2024). In June, the court declined to re-hear the case. Apache Stronghold, the organization trying to defend the place, then petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the case. The petition has gained support from the Mennonite Church, the Catholic bishops, and many other religious organizations. Some of them are hoping for a precedent that could be applied in other instances. In November, the Supreme Court declined to hear a separate case against the mine, allowing the potential further pollution of waterways in the area.

Energy

In November, Wisconsin issued permits for a reroute of the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline around the Bad River reservation, where the pipeline has been illegally trespassing (see The Indigenous World 2024). The Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of  Chippewa Indians and environmental groups are challenging these permits. The permits were issued three days after Enbridge Line 6 leaked some 70,000 gallons of oil in Wisconsin.

In October, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed a new lawsuit against the continued operation of the Dakota Access Pipeline (see The Indigenous World 2017, 2022). The pipeline has been operating without a permit. The new suit is also based on new information that came to light because of an ongoing lawsuit by the pipeline company against Greenpeace for supporting protests in 2016.

In December, a federal judge decided that Enel Green must dismantle a wind farm built on Osage Nation mineral estate lands in Oklahoma. While the company leased the land, it did not get a mining lease from the Osage Nation. The Osage argued that the construction of the foundations to the 84 wind turbines constitute mining, and the judge agreed. The 84 turbines, providing renewable energy for around 50,000 homes, need to be dismantled within a year.

A different dismantling was accomplished in California and Oregon, where the last of four hydroelectric power dams on the Klamath River were removed in August, after more than a year of work (see The Indigenous World 2024). A month later, spawning salmon were observed upstream. In February, the Klamath, Yurok, and Karuk tribes came to an agreement on water allocation to the Klamath River with the Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA), representing the irrigation farmers in the Klamath Basin. By June, however, the KWUA was asking the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to decide that releasing water to the river system under the Endangered Species Act should be ignored in favor of holding back water for irrigation. The Yurok tribe strongly objected. The tribes want to allocate their portion of water to flow in the river to protect the salmon while the irrigation farmers want to prevent water being allocated to instream flows and instead use it for their fields.

On the Columbia and Snake Rivers in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, federal agencies said they would revisit a 2020 study of hydropower dams. The Nez Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs, and Yakama tribes had agreed to a ten-year litigation pause in December 2023. In June, a new study on the impact of the dams on river tribes was published.9 The Biden administration was leaning toward the breaching of four dams on the Snake River.

Alaska

In February, a new opinion by the solicitor of the Department of the Interior came to the conclusion that Alaska Native tribes have sovereignty over allotments owned by individual Alaska Natives. The opinion gives tribes jurisdiction over these parcels. There are over 17,000 such allotments in Alaska. The state of Alaska is beginning a legal process to challenge the opinion.

In June, a federal judge ruled that the federal government can take land into trust for federally-recognized Alaska Native tribes.10 The state of Alaska had previously sued against this possibility (see The Indigenous World 2019, 2024). In August, the state appealed the decision. Land-in-trust status is under tribal law and is shielded from state taxation.

In November, the Biden administration approved a land transfer that would make it possible to build a road from King Cove to Cold Bay, through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. Many tribes had opposed this road, while the mostly Native people of King Cove supported it. The road would give emergency access to the runway in Cold Bay.

In the fall, the last remaining residents of Newtok moved to Mertarvik, a new village site (see The Indigenous World 2013). Newtok is the first of many Alaska Native villages that need to be evacuated because of the effects of climate change. The next villages will probably be Kivalina and Napapiak. However, Kivalina’s new village site is susceptible to the same climate crisis effects that are destroying the original village.

By December, it also became clear that the incoming Trump administration intends to rename Mount Denali back to Mount McKinley. The state of Alaska had changed the name to Denali (its Koyukon name) in 1975, and the Obama administration had followed suit in 2015. Denali is the highest mountain in North America, and restoring it to a Native name has been symbolically highly significant – as will be a reversion.

Land

In June, Governor Newsom of California announced a pursuit of the return over 2,800 acres of land to the Shasta Indian Nation. These lands had been inundated by the Klamath River dams (see above). California also returned 417 acres to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and 40 acres to the Fort Independence Indian Community. In November, the Wiyot Tribe also received 357 acres of its ancestral lands back.

In July, President Biden signed a law to return 1,600 acres of land in Iowa from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. The tribe had fought for the return ever since the Corps took the land in an eminent domain action in the 1970s.

In August, the federal government approved a land-into-trust request from the Osage Nation for over 40,000 acres of land in Oklahoma. The Osage Nation had bought the land in 2016. The tribe signed the final agreement in November and is now running the property as the Osage Nation Ranch. As trust land, the tribe now has jurisdiction and sovereignty over this territory. This is the second largest successful land-into-trust application in history so far.

Health

In January, the state of South Dakota released new data for Native health.11 Between 2017 and 2021, 50% of Native people in the state died before age 58. The median age at death for white people in the state was 80. Suicide death rates were 2.6 times higher among American Indians, alcohol related death rates seven times higher. Deaths related to pregnancy were four times higher among American Indians in the state. Most of the tribal lands in the state are maternity care deserts, without access to midwife, physician, or health facility to provide healthcare to pregnant women.

While the Indian Health Service (IHS) remains underfunded, in October, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that, for the first time ever, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program would cover traditional health care practices at IHS facilities.

Because IHS clinics cannot provide all services, many Native people are referred to outside providers. While these services should be covered by IHS programs, the costs are often assigned to individuals. A new report published in December found that Native communities are disproportionally impacted by medical debt collection, which leads to lower credit ratings overall.12

Politics

With a change to a renewed Trump administration, many of the policies, protocols, and collaborations between tribes and federal agencies are now in question. In November, the National Park Service issued a director’s order to strengthen consultations, for example. Such consultations were often ignored during the first Trump administration (2017-2021). The incoming Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, has been Governor of North Dakota and has, in general, good relations with tribes although a heavy focus on removing regulations on fossil fuel extraction. The incoming Secretary of Homeland Security is Kristi Noem, Governor of South Dakota. All tribal governments in the state banned her from entering their territories in May. She had alleged that tribal governments profit from Mexican drug cartels.

In December, the White House Tribal Nations Summit took place, and issued a detailed progress report.13 The first Trump administration had previously suspended these summits, so their future is again in question.

Sebastian Braun is an anthropologist. He is Professor of Political Science and Director of American Indian Studies at Iowa State University. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This article is part of the 39^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous activist Funa-ay Claver, a Bontok Igorot, standing alongside Indigenous youth activists and others. They are protesting against the repressive laws and human rights violations suffered through the actions and projects of the Government of the Philippines and other actors against Indigenous Peoples at President Marcos Jr’s national address on 22 July 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines. The photo was taken by Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas and is the cover of The Indigenous World 2025 where this article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2025 in full here

Notes and references

1       Estimates vary depending on definitions. The official Census uses self-identification. It provides much smaller numbers for those who only identify as American Indian / Alaska Native (AIAN) than it does for those who identify as American Indian / Alaska Native and another population group. The Census also includes people who identify with Indigenous groups that are federally-recognized tribes, including those not from the United States. For example, it counts Aztec and Maya as AIAN groups. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian Health Service and other agencies of the federal government provide numbers based on enrollment in federally-recognized tribes and/or based on eligibility for their services. Current numbers are based on 2023 estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDP1Y2023.DP05?q=American%20Indian%20and%20Alaska%20Native

2       Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs. “Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs.” Federal Register 89 (5): 944-948. 08 January 2024. Notices.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-01-08/pdf/2024-00109.pdf

3       U.S. Census Bureau. Poverty in the United States: 2021. https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2022/demo/p60-277.pdf

4       October 25, 2024. Remarks by President Biden on the Biden-Harris Administration’s Record of Delivering for Tribal Communities, Including Keeping His Promise to Make this Historic Visit to Indian Country. Laveen Village, AZ.

      https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/10/25/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-biden-harris-administrations-record-of-delivering-for-tribal-communities-including-keeping-his-promise-to-make-this-historic-visit-to-indian-country-lavee/

5       Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report Vol. II. July 2024. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland.

      https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/media_document/doi_federal_indian_boarding_school_initiative_investigative_report_vii_final_508_compliant.pdf

6       Katy Stewart and Cheyenne Brady-Runsabove. Center Us. A Native Youth Survey Report. Center for Native American Youth. Aspen Institute. https://www.cnay.org/center-us-state-of-native-youth-report/

7       United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Hualapai Indian Tribe v. Debra Haaland. No. CV-24-08154-PCT-DJH. Order. 05 November 2024.

8       United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Apache Stronghold v. United States of America. No. 21-15295. D.C. No.2:21-cv-00050-SPL. Opinion.

https://cases.justia.com/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/21-15295/21-15295-2024-03-01.pdf?ts=1709321451

9       Department of the Interior. Historic and Ongoing Impacts of Federal Dams on the Columbia River Basin Tribes. June 2024. https://www.doi.gov/media/document/tribal-circumstances-analysis

10     United States District Court for the District of Alaska. State of Alaska v. Bryan Newland. Case No. 3:23-cv-00007-SLG. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24778730-240626-land-into-trust-order/

11      South Dakota Department of Health. American Indian Health Data Book. Selected Health Concerns in South Dakota.

      https://doh.sd.gov/media/htxbhvmu/american-indian-health-data-book_2024.pdf

12     Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Medical Collections on Credit Reports in Native American Communities.

      https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_aian-medical-debt_2024-12.pdf

13     Domestic Policy Council. The White House Tribal Nations Summit Progress Report. https://www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/media_document/12.5.24_tns_progress_report.508.pdf

Tags: Land rights, Business and Human Rights , Human rights