The Indigenous World 2026: United States of America
The number of Indigenous people in the United States of America is estimated at between 3.4 and 9.1 million.[1]
Indigenous Peoples from within the United States are categorized as American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIAN) by the US census bureau. Around 20% of the AIAN population live in American Indian areas or Alaska Native villages. 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 AIAN is conferred on members of federally-recognized tribes. Five hundred and seventy-four (574) tribal entities were recognized as American Indian or Alaska Native tribes by the United States in December 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 AIAN communities is around 25%. In some communities, it can reach 50%.
The United States announced in 2010 that it would support the UN 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 AIAN people born within the territory claimed by the United States are American citizens; they are also citizens of their own nations.
This article is part of the 40th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. Find The Indigenous World 2026 in full here
2025 saw the beginning of the second Trump administration. President Donald Trump (R) immediately tried to cut billions of dollars from the budget and began to change policies, especially in relation to immigration and environmental protections, but also affecting relations with Native nations. In January, the highest mountain in North America, Denali in Alaska, was officially renamed by the federal government to Mount McKinley.[3] In February, the administration removed a congressionally mandated report on missing and murdered Indigenous women from the Department of Justice’s website. The report had provided information and proposed solutions to address the crisis (see The Indigenous World 2022). The law mandating the report was passed under the first Trump administration in 2020 but it seems to have been deemed to violate a newly announced ban on any content seen to relate to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues.[4] In March, Trump rescinded a 2023 Biden executive order that had given tribes more spending autonomy, among other things on public safety and emergency response projects.[5] In September, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that the soldiers who had received the Medal of Honor for their actions in the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee, where over 250 mostly unarmed Native men, women, and children were killed, would keep their medals after a review that has not been made public.[6]
Immigration
One of the first policies the Trump administration has tried to eliminate is birthright citizenship. The administration has been arguing against birthright citizenship (guaranteed in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. constitution[7]), including with an old case affecting Native citizenship from 1884.[8] While AIAN citizenship has not been questioned, the argumentation has raised fears.
The Trump administration began a ramp-up of immigration enforcement, including mass deportations, in January. Almost immediately, reports of Native people being stopped and sometimes detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began to spread.[9] Reports that ICE was either confused or did not want to recognize tribal identity cards as valid documents continued throughout the year.[10] ICE enforcement targeted mostly people suspected of being in the United States illegally from Latin America; the appearance of some Native people apparently made them suspects. The Supreme Court in September seemed to allow ICE to stop and detain people based on factors such as appearance, language, and location.[11] While some Native people have been stopped or even detained in immigration sweeps, many more Indigenous people from outside the United States have been deported, questioned, intimidated, or held by authorities.
Budget cuts
Already underfunded federal programs have been severely impacted by attempts to cut budgets, implemented by forced retirements and firings across federal agencies. In February, Native leaders and Congress called on the administration to protect tribal programs and fulfill trust responsibilities.[12] In March, tribes became extremely concerned about funding for the Indian Health Service (IHS). Long underfunded, the agency was swept up in an effort to terminate the leases for federal buildings by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DoGE), not an official government agency but acting as one. Several programs were faced with the possibility of losing regional headquarters, including the Bemidji Area IHS in Minnesota,[13] and at least 12 other IHS facilities across the country.[14] The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Western Regional Office in Phoenix, Arizona,[15] and other BIA buildings and offices were also targeted by lease terminations. In February and March, at least USD 350 million in federal grant money for tribal critical infrastructure projects was suspended, often without announcement.[16] In June, the administration released its 2026 budget proposal, which foresaw major budget cuts, for example to public safety and justice programs at the BIA and construction for Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools – an agency with an estimated USD 1 billion backlog of deferred maintenance.[17] Tribal colleges and universities would have seen a 90% reduction in federal support under the proposal.[18] Tribes are working to convince Congress not to make those cuts. In February, Haskell Indian Nations University and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, two BIE-run colleges, saw around a quarter of their staff fired, leaving courses without instructors and infrastructure overwhelmed.[19]
Federal budget cuts also impacted Indigenous Peoples around the world. One of the primary targets of DoGE budget cuts was the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). It had been supporting causes such as transitions from coca farming to cocoa and coffee, and providing money and protection to organizations documenting human rights abuses and land rights.[20] These were not efforts primarily aimed at Indigenous Peoples. However, just like budget cuts to domestic federal agencies, the near elimination of USAID affects Indigenous Peoples perhaps more than others.
Climate crisis
How important infrastructure projects are for the safety of communities was shown in October when a storm hit the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, causing a 1.8 meter high tidal wave. Communities already under threat of relocation (see The Indigenous World 2024) faced catastrophic impacts. Over 1,500 people had to be airlifted to safety.[21] Also in October, Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum announced that 1.56 million acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would be opened for oil and gas leases, undoing a Biden administration decision (see The Indigenous World 2022).[22] This came on the heels of an announcement in June that the administration was considering opening an additional seven million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve, also on the Alaska North Slope.[23]
In May, a report was published that showed that the relocation of Newtok, an Alaskan coastal village, to the new town site of Mertarvik (see The Indigenous World 2025) has been fraught with problems. Some houses are already falling apart, and there is no running water in the houses because the BIA forgot to coordinate to have water lines installed under the roads.[24]
In June, President Trump withdrew the federal government from an agreement to restore salmon populations in the Columbia and Snake rivers. The deal, reached in 2023 (see The Indigenous World 2025), had been negotiated over years between the federal government, the states of Oregon and Washington, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and the Nez Perce Tribe. It was considering the removal of four major dams.[25]
Resource extraction
In May, the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal on the Resolution Copper Mine in Arizona, which would destroy a site sacred to the Apache, Oak Flat (see The Indigenous World 2024, 2025). The Court concluded that the destruction of one of the most sacred sites, needed for specific ceremonies, would not impose a substantial burden on the exercise of Apache religion. Justice Gorsuch issued a strongly-worded dissent.[26] The Court denied a petition for a rehearing in October. The mine, however, remains blocked until two other lawsuits can be addressed. In December, Arizona Representative Adelita Grijalva (D) reintroduced the Save Oak Flat from Foreign Mining Act to Congress.[27] While the administration has called the Native and non-Native resistance “anti-American”, the largest shareholder in the Resolution Copper Mine is the Chinese government, and the copper would be mostly exported to Asia.[28]
In February, Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum began a process to open all federal lands, including National Monuments, which often hold cultural and historic sites, to resource extraction (see The Indigenous World 2024).[29] In September, the Center for American Progress calculated that the administration was removing or weakening various protections from over 175 million acres of public lands.[30]
In October, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave permission to Enbridge to build a reroute of the Line 5 pipeline that would circumvent the Bad River reservation in northern Wisconsin (see The Indigenous World 2024, 2025). The Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians has filed suit against the decision, as it would impact waterways crucial for the tribe and for wild rice.[31] in March, in Michigan, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Bay Mills Indian Community, Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi, and Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi all withdrew as cooperating agencies from an Army Corps of Engineers study to encase Line 5 into a tunnel to cross the Straits of Mackinack, between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. They withdrew after the Corps signaled it might provide an expedited approval.[32] The pipeline currently crosses the Straits unprotected in the water.
Land and water
In northern California, the Yurok tribe received the last parts of 73 square miles of land in the Klamath River watershed from Western Rivers Conservancy. The nonprofit, with funds from state agencies and other organizations, had bought the land from timber companies and conveyed the title to the tribe for conservation.[33] The Spirit Lake Nation in North Dakota had 680 acres returned from the federal government in March.[34] The Prairie Band of Potawatomi in Kansas regained control over Shabbona Lake State Park in Illinois, 1,500 acres of their old homelands.[35]
In March, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in Oregon regained their hunting and fishing rights as the state of Oregon repealed a 1980 law that had limited their treaty rights.[36] In Alaska, the Trump administration revoked an opinion that gave Native Alaska villages sovereign powers over individual Native allotments (see The Indigenous World 2025). Neighbors and the state of Alaska had filed two lawsuits against the opinion after the Native Village of Eklutna began operating a casino on its land.[37]
As the Colorado River is shrinking, states are negotiating a new water agreement. Tribes are pushing for a seat at the table (see The Indigenous World 2024). In November, one nation, the Colorado River Indian Tribes, passed a resolution that declares the river to be a living being and a person under tribal law.[38] Rights of Nature are a potential way of extending protections to the environment (see The Indigenous World 2024).
Leonard Peltier
On his last day in office, President Joe Biden converted Leonard Peltier’s two consecutive life sentences to permanent house arrest. Peltier had been imprisoned since 1977 and had become a global symbol of political imprisonment in the United States. He was accused of killing two FBI agents as a member of the American Indian Movement in 1975 but has always steadfastly maintained his innocence.
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 40th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. Find The Indigenous World 2026 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 (or two different tribes). The Census also includes people who identify with Indigenous groups that are not 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. These numbers can differ considerably. Current numbers are based on 2024 estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.
[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] Rickert, Levi. “Trump Administration Rolls Back Executive Order on Tribal Sovereignty and Self-Governance,” Native News Online, 24 February 2026, https://nativenewsonline.net/sovereignty/trump-administration-rolls-back-executive-order-on-tribal-sovereignty-and-self-governance.
[4] Luetkemeyer, E.M. “Trump Administration Removes Report on Missing and Murdered Native Americans, Calling It DEI Content,” Cherokee Phoenix, 24 February 2026, https://www.cherokeephoenix.org/news/trump-administration-removes-report-on-missing-and-murdered-native-americans-calling-it-dei-content/article_5dd2b7ab-19f7-4552-b768-7071a7682e24.html.
[5] Rickert, Levi. op. cit., 3
[6] U.S. Department of the Interior, “Interior Department Advances Restoration of Historic Names Honoring American Greatness,” press release, accessed 24 February 2026, https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-advances-restoration-historic-names-honoring-american-greatness.
[7] Rickert, Levi. op. cit., 3
[8] Toropin, Konstantin. “Hegseth says Wounded Knee soldiers will keep their Medals of Honor”, Associated Press, accessed 24 February 2026, https://apnews.com/article/wounded-knee-hegseth-soldiers-medal-of-honor-0310c47952ad7aeabb176f94d8af4d52.
[9] Smith, C.K.,“Native Americans’ Tribal ID Deemed ‘Fake’ by ICE,” Salon, 28 November 2025, https://www.salon.com/2025/11/28/native-americans-tribal-id-deemed-fake-by-ice/.
[10] Rickert, Levi. op. cit. 3
[11] Elk v. Wilkins, 112 U.S. 94 (1884). The Supreme Court found that a Native person who was born on Native lands and had not been naturalized and was not paying taxes in the U.S. was not a citizen. All Native people in the U.S. were declared U.S. citizens in 1924.
[12] Becenti, Arlyssa. “Navajo Nation Leaders Address Reports of ICE Detaining Tribal Citizens,” Arizona Republic, 24 January 2025, https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2025/01/24/navajo-nation-leaders-address-reports-of-ice-detaining-tribal-citizens/77911978007/.
[13] Smith, C.K., op. cit. 9
[14] Noem v. Perdomo, 606 U.S. ___ (2025). The concurrence by Justice Kavanaugh led to what some people started calling “Kavanaugh stops.” In December, in another concurrence (Trump v. Illinois, 607 U.S. ____ (2025)), Justice Kavanaugh, in a footnote, emphasized the application of the 4th Amendment, which requires “reasonable suspicion” of illegal presence.
[15] Rickert, Levi and Neely Bardwell. “Native Organization Leaders Defend Tribal Sovereignty before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs,” Native News Online, 24 February 2026, https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/native-organization-leaders-defend-tribal-sovereignty-before-the-senate-committee-on-indian-affairs.
[16] Olsen, Melissa. “Potential Indian Health Service Office Lease Termination Bemidji,” MPR News, 6 March 2025, https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/03/06/potential-indian-health-service-office-lease-termination-bemidji.
[17] Henshaw, Melanie. “Clinic Closures, Firings, Buyouts: Northwest Tribes Sound Alarm about Cuts to Health Care, Education and Other Key Services,” InvestigateWest, 24 February 2026, https://www.investigatewest.org/clinic-closures-firings-buyouts-northwest-tribes-sound-alarm-about-cuts-to-health-care-education-and-other-key-services/.
[18] Rodriguez, Paola. “Federal Government to Close Bureau of Indian Affairs Western Regional Office, Alarming Tribes,” Arizona Public Media, 8 March 2025, https://news.azpm.org/p/azpmnews/2025/3/8/223969-federal-government-to-close-bureau-of-indian-affairs-western-regional-office-alarming-tribes/.
[19] Perez, Nate. “Federal Funding Freeze Harms Native Communities,” OPB, 15 April 2025, https://www.opb.org/article/2025/04/15/federal-funding-freeze-harms-native-communities/.
[20] Agoyo, Acee.“ ‘Absolutely Unacceptable’: Indian Country Hit with Major Budget Cuts,” Indianz.com, 2 June 2025, https://indianz.com/News/2025/06/02/absolutely-unacceptable-indian-country-hit-with-major-budget-cuts/.
[21] Abourezk, Kevin and Amelia Schafer. “Impact of Drastic Federal Funding Cuts on Tribal Colleges, Universities Would Be ‘Extremely Dire,’” KAXE, 9 June 2025, https://www.kaxe.org/local-news/2025-06-09/impact-of-drastic-federal-funding-cuts-on-tribal-colleges-universities-would-be-extremely-dire.
[22] Native American Rights Fund. “BIE Staff Cuts,” Native American Rights Fund, 24 February 2026, https://narf.org/bie-staff-cuts/.
[23] Brewer, Graham Lee. “USAID Cuts Threaten Indigenous People in Peru’s Amazon, Risk Increased Deforestation,” Associated Press, 24 February 2026, https://apnews.com/article/usaid-doge-cuts-indigenous-people-peru-amazon-deforestation-a5aca417f5f06c83d99832e53075702f.
[24] Anguiano, Dani. “Alaska Typhoon Halong Airlift Evacuations,” The Guardian, 16 October 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/16/alaska-typhoon-halong-airlift-evacuations.
[25] Manning, Elizabeth. “Trump Administration Opens the Entire Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to Oil and Gas Leasing,” Earthjustice, news release, 23 October 2025, https://earthjustice.org/press/2025/trump-administration-opens-the-entire-coastal-plain-of-the-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-to-oil-and-gas-leasing.
[26] Rosen, Yereth. “Trump Administration Revives Plan to Open Most of Arctic Alaska Land Unit to Oil Development,” Alaska Beacon, 17 June 2025, https://alaskabeacon.com/2025/06/17/trump-administration-revives-plan-to-open-most-of-arctic-alaska-land-unit-to-oil-development/.
[27] Schwing, Emily. “Newtok, Alaska Climate Relocation,” ProPublica, 24 February 2026, https://www.propublica.org/article/newtok-alaska-climate-relocation.
[28] Baumhardt, Alex. “Trump Ends Historic Columbia River Deal with Tribes, Northwest States on Endangered Fish,” The Oregonian/OregonLive, June 2025, https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/2025/06/trump-ends-historic-columbia-river-deal-with-tribes-northwest-states-on-endangered-fish.html.
[29] Apache Stronghold V. United States, et al. 605 U. S. ____ (2025) https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-291_5i26.pdf
[30] Pietrorazio, Gabriel. “Rep. Grijalva Introduces Late Dad’s Bill to Save Oak Flat as 1st Act on Capitol Hill,” KJZZ, 4 December 2025, https://www.kjzz.org/tribal-natural-resources/2025-12-04/rep-grijalva-introduces-late-dads-bill-to-save-oak-flat-as-1st-act-on-capitol-hill.
[31] Silversmith, Shondiin. “Court Stops Oak Flat Transfer to Resolution Copper in Emergency Order,” Arizona Mirror, 21 August 2025, https://azmirror.com/2025/08/21/court-stops-oak-flat-transfer-to-resolution-copper-in-emergency-order/.
[32] Berg, Kaili. “Interior Secretary Burgum Signs Order Requiring 15-Day Review of Public Lands for Development,” Native News Online, 24 February 2026, https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/interior-secretary-burgum-signs-order-requiring-15-day-review-of-public-lands-for-development-3.
[33] McConville, Drew, Mariel Lutz, Jenny Rowland-Shea. “The Trump Administration’s Expansive Push to Sell Out Public Lands to the Highest Bidder,” Center for American Progress, 24 February 2026, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-trump-administrations-expansive-push-to-sell-out-public-lands-to-the-highest-bidder/.
[34] Richmond, Todd. “Bad River Band and Other Groups Move to Block Reroute Plans for Enbridge’s Line 5,” PBS Wisconsin, 24 February 2026, https://pbswisconsin.org/news-item/bad-river-band-and-other-groups-move-to-block-reroute-plans-for-enbridges-line-5/.
[35] Bardwell, Neely. “In Disgust, Michigan Tribes Back Away from Enbridge Line 5 Talks,” Native News Online, 24 February 2026, https://nativenewsonline.net/environment/in-disgust-michigan-tribes-back-away-from-enbridge-line-5-talks.
[36] Lost Coast Outpost. “Largest-Ever Land Back Deal: California Returns 73,000 Acres to Tribal Stewardship,” Lost Coast Outpost, 5 June 2025, https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2025/jun/5/largest-ever-land-back-deal-california-returns-73/.
[37] Agoyo, Acee. “‘A Historic Victory’: Spirit Lake Nation Reclaims Land Taken by Federal Government,” Indianz.com, 20 March 2025, https://indianz.com/News/2025/03/20/a-historic-victory-spirit-lake-nation-reclaims-land-taken-by-federal-government/.
[38] Hancock, Peter. “Potawatomi to Reclaim Tribal Land in DeKalb County,” Capitol News Illinois, 24 February 2026, https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/potawatomi-to-reclaim-tribal-land-in-dekalb-county/
Tags: Global governance
