How Oklahoma became home to 39 tribes
(OKLAHOMA) Around 16% of Oklahomans identify as Indigenous, a percentage of the population that is higher than all other states except for Alaska. In addition, Oklahoma is home to 39 tribes, and only Alaska and California have more.
Two regional Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) offices serve the state's tribes, the Eastern Oklahoma Office and the Southern Plains Regional Office, and much of present-day Oklahoma is tribal land.
As part of Native American Heritage Month, Crosswinds News researched the origins of the tribes that call Oklahoma home.
Oklahoma did not gain statehood until 1907, combining Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory into one state. But Native Americans influenced its history long before then.
Of Oklahoma’s 39 tribes, eight consider it their ancestral homeland: Wichita & Affiliated Tribes, Comanche, Kiowa, Apache Tribe of Oklahoma, Osage, Pawnee and Tonkawa. The ancestral homeland of the remaining 31 span more than 30 states.
So, how did Oklahoma as we know it become so populated with tribal nations?
Many tribes were displaced from their ancestral homelands as settlers entered their land in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Others were forced west of the Mississippi against their will following the Indian Removal Act, signed by Andrew Jackson in 1830. By the end of Jackson’s Presidency, 70 treaties had been signed forcing 50,000 Native Americans to move to Indian Territory.
The Choctaw Nation was the first tribe forced to move in 1831. The Seneca, Shawnee, and Ottawa tribes were in Ohio and signed treaties to leave the state and go west.
Throughout the rest of the 1830’s more tribes including the Seminole Nation, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Cherokee Nation, and Chickasaw Nation were forced to Indian Territory as treaties were signed. It’s estimated that more than 15,000 Native Americans died on the journey.
Additional information on the ancestral homelands of Oklahoma’s 39 tribes is as follows:
- Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians
- Homeland: Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee
- Removal: 1832–1854
- 1832: Shawnee people living in the Ohio area were forced to leave and go west
- 1854: Absentee Shawnee left for Indian Territory, deciding not to stay in Kansas as settlers bought up surplus land
- Present Day Capital: Shawnee
- Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town
- Homeland: Alabama
- Removal: 1830s, left as part of the Muscogee Creek Confederacy and ended up in Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: Wetumka
- Homeland: Alabama
- Apache Tribe of Oklahoma
- Homeland: Southern Plains
- Removal: 1867
- Placed on a reservation in what is known today as Southwestern Oklahoma
- Present Day Capital: Anadarko
- Caddo Nation
- Homeland: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas
- Removal: 1835- Caddo living in Northwest Louisiana forced to go to Indian Territory
- 1859- Caddo living in Texas left the state to avoid a massacre
- Existed in different bands that all ended up in Caddo County, Oklahoma after multiple forced removals
- Present Day Capital: Binger
- Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribe
- Homeland: Minnesota and Great Lakes region
- Removal: 1860s
- 1865: Treaty of Little Arkansas assigned Cheyenne and Arapaho to a reservation in western Indian Territory
- 1867: Medicine Lodge Treaty reassigned the Cheyenne and Arapaho to another reservation
- Present Day Capital: Concho
- Choctaw Nation:
- Homeland: Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama
- Relocation: 1831-1833,
- 15,000 Choctaws migrated west to what is now Kansas and Oklahoma
- Present Day Capital: Durant
- Cherokee Nation
- Homeland: Southeastern United States (North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama)
- Removal to Indian Territory: Began in 1838 on Trail of Tears
- Present Day Capital: Tahlequah, Oklahoma
- Chickasaw Nation
- Homeland: North Mississippi, Northwest Alabama, West Tennessee, Southwest Kentucky
- Removal: 1837 to 1851, most Chickasaws were forced to Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: Ada
- Citizen Potawatomi Nation
- Homeland: Initially Atlantic Coast, migrated to Great Lakes Region around 1300
- Indian Removal Act forced the tribe to leave northern Indiana and go to Kansas
- Removal to Indian Territory in 1867
- Present Day Capital: Shawnee
- Homeland: Initially Atlantic Coast, migrated to Great Lakes Region around 1300
- Comanche Nation
- Homeland: Northern Plains
- Migration: 1700’s- migrated to southern Plains and ended up establishing themselves in Southwest Oklahoma
- Present Day Capital: Lawton
- Delaware Nation
- Homeland: Present day Connecticut and Northern Delaware
- Removal: 1873- Removed from Texas to Wichita allotments in Anadarko, Oklahoma
- Present Day Capital: Anadarko
- Delaware Tribe of Indians
- Homeland: Delaware
- Removal: Moved to Northwest Kansas between 1829 and 1831 and were removed to Indian Territory in 1866
- Present Day Capital: Bartlesville
- Fort Sill Apache Tribe
- Homeland: Eastern Arizona/Western New Mexico (parts along U.S./Mexico Border)
- Removal: 1894 after being held as prisoners of war in Florida and Alabama
- Fort Sill Apache are survivors of Chiricahua Apache tribe
- Present Day Capital: Apache
- Eastern Shawnee Tribe
- Homeland: East of the Mississippi River/Ohio Valley Region
- Removal: 1830’s- forced to move to Indian Territory following Indian Removal Act
- Present Day Capital: Wyandotte, Oklahoma
- Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma
- Homeland: Resided in what is known as Iowa today for most of their history
- Removal: 1836- Assigned reservation on Nemaha River in Arkansas and Kansas
- 1883- Iowa Reservation in Oklahoma is established
- Present Day Capital: Perkins
- Kaw Nation
- Homeland: Great Plains/Kansas
- Removal: May 27, 1872 ford to move to Northern Kay County, Oklahoma
- Present Day Capital: Kaw City
- Kialgee Tribal Town
- Homeland: Alabama and Georgia
- Removal: Forced to move to Indian Territory in 1835
- Present Day Capital: Wetumka
- Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma
- Homeland: Southwest Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois
- Migration/Removal
- Early 1800s- Migrated to Missouri and Texas before Mexican Revolution
- 1839- Forced out of Republic of Texas- many went to Mexico
- Others went to Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: McCloud
- Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma
- Homeland: Originally British Columbia;later moved to western Montana, and then south to Nebraska/Oklahoma
- 1868: Assigned a reservation in Oklahoma
- Present Day Capital: Carnegie
- Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
- Homeland: Great Lakes Region
- Removal: 1846- forced to move near present-day Ly Cygne, Kansas
- Removal again in 1867 to Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: Miami
- MODOC Nation
- Homeland: California/Oregon Border
- Removal: October 12, 1873- forcibly removed to Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: Miami, Oklahoma
- Muscogee Nation
- Homeland: Southeastern United States (Alabama/Georgia/Florida/South Carolina
- Removal: 1836/1837- forced to move to Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: Okmulgee
- Osage Nation
- Homeland: Ohio River Valley and Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma
- Removal: 1870- forced to sell Kansas land and move to Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: Pawhuska
- Otoe-Missouria Tribe
- Homeland: Great Lakes Region
- Removal/Migration: 1855- forced to live on Big Blue River in Nebraska
- 1881- moved to reservation in Red Rock, Oklahoma
- Present Day Capital: Red Rock
- Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
- Homeland: Western Basin of Lake Erie
- Removal: 1831: Forced to move to Kansas
- 1867- forced to move to Indian Territory (Oklahoma)
- Present Day Capital: Miami
- Pawnee Nation
- Homeland: Central Plains (Iowa to Oklahoma)
- Migration to Indian Territory: 1874- Sold reservation in Nebraska to U.S. Government and moved to Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: Pawnee
- Peoria Tribe
- Homelands: Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio
- Removal: 1817- Treaty of Edwardsville moves them to Missouri, Kansas, and then Northeast Oklahoma
- Present Day Capital: Miami
- Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma
- Homelands: Nebraska/South Dakota
- Removal: 1877 to Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: Ponca City
- Quapaw Nation
- Homeland: Ohio/Wabash Rivers
- Removal: 1834
- Forced to Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: Quapaw
- Sac and Fox Nation
- Homeland: Mississippi River
- Removal: 1870s
- Moved to Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: Stroud
- Seminole Nation of Oklahoma
- Homelands: Florida, Alabama, southern Georgia)
- Migration: 1836
- Thousands of Seminoles migrated towards Indian Territory after the Seminole Wars (first arrival 1836)
- Present Day Capital: Wewoka
- Seneca-Cayuga Nation
- Homeland: Ohio
- Migration: 1831
- To Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: Grove
- Shawnee Tribe
- Homeland: Ohio
- Removal: 1830s–1870s
- Forced to give up their Ohio land in 1831 and moved to Kansas
- 1869: Forced out of Kansas and into Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: Miami, Oklahoma
- Thlopthlocco Tribal Town
- Homelands: Georgia/Alabama
- Removal: As part of the Muscogee Creek Confederacy they were forced to Indian Territory in 1835
- Present Day Capital: Okemah, Oklahoma
- Tonkawa Tribe of Indians
- Homelands: Central Texas, Western Oklahoma, Eastern New Mexico
- Removal: Forced to go to Indian Territory in 1884
- Present Day Capital: Tonkawa, Oklahoma
- United Keeotwah Band of Cherokee Indians
- Homelands: Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina
- Migration/Removal: Began moving west as settlers arrived and then were forced to Indian Territory after the Indian Removal Act
- Present Day Capital: Tahlequah, Oklahoma
- Wichita and Affiliated Tribes
- Homelands: Southern Plains
- Assigned a reservation in Indian Territory in 1859
- Present Day Capital: Anandarko, Oklahoma
- Wyandotte Nation
- Homeland: Upper Great Lakes Region and then later Michigan/Ohio
- Removal: 1843- Forced to move to Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: Wyandotte, Oklahoma
- Yuchi (Euchee) Tribe
- Homeland: Southeastern United States
- Removal: 1830’s forced by U.S. Government to move to Indian Territory
- Present Day Capital: Sapulpa, Oklahoma
Each of Oklahoma’s 39 tribes experienced a unique journey to the land they live on today. Still others with homelands west of the Mississippi lost land and were forced to move elsewhere.
