Oklahoma Indian Tribes

The following Indian tribes at one time are recorded in history as having resided within the present state of Oklahoma. If the tribe name is in bold, then Oklahoma is the primary location known for this tribe, otherwise we provide the tribes specifics as it pertains to Oklahoma and then provide a link to the main tribal page.

  • Alabama Indians. This was one of the tribes of the Creek Confederacy, part of which accompanied the Creeks to Oklahoma early in the nineteenth century and settled near Weleetka, where a small station on the Frisco Railway bears their name.
  • Apache Indians. The name was given to a tribe or rather a group of tribes. (See also Jicarilla under Colorado; Kiowa Apache, under Kansas; Lipan under Texas)
  • Apalachee Indians. A few individuals of this tribe removed to Oklahoma from Alabama or Louisiana. Dr. Gatschet learned the names of two or three individuals about 1884.
  • Arapaho Indians. In early times the Arapaho ranged to some extent over the western sections of Oklahoma, and part of them (the Southern Arapaho) were finally given a reservation and later allotted land in severalty in the west central part along with the Southern Cheyenne.
  • Biloxi Indians. A few Biloxi reached Oklahoma and settled with the Choctaw and Creeks.
  • Caddo Indians. The Caddo moved to Oklahoma in 1859 and were given a reservation in the southwestern part about Anadarko, where they were allotted land in severalty. (See Texas.)
  • Cherokee Indians. The Cherokee were moved to a large reservation in the northeastern part of Oklahoma in the winter of 1838-39. After nearly 70 years of existence under their own tribal government they were allotted land in severalty and became citizens of the United States.
  • Cheyenne Indians. The history of the Southern Cheyenne parallels that of the Southern Arapaho as given above.
  • Chickasaw Indians. The Chickasaw moved to the present Oklahoma between 1822 and 1840. They had their own government for many years but are now citizens.
  • Choctaw Indians. This tribe moved to Oklahoma about the same time as the Chickasaw though several thousand remained in their old country. Like the Chickasaw they had their own national government for a long time but are now citizens at large of Oklahoma.
  • Comanche Indians. The western part of Oklahoma was occupied by the Comanche during their later history, and they were finally given a reservation in the southwestern part of it, where they were allotted land in severalty and given the privileges of citizenship. (See Texas.)
  • Creek Confederacy. The tribes constituting the Creek Confederacy came to Oklahoma between 1836 and 1841 and were given a reservation in the northeastern part, where they maintained a national government until early in the present century when their lands were allotted in severalty, and they became citizens.
  • Delaware Indians. In 1867 a part of the Delaware were removed from Kansas to the northeastern part of what is now Oklahoma and incorporated with the Cherokee Nation. Another band of Delaware is with the Caddo and Wichita in southwestern Oklahoma. (See New Jersey.)
  • Fox Indians. A few Fox Indians accompanied the Sauk (q. v.) to Oklahoma in 1867.
  • Hitchiti Indians. This is a subtribe of the Creek Confederacy.
  • Illinois Indians. In 1868 the surviving Illinois Indians, principally Peoria and Kaskaskia, previously united with the Miami bands, Wea and Piankashaw, moved to Oklahoma and occupied a reserve in the northeastern part of the State under the name Peoria. (See Illinois.)
  • Iowa Indians. Part of the Iowa were moved from Kansas to a reserve in central Oklahoma set apart in 1883; they were allotted land in severalty in 1890. (See Iowa.)
  • Iroquois Indians. Some Iroquois Indians, together with the Tuscarora, some Wyandot, and probably Indians of the former Erie Nation, all under the name of Seneca Indians, were given a reservation in northeastern Oklahoma, where their descendants still live, now as citizens of the United States. (See New York and Ohio.)
  • Jicarilla Indians. This was one of those Athapascan tribes known as Apache. In early times they ranged over parts of western Oklahoma. (See Colorado.)
  • Kansa Indians. In 1873 the Kansa were moved to Oklahoma and given a reservation in the northeastern part of the State. (See Kansas.)
  • Klchai Indians. In very early times this tribe lived on, or perhaps north of, Red River, but later they worked their way south to the head-waters of the Trinity. In 1859 they returned to the north side of the river in haste in fear of attack by the Texans and have since lived with the Wichita in the neighborhood of Anadarko. (See Texas.)
  • Kickapoo Indians. In 1873 some Kickapoo were brought back from Mexico and settled in the central part of Oklahoma, where all but a certain portion of the Mexican band were afterward gathered.
  • Kiowa Indians and Kiowa Apache Indians. These tribes formerly ranged over much of the western part of this State. (See Kansas.)
  • Koasati Indians. The Koasati were one of the tribes of the Creek Confederacy. They removed to northeastern Oklahoma with the rest of the Creeks and settled in the western part of the Creek territory.
  • Lipan Indians. The Lipan were the easternmost band of Apache; some of them are with the Tonkawa. (See Texas.)
  • Miami Indians. Part of the Miami were brought from Indiana and given a reservation in the extreme northeastern part of Oklahoma along with the Illinois. (See Indiana.)
  • Mikasuki Indians. Some of these Indians accompanied the Seminole to Oklahoma and as late as 1914 had a Square Ground of their own.
  • Missouri Indians. The remnant of the Missouri came to Oklahoma with the Oto in 1882 and shared their reservation. (See Missouri.)
  • Modoc Indians. In 1873, at the end of the Modoc War, a part of the defeated tribe was sent to Oklahoma and placed on the Quapaw Reservation where a few yet remain. (See Oregon.)
  • Muklasa Indians. A small Creek division said to have kept its identity in Oklahoma.
  • Munsee Indians. A few Munsee accompanied the Delaware proper to Oklahoma and 21 were reported there in 1910. (See New Jersey.)
  • Muskogee Indians. This was the name of the principal tribe or group of tribes of the Creeks.
  • Natchez Indians. A small band of Natchez accompanied the Creeks to Oklahoma and settled near Eufaula, where they later became merged in the rest of the Creek population. Another band of Natchez settled in the Cherokee Nation, near Illinois River, and a very few still preserve something of their identity.
  • Nez Percé Indians. Chief Joseph’s band of Nez Perce were sent to Oklahoma in 1878, but they suffered so much from the change of climate that they were transferred to Colville Reservation in 1885.
  • Okmulgee Indians. A Creek tribe and town belonging to the Hitchiti division of the Nation. Its name is perpetuated in the city of Okmulgee, former capital of the Creek Nation in Oklahoma.
  • Osage Indians. The Osage formerly owned most of northern Oklahoma and after they had sold the greater part of it still retained a large reservation in the northeast, which they continue to occupy, though they have now been allotted land in severalty. (See Missouri.)
  • Oto Indians. In 1880 a part of the Oto moved to the lands of the Sauk and Fox Indians in Oklahoma and in 1882 the rest followed. (See Nebraska.)
  • Ottawa Indians. When they surrendered their lands in Michigan and Ohio, some Ottawa bands including those of Blanchard’s Fork and Roche de Boeuf migrated to Kansas, and about 1868, to Oklahoma, settling in the northeastern part of the State. (See Michigan.)
  • Pawnee Indians. The Pawnee moved to Oklahoma in 1876 and were given a reservation in the north central part of the State, where they have now been allotted land in severalty. (See Nebraska.)
  • Peoria Indians. (See Illinois.) Piankashaw, see Miami.
  • Ponca Indians. In 1877 the Ponca were moved by force to Oklahoma and, though some individuals were finally allotted land in severalty in their old country, the greater part settled permanently near the Osage in northeastern Oklahoma.
  • Potawatomi Indians. The Potawatomi of the Woods were moved from Kansas to Oklahoma in 1867?81 and given a reservation in the central part of the State.
  • Quapaw Indians. Lands were granted to the Quapaw in the extreme southeastern part of Kansas and the extreme northeastern part of Oklahoma in 1833. In 1867, they ceded all their lands in Kansas and have since confined themselves within the limits of Oklahoma, though the reservation of the Osage.
  • Sauk Indians. In 1867 the Sauk ceded their lands in Kansas in exchange for a tract in the central part of Oklahoma, where they have continued to live down to the present time.
  • Seminole Indians. The greater part of the Seminole were removed to Oklahoma after the Seminole War in Florida.
  • Seneca Indians, see Iroquois Indians.
  • Shawnee Indians. The Absentee Shawnee moved from Kansas to what is now central Oklahoma about 1845; in 1867 .i second band, which had been living with the Seneca in Kansas, also moved to Oklahoma but settled in the extreme northeastern part of the State; and in 1869 the third and largest section removed to the lands of the Cherokee by agreement with that tribe.
  • Tawakoni Indians
  • Tawehash Indians
  • Tonkawa Indians. In 1884 the remnant of the Tonkawa were removed to Oklahoma and the next year settled on a reservation near Ponca, where they were finally allotted land in severalty. (See Texas.)
  • Tuskegee Indians. A Creek division believed to be connected linguistically with the Alabama Indians. It removed to Oklahoma with the other Creeks and established itself in the northwestern part of the allotted territory.
  • Waco Indians
  • Wea Indians, see Miami Indians.
  • Wichita Indians
  • Wyandot Indians. In 1867 a part of the Wyandot who had been living in Kansas was removed to the northeastern corner of Oklahoma where they have since remained. It is probable that this body includes more of the old Tionontati than of the true Wyandot.
  • Yscani Indians
  • Yuchi Indians. Although originally an independent tribe, the Yuchi united with the Creeks before coming west, and they settled in the Creek Nation, in the northwestern part of that territory, where their descendants still live.

Collection:
Swanton, John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 145. Washington DC: US Government Printing Office. 1953.

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4 thoughts on “Oklahoma Indian Tribes”

  1. Christiane Honeycutt

    Looking for Mahate (Martha, Mah Wah tah, ) Brown Goforth born 1800-1822? She is Chickasaw. Sister to Ellateecha Brown McClure Smith, Kaliteyo McCaughey Maytubby, Japawnee( brother). Also possibly sister to Millie Milton Brown Goforth aka Mah wah tah , or Mowa, aka Millatirwa “summer moon”. There is thought Mahate/Millie might be same woman. Mahate is my gggg Grandmother, she is mother of a William Goforth and Solomon Selma Goforth b. 1829-35? (my ggg grandfather) dna tested. Solomon is buried in the Maytubby cemetery in OK. I cannot find who Mahate was married to. She may have been married twice. Possibly John Jerden Goforth b. 1819. Or, William “white man” Goforth b. Abt. 1803. Her father is speculated to be Al Ah Tack Brown, or some say Chief Peta Nocona of the Comanches.. Mother rumored to be White Huron? There is much speculation, little concrete information regarding Mahate. She walked the Trail of Tears with her son’s .Also rumored to have been sold to Goforth’s by “Milton” . If any of this rings a bell, I’ve searched extensively! Would be so grateful for more information.

  2. Dee Conover Smelcer

    I am trying to find out my great grandmother’s first name. She, and her family were last named Depriest. She, and her cousin, Cordia, married Swingle brothers. The women were Creek from Oklahoma.

  3. VALARIE Ann ALLEN

    My children are both part Blackfoot on their fathers side. Their is no record I was told because everything burned to the ground years ago in Oklahoma. Is a DNA test enough for them to get approved for government benefits ?
    Thank you
    Valarie Allen

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