Arizona’s Indian Tribes and Communities

Twenty-two sovereign American Indian nations are found in Arizona, representing a wealth of cultural diversity. Total reservation land covers over one fourth of the state. Some tribes are descended from Arizona’s very first inhabitants. Others appeared just a few centuries before Spanish explorers trekked into the area. Today an estimated 5 to 6% of Arizona’s total population is of American Indian ancestry. In fact, the state has the second largest American Indian population in the entire U.S. In this map activity, students will graph the population of each Arizona Indian Reservation and examine the population density of these reservations.