Hundreds of American Indian and Alaska Native tribes live throughout the United States. As the nation prepares to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day this October, the month can serve as a great time for people from all walks of life to recognize the diverse range of groups who make up the American Indian and Alaska Native populations.
The United States Census Bureau reports that more than half of the country’s Native American population lives in five states. Oklahoma, which is home to 14.2 percent of all American Indians in the United States, has the largest such population of any state in the nation, followed by Arizona (12.9 percent), California (9.9), New Mexico (9.1), and Texas (4.8).
Data collection regarding all subsections of the U.S. population is ongoing, and that includes research into the American Indian and Alaska Native populations. But recent findings from the USCB illustrate some notable developments among the American Indian and Alaska Native populations between 2010 and 2020.
• The Alaska Native “alone” population grew by a significant percentage in the decade between 2010 and 2020. During that time, the Alaska Native alone population increased by nearly 11 percent, reaching 133,311 in 2020. The “alone” designation includes respondents who reported only one response when asked a question regarding their race on the 2020 census.
• The Alaska Native alone or in any combination population, which includes both those who gave just one response to the race question as well as those who reported multiple responses, increased by nearly 46 percent between 2010 and 2020.
• The American Indian alone population increased to just under 2.2 million in 2020, marking an increase of 11.6 percent since 2010.
• The American Indian alone or in any combination population nearly doubled in the decade-long time frame, increasing to more than 6.3 million in 2020.
• The largest Alaska Native alone group in 2020 was the Yupik (Yupik Eskimo), which accounted for nearly 7 percent of the total Alaska Native alone population. But the largest Alaska Native alone or in any combination population was larger. That distinction belongs to the Tlingit, who accounted for more than 9 percent of the Alaska Native alone or in any combination population in 2020.
• The Navajo Nation made up the largest share of the American Indian alone population in 2020. The Navajo Nation accounted for 14.6 percent of the American Indian alone population in 2020, followed by the Cherokee (10 percent), Choctaw (3.2) and the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina (2.5).
• The Cherokee (23.8 percent) made up the largest share of the American Indian alone or in any combination population in 2020. The next greatest subsection in that category were the Navajo Nation (6.7), the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana (4.7) and the Choctaw (4).
American Indian and Alaska Native populations make up a sizable percentage of the overall U.S. population. Recognition of these figures can serve to remind U.S. residents from all walks of life of the significance of celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day this October.