These organizations, located within the United States, self-identify as Native American tribes, heritage groups, or descendant communities, but they are not federally recognized or state-recognized as Native American tribes. The U.S. Governmental Accountability Office states: "Non-federally recognized tribes fall into two distinct categories: (1) state-recognized tribes that are not also federally recognized and (2) other groups that self-identify as Indian tribes but are neither federally nor state recognized." The following list includes the latter.
For organizations that are recognized by the government of the United States as Native American tribes and tribal nations, see List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States and List of Alaska Native tribal entities. For groups that are recognized by state governments as Native American tribes, see State-recognized tribes in the United States.
Many of these organizations are not accepted as being Native American by established Native American tribes. Exceptions exist, including tribes whose previous recognition was terminated, especially in California under the California Rancheria Termination Acts. Certain historic tribes in California signed treaties in 1851 and 1852 that the U.S. Senate secretly rejected after being pressured by the state of California; many of these historic tribes remain unrecognized.
The following groups claim to be of Native American, which includes American Indian and Alaska Native, or Métis heritage by ethnicity but have no federal recognition through the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA), United States Department of the Interior Office of the Solicitor (SOL), and are not recognized by any state government in the United States.
Some of the organizations are regarded as fraudulent. Some organizations are described as Corporations Posing as Indigenous Nations (CPAIN).
Non-recognized tribes is a term for "groups that have no federal designation and are not accepted as sovereign entities under U.S. law," which includes state-recognized tribes. "An additional sub-designation under this classification are 'Federally Non-Recognized' tribes, which includes groups that have previously held federal recognition, either under governments prior to the U.S. Federal Government or as Nations that are no longer in existence and/or no longer meet the criteria as a Nation to have sovereignty status."
Indigenous communities in the Pacific such as Native Hawaiians, Samoan Americans, Chamorro people of Guam, and Indigenous peoples of the Northern Mariana Islands are classified as Pacific Indigenous Communities and are not organized into tribes.
Caribbean This list also includes some groups from non-sovereign U.S. territories outside the contiguous United States, especially Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, that identify as having Caribbean Indigenous heritage and which also lack formal recognition. Groups outside the 48 contiguous states and Alaska are currently ineligible for federal recognition. Some of these groups are represented on the International Indian Treaty Council under the United Confederation of Taíno People, which has campaigned nationally and at the United Nations for the United States to recognize such groups.
List of groups self-identifying as American Indian tribes
Following is a list of groups known to self-identify as Native American tribes but that are not recognized by the U.S. federal government (Bureau of Indian Affairs) or by any state government.
Alabama Cherokee Nation of Alabama.Cherokee Nation (Fraudulent Indian) Task Force: Fraudulent Group List (as of March 26, 2011) (Accessible as of April 19, 2012 here ) Letter of Intent to Petition 02/16/1999.LIST OF PETITIONERS BY STATE (as of April 29, 2011) (Archived ) Cherokee River Indian Community, Moulton, AL. Letter of Intent to Petition 08/03/2000. Receipt of Petition 08/03/2000.Receipt of Petitions for Federal Acknowledgment of Existence as an Indian Tribe (65 FR 76663) Chickamauga Cherokee of Alabama. Chickmaka Band of the South Cumberland Plateau. Coweta Creek Tribe, Phenix City, AL. Letter of Intent to Petition 2/12/2003. Eagle Bear Band of Free Cherokees. The Langley Band of the Chickamogee Cherokee Indians of the Southeastern United States, aka Langley Band of Chickamogee of Cherokee Indians, Birmingham, AL Letter of Intent to Petition 04/20/1994; Postal service certified letter returned 11/5/1997. Phoenician Cherokee II – Eagle Tribe of Sequoyah, Gadsden, AL Letter of Intent to Petition 09/18/2001. Powhatan Nation of American Indians, Enterprise, AL Principal Creek Indian Nation East of the Mississippi, Florala, AL. Letter of Intent to Petition 11/09/1971. Declined to Acknowledge 06/10/1985 50 FR 14302; certified letter returned "not known" 10/1997. Wolf Creek Cherokee Tribe, Inc. of Florida. Also in Florida.
Alaska Chilkoot Kaagwaantaan Clan, Haines, AK. Letter of Intent to Petition 4/22/1997. Five Landless Alaska Tlingit communities. These Tlingit communities were omitted from the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and received neither land nor subsistence rights under the Act. Katalla-Chilkat Tlingit Tribe of Alaska, Juneau, AK. Letter of Intent to Petition 02/02/1995; certified letter returned by P.O. 10/1997. Knugank, Dillingham, AK. Letter of Intent to Petition 1/7/1999. Qutekcak Native Tribe, Seward, AK. Letter of Intent to Petition 2/13/2002. Receipt of Petition 2/13/2002. Tsimshian Tribal Council, Ketchikan, AK. Letter of Intent to Petition 07/02/1978. Alexander Creek, Alexander Creek, AK
Arizona American Cherokee Confederacy Arizona Cherokee Pioneers Barrio Pascua – a village of Yaqui on the Arizona-Mexico border region. Chiricahua Apache Ndeh Nation, Silver City, AZ The United Cherokee Nation (UCN) – Western National Office. Also in Georgia. Supposed "clans" organized in these areas, often calling themselves as "Cherokee Nation of ...": Alabama, Alaska, Alberta, Arizona (Georgia, Nevada), Arkansas, California, Colorado (New Mexico, Utah), Connecticut, Cyprus, Delaware, Florida,Listed as pseudo-tribe in "Are there any Indian Reservations in Florida?" Hawaii, Idaho (Montana), Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana (Mississippi), Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri (Kansas), Nebraska (Iowa), New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin (Illinois (Chicago and Metropolis branches), Minnesota) and Wyoming.
Arkansas Amonsoquath Tribe of Cherokee, Van Buren, MO Arkansas Band of Western Cherokee (formerly Western Arkansas Cherokee Tribe), Sulphur Springs, AR. Letter of Intent to Petition 04/07/1998. Arkansas Cherokee (also known as Chickamauga Cherokee of Arkansas), Conway, AR. Letter of Intent to Petition 03/21/2008. Arkansas Cherokee Nation, Conway, AR Arkansas White River Cherokee (also in Florida), Lady Lake, FL Central Tribal Council, Mammoth Springs, AR. Letter of Intent to Petition 01/21/2003. Receipt of Petition 01/21/2003. Cherokee Nation West of Missouri and Arkansas (formerly Cherokee Nation West or Southern Band of the Eastern Cherokee Indians of Arkansas and Missouri). Letter of Intent to Petition 5/11/1998. Also in Missouri. Cherokee-Choctaw Nation of St. Francis and Black Rivers, Paragould, AR. Letter of Intent to Petition 08/01/2006. Confederated Western Cherokees of Arkansas. Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri, Conway, AR. Letter of Intent to Petition 02/10/1999; letter returned, marked "in dispute" between two different addresses. Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri (I). Faction in Conway, AR. Lost Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri (II). Faction in Dover, AR. Manataka American Indian Council, Hot Springs, AR Neches Tribe – Cherokee Nation, Hot Springs, AR Northern Cherokee Nation. Dissolved into three groups: Chickamauga Cherokee Nation (I), also known as Chickamauga Cherokee Nation MO/AR White River Band and as White River Band of Northern Cherokee Nation of Missouri and Arkansas. Also in Missouri and Oklahoma. There is also a Chickamauga Cherokee Nation White River Band (II) in Oklahoma. Northern Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory, Columbia, MO. Letter of Intent to Petition 2/19/1992. Also in Missouri. Kanasas (Awi Akta) District of NCNOLT. Oklahoma (Ani Tsi Na) District of the NCNOLT. Northern Cherokee Tribe of Indians of Missouri and Arkansas. Letter of Intent to Petition 07/26/1985. Also in Missouri. Old Settler Cherokee Nation of Arkansas. Letter of Intent to Petition 9/17/1999. Ouachita Cherokee of Cherokee Nation West, Mena, AR Ozark Mountain Cherokee Tribe of Arkansas and Missouri, Melbourne, AR. Letter of Intent to Petition 10/19/1999. Receipt of Petition 10/19/1999. Also in Missouri. Red Nation of the Cherokee, Augusta, KS Also in Kansas. Revived Ouachita Indians of Arkansas and America, Story, AR. Letter of Intent to Petition 04/25/1990. Sac River and White River Bands of the Chickamauga-Cherokee Nation of Arkansas and Missouri Inc. (formerly Northern Chickamauga Cherokee Nation of Arkansas and Missouri), Chandler, OK. Letter of Intent to Petition 09/05/1991. Also in Missouri. Western Cherokee of Arkansas and Louisiana Territories. Letter of Intent to Petition 10/05/2001. Also in Missouri. Western Cherokee Nation of Arkansas and Missouri, Mena, AR. Letter of Intent to Petition 05/01/1998. Also in Missouri. Western Cherokee Nation of Arkansas and Missouri, Conway, AR. Separate from the Mena group, this Conway group was represented by Cary G. Kuykendall.
California Alexander Valley Mishewal Wappo, also Mishewal Wappo Indians of Alexander Valley Alexander Valley Rancheria, formerly federally recognized, terminated on August 1, 1961 The N.D. Cal. argued that statute of limitations was exceeded. band of Ohlone/Costanoan Indians (formerly Amah Band of Ohlone/Costanoan Indians). Letter of Intent to Petition 09/18/1990. Amonsoquath Tribe of Cherokee. Letter of Intent to Petition. Also in Missouri. Ani Yvwi Yuchi (Cherokee). Letter of Intent to Petition 7/31/1996. Antelope Valley Paiute Tribe (a.k.a. Antelope Valley Indian Community). Letter of Intent to Petition 07/09/1976. Atahun Shoshones of San Juan Capistrano Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians. Letter of Intent to Petition 01/17/2002. Receipt of Petition 01/17/2002. Big Meadows Lodge Tribe Binay Yeha Noha Bear Clan Tribe Letter of Intent to Petition 08/31/2020 Cache Creek Rancheria, formerly federally recognized, terminated on April 11, 1961 Calaveras County Band of Miwuk Indians, Letter of Intent to Petition 08/31/2001. also Calaveras Band of Miwuk Indians, West Point California Indian Council/Lulapin Callattakapa Choctaw Tribe. Letter of Intent to Petition 07/13/2004. Calusa-Seminole Nation. Letter of Intent to Petition 04/28/1998. Cherokee Nation Heritage Organization of California. The Cherokees of California. Chilula Tribe The Chiricahua Tribe of California. Letter of Intent to Petition 04/24/2003. Choctaw Allen Tribe. Letter of Intent to Petition 10/20/2003. Choinumni Council. Letter of Intent to Petition 07/14/1988. Certified letter undeliverable 10/1997 Chukchansi Yokotch Tribe of Mariposa CA. Letter of Intent to Petition 05/25/1993. Chumash Council of Bakersfield. Letter of Intent to Petition 10/18/2005. Coastal Band of Chumash. Letter of Intent to Petition 03/25/1982. Coastal Gabrieleño Diegueño Band of Mission Indians. Letter of Intent to Petition 3/18/1997. Coastanoan Band of Carmel Mission Indians. Letter of Intent to Petition 09/16/1988. Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe of the Colfax Rancheria Confederated Villages of Lisjan Nation Inc., Oakland, CA Confederation of Aboriginal Nations