Indigenous peoples of Arizona are the Native American people who currently live or have historically lived in what is now the state of Arizona. There are 22 federally recognized tribes in Arizona, including 17 with reservations that lie entirely within its borders. Reservations make up over a quarter of the state's land area. Arizona has the third largest Native American population of any U.S. state. Over subsequent millennia, several complex and long-lived cultures emerged; these included the Hohokam, Mogollon, Sinagua, and Ancestral Puebloans, who are all thought to be ancestors of multiple modern tribes. The first Spanish settlers arrived in present-day Arizona in the mid-16th century, later establishing missions and drastically disrupting the indigenous way of life. However, they also face systemic inequality, including a lack of water infrastructure and an increased susceptibility to health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
History
Pre-Columbian era
thumb|A map showing the extent of the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Ancestral Puebloan cultures circa 1350 CE
Paleo-Indians are believed to have first settled present-day Arizona at least 13,000 years ago. Clovis spear points have been discovered in several locations along the San Pedro River, including at the Naco and Lehner Mammoth Kill Sites. Paleo-Indian peoples were hunter-gatherers who relied highly on North American megafauna for food.
Following the end of the Archaic period, several prominent cultures emerged in present-day Arizona, including the Hohokam, Mogollon, Sinagua, and Ancestral Puebloans. All of these peoples constructed pueblos, a type of monumental, multi-storied structure that could house as many as several thousand individuals. Several archaeological sites in Arizona that preserve pueblos include the Hohokam Casa Grande Ruins, the Sinagua Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot, and the Ancestral Puebloan structures of Wupatki National Monument. The Hohokam are also known for constructing an elaborate system of canals in what is now the Phoenix metropolitan area, which formed the foundation of the modern-day Salt River Project that provides water for much of Central Arizona.
During the 13th and 14th centuries CE, the Hohokam, Mogollon, Sinagua, and Ancestral Puebloan peoples all experienced a period of severe depopulation. as well as the ancestors of the Yavapai. By contrast, the Hohokam, Mogollon, Sinagua, and Ancestral Puebloans are thought to be ancestral to the modern-day Oʼodham, Hopi, and Zuni people, although this can be difficult to determine with certainty. The late 18th century saw intense rebellion against Spanish rule by the Apache, particularly during the 1770s, which led to the expansion of presidios in present-day Arizona, including the Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón. In the late 1780s, the presidios began to hand out rations to the Apache, which reduced the scope of the conflict.
In 1821, the end of the Mexican War of Independence transferred control over present-day Arizona from the Spanish to the newly-established Mexican Empire, leading to the withdrawal of Spanish troops and the eventual abandonment of every mission but Mission San Xavier del Bac, near Tucson. The end of the Spanish policies that had led to relative peace with the Apache reignited the conflict, leading to decades of bloody Apache–Mexico Wars. After a series of conflicts, including the 1860 Second Battle of Fort Defiance, the military commander of New Mexico Territory, James H. Carleton, and Col. Kit Carson launched a relentless campaign against the Navajo. Upon their surrender in 1864, they, along with the Mescalero Apache, were forced to migrate from their land in present-day Arizona to internment camps at Fort Sumner/Bosque Redondo, in an act of ethnic cleansing that would become known as the Long Walk. It is estimated that hundreds of Navajo died during the migration itself, and upward of 2,000 died due to poor conditions at Bosque Redondo. The Army's difficulties in managing the reservation led them to negotiate the 1868 Treaty of Bosque Redondo with the Navajo, which allowed them to return to their land in exchange for establishing a separate reservation there.
The U.S. government also engaged in a series of conflicts with the Apache. Lasting for nearly forty years between 1849 and 1886, the Apache Wars remain the longest armed conflict in U.S. history. Though conflict had erupted earlier in New Mexico, fighting in present-day Arizona was sparked by the 1861 Bascom affair. U.S. campaigns against the Apache, as well as the Yavapai, continued for decades; they were particularly intense following the end of the Civil War, when up to a quarter of all U.S. troops were stationed in the Southwest. The second half of the 19th century also saw the establishment of the American Indian boarding school system, including the Phoenix Indian School, founded in 1891. Intended to forcibly assimilate Arizona Native children into American culture, school policies prohibited the use of native languages and clothing and separated children from the same tribe. Despite this, the Pascua Yaquis were not recognized by the United States government until 1978, when the Pascua Yaqui Reservation was established on the outskirts of Tucson. It is the most recent reservation to be established entirely within Arizona.
thumb|The [[Talking Stick Resort, a casino run by the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community]]
Following the passage of the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which established a regulatory structure for Native American gaming in the United States, many Arizona Native tribes have turned to casinos as a source of income. Although only around forty percent of tribes nationwide operate gaming facilities, that proportion is much higher in Arizona, with 16 of the 22 recognized tribes being involved in gaming. Issues of water access have been compounded in recent years by droughts affecting the Colorado River; moreover, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Arizona v. Navajo Nation (2023) that the U.S. government has no obligation under the Treaty of Bosque Redondo to supply water to the Navajo.
!Area in mi<sup>2</sup> (km<sup>2</sup>)
!Headquarters
|-
|Ak-Chin Indian Community
|Pinal
|Akimel O'odham
Tohono O'odham
Hia C-eḍ Oʼodham
|1,241
|34.13 (88.38)
|Maricopa
|-
|Cocopah Indian Reservation
|Yuma
|Cocopah
|1,252
|10.02 (25.95)
|Somerton
|-
|Colorado River Indian Tribes
|La Paz
|Chemehuevi
Mohave
Hopi
Navajo
|8,717
|432.22 (1,119.44)
|Parker
|-
|Fort Apache Indian Reservation
|Apache
Gila
Navajo
|Western Apache
|14,854
|2,627 (6,804)
|Whiteriver
|-
|Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation
|Maricopa
|Yavapai
|1,057
|38.56 (99.87)
|Fountain Hills
|-
|Fort Mojave Indian Reservation
|Mohave
|Mohave
|1,735
|65.44 (169.49)
|Needles, CA
|-
|Fort Yuma Indian Reservation
|Yuma
|Quechan
|1,372
|68.80 (178.19)
|Yuma
|-
|Gila River Indian Community
|Maricopa
Pinal
|Akimel O'odham
Maricopa
|12,083
|583.75 (1,511.91)
|Sacaton
|-
|Havasupai Indian Reservation
|Coconino
|Havasupai
|0
|294.68 (763.22)
|Supai
|-
|Hopi Reservation
|Coconino
Navajo
|Hopi
Hopi-Tewa
|8,655
|2,531.77 (6,557.26)
|Kykotsmovi Village
|-
|Hualapai Reservation
|Coconino
Mohave
Yavapai
|Hualapai
|1,576
|1,605 (4,156.93)
|Peach Springs
|-
|Kaibab Indian Reservation
|Coconino
Mohave
|Southern Paiute
|300
|188.75 (488.86)
|Fredonia
|-
|Navajo Nation
|Apache
Coconino
Navajo
|Navajo
|169,688
|27,413 (71,000)
|Window Rock
|-
|Pascua Yaqui Tribe
|Pima
|Pascua Yaqui
|3,742
|1.87 (4.83)
|Tucson
|-
|Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community
|Maricopa
|Akimel O'odham
Maricopa
|6,943
|84 (217)
|Scottsdale
|-
|San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation
|Gila
Graham
Pinal
|Western Apache
|10,815
|2,866.85 (7,425.10)
|San Carlos
|-
|Tohono Oʼodham Nation
|Maricopa
Pima
Pinal
|Tohono Oʼodham
|10,554
|4,400 (11,300)
|Sells
|-
|Tonto Apache Tribe
|Gila
|Western Apache
|137
|0.59 (1.53)
|Payson
|-
|Yavapai–Apache Nation
|Yavapai
|Western Apache
Yavapai
|871
|1.00 (2.60)
|Camp Verde
|-
|Yavapai-Prescott Tribe
|Yavapai
|Yavapai
|309
|2.21 (5.72)
|Prescott
|-
|Zuni Indian Reservation
|Apache
|Zuni
|8,445
|723.34 (1,873.45)
|Zuni Pueblo
|}
The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, headquartered in Tuba City, is federally recognized, but does not currently have a reservation.
Languages
The indigenous peoples of Arizona speak a variety of languages from several different language families. Speakers of Yuman–Cochimí languages include the Havasupai, Hualapai, Yavapai, Mohave, Halchidhoma, Quechan, Maricopa (Piipaash), and Cocopah. The Navajo and Apache are Southern Athabaskan-speaking people who migrated into the American Southwest from the north, possibly around 1300 CE.