In their own words
N’dee
“the people”
Nüwüwü
"the people"
or
“those who play with fish”
Tsokanende
“the people”
Xawiƚƚ kwñchawaay
"cloud people"
or
“those who live on the cloudy river”
Havsuw' Baaja
“people of the blue-green water”
Hopituh Shi-nu-mu
“peaceful people”
T’cwà
“the people”
Xawalapaiya
“people of the tall pines”
Pipa ‘Aha Macav
“people living by the river”
Diné
“the people”
Ankappanukkicicimi
"red-stream people"
Kwee’choovunt
"peak people"
Kawnaw’os
“willow water jug people”
Paw goosawd’uhmpuhtseng
"water clover people"
Sübüts
"people who live in the east"
Tohono O'odham
“desert people”
Akimel O'odham
“river people”
Hia C-ed O'odham
“sand dune people”
Ak Chin O’odham
“people of the clouds”
Xalychidom Piipaash
“people who live toward the water”
Kwatsaan
“those who descended”
Yoeme
“the people”
Ashiwi
“the fish people”
Western Apache: N’dee “the people” includes White Mountain Apache, San Carlos Apache, Yavapai-Apache, and Tonto Apache which are the bases of their federally recognized tribes. In addition, there are numerous bands. The Western Apache bands call themselves N’dee (Indé) “the people”; because of dialectical differences the Pinaleño (Pinal) and Arivaipa bands of the San Carlos Apache pronounce the word Innee or Nnēē.
Chemehuevi: Nüwüwü "the people", or “those who play with fish” are the southernmost branch of Southern Paiute. Chemehuevi people are enrolled in the federally recognized tribes of: Colorado River Indian Tribe, Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Morongo Band of Mission Indians, Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, and the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians. Chemehuevi language is a Colorado River Numic language, in the Numic language branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family.
Chiricahua: Tsokanende “the people” are part of a socio-culturally related that includes Ndendahe (Mogollon, Carrizaleño), Tchihende (Mimbreño), Sehende (Mescalero), Lipan, Salinero, Plains and Western Apache. Culturally related to other Apache peoples, Chiricahua historically shared a common area, language, customs, and intertwined family relations. Chiricahua are enrolled in the Fort Sill Apache Tribe, located near Apache, Oklahoma with a small reservation outside Deming, New Mexico, and the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation near Ruidoso, New Mexico, and the San Carlos Apache Tribe, in southeastern Arizona.
Cocopah: Xawiƚƚ kwñchawaay "cloud people" or “those who live on the cloudy river”, referring to the fog along the Colorado River live in Baja California and Sonora, Mexico, and in Arizona in the United States. The Cocopah language belongs to the Delta–California branch of the Yuman family. The Spanish term for Cocopah is Cucapá. Their self-designation is Xawiƚƚ kwñchawaay, translating to “Those Who Live on the Cloudy River”. Descended from the greater Yuman-speaking people who occupied lands along the Colorao River, the Cocopah had no written language, however, historical records have been passed on orally and by outside visitors.
Havasupai: Havsuw' Baaja “people of the blue-green water” are a Yuman-speaking population in Arizona. For over 1,000 years the remote village of Supai, Arizona, located eight miles hike below the rim of the Grand Canyon, has been home to the Havasu Baaja, People of the Blue Green Waters, or as they are known today, the Havasupai Tribe.
Hopi: Hopituh Shi-nu-mu “peaceful people” primarily live in northeastern Arizona in 12 villages on three mesas. Oraibi was founded sometime before the year 1100 AD, making it possibly the oldest continuously inhabited settlement within the United States. The Hopi language is one of 30 in the Uto-Aztecan language family. The majority of Hopi people are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona but some are enrolled in the Colorado River Indian Tribes.
Hopi Tewa: T’cwà “the people” are descendants of those who fled the Second Pueblo Revolt of 1680-1692, and live on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona, mostly in Tewa Village and Polacca at First Mesa. Other Hopi clans are known to be descendants of Tewa people. Tewa is one of five Tanoan languages spoken by the Pueblo people of New Mexico. Though these five languages are closely related, speakers of one cannot fully understand speakers of another.
Hualapai: Xawalapaiya “people of the tall pines” reside along the pine-clad southern side of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River with the tribal capital at Peach Springs, Arizona. Hualapai language is a Pai branch of the Yuman–Cochimí languages, also spoken by the closely related Havasupai, and more distantly to Yavapai people. Ethnically, the Havasupai and the Hualapai are one people, although today, they are politically separate groups as the result of U.S. government policy.
Mojave: Pipa ‘Aha Macav “people living by the river” are indigenous to the Colorado River in the Mojave Desert. The Fort Mojave Indian Reservation includes territory within the borders of California, Arizona, and Nevada. The Colorado River Indian Reservation includes parts of California and Arizona and is shared by members of the Chemehuevi, Hopi, and Navajo peoples. Mojave language belongs to the River Yuman branch of the Yuman language family. Mohave, along with the Chemehuevi, some Hopi, and some Navajo, share the Colorado River Indian Reservation and function today as one geopolitical unit known as the federally recognized Colorado River Indian Tribes; each tribe also continues to maintain and observe its individual traditions, distinct religions, and culturally unique identities.
Navajo: Diné “the people” is the largest federally recognized tribe in the U.S. and has the largest reservation in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. Besides the Navajo Nation proper, a small group of ethnic Navajos are members of the federally recognized Colorado River Indian Tribes. Navajo is a Southern Athabaskan language of the Na-Dené family, through which it is related to Apache and other languages spoken across the western areas of North America. Some Navajo also speak Plains Sign Talk and/or Navajo Sign Language, which is either a dialect or daughter of Plains Sign Talk.
Southern Paiute consists of 5 bands: Cedars (Ankappanukkicicimi) "red-stream people", Indian Peaks (Kwee’choovunt) "peak people", Kanosh (Kawnaw’os) “willow water jug people”, Koosharem (Paw goosawd’uhmpuhtseng) "water clover people", and Shivwits (Sipicimi, Shebits, Sübüts), "people who live in the east". Communities are located in Las Vegas, Pahrump, and Moapa, Nevada; Cedar City, Kanosh, Koosharem, Shivwits and Indian Peaks, Utah; and in Kaibab and Willow Springs, Arizona. Southern Paiute is a dialect of the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family, in a dialect chain that stretches from southeastern California to Colorado.
O'odham “the people” includes the Tohono O'odham (Papago) “desert people”, Akimel O'odham (Pima) “river people”, the Hia C-ed O'odham (Papago) “sand dune people” the Ak Chin O’odham (Maricopa) “people of the clouds” and the Xalychidom Piipaash (Maricopa) “people who live toward the water”. O’odham are indigenous Uto-Aztecan peoples of the Sonoran desert in southern and central Arizona and northern Sonora, united by a common heritage language, the O'odham language. Today, many O'odham live in Tohono O'odham Nation, San Xavier Indian Reservation, Gila River Indian Community, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Ak-Chin Indian Community, or off-reservation in one of the cities or towns of Arizona.
Quechan: Kwatsaan (Yuma) “those who descended” live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the Mexican border. Despite their name, they are not related to the Quechua people of the Andes. Members are enrolled into the Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation. Quechan language is part of the Yuman language family.
Yaqui: Hiaki or Yoeme “the people” inhabit the valley of the Río Yaqui in the Mexican state of Sonora and the Southwestern United States. They also have communities in Chihuahua and Durango. Pascua Yaqui “the Easter people” are based in Tucson, Arizona. Yaqui communities are also found in California and Nevada. Yaqui language belongs to the Uto-Aztecan language family. Yaqui speak a Cahitan language, a group of about 10 mutually-intelligible languages formerly spoken in much of the states of Sonora and Sinaloa. Most of the Cahitan languages are extinct; only the Yaqui and Mayo still speak their language.
Zuni: Ashiwi (Zuñi) “the fish people” reside in the Pueblo of Zuni on the Zuni River, a tributary of the Little Colorado River, in western New Mexico, United States. Zuni also have land holdings in Catron County, New Mexico and Apache County, Arizona, which do not border the main reservation. Zuni is considered a language isolate and may have become a distinct language at least 7,000 years ago. The Zuni have, however, borrowed a number of words from Keresan, Hopi, and Pima pertaining to religion and religious observances.
