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Native American Tribes of Utah

Welcome to our Utah State Facts section, part of an educational project designed to provide information about indigenous people in different U.S. states. Follow the links to the right of our tribal map for more information about the language, culture and history of each Utah tribe, or scroll below the map for Utah Indian activities including a wordsearch, fact sheets, and words from the Native American languages of Utah. Feel free to print any of these materials out for classroom use!

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American Indians in Utah

Did you know the state of Utah is named after an American Indian tribe? It is named after the Ute tribe, and is probably a corruption of their tribal name Nuutsiu (or Nunt'zi,) which means "the people." The Utes were not the only tribe to live in Utah, however.

The original inhabitants of the area that is now Utah included:

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The Bannock tribe

The Goshute tribe

The Navajo tribe

The Paiute tribe

The Shoshone tribe

The Ute tribe

There are six federally recognized Indian tribes in Utah today.

The Navajo Nation, the largest Indian tribe in the United States, has its headquarters in what is today Arizona, but their reservation extends into New Mexico and Utah as well.

Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation:
PO Box 6104
Ibapah, UT 84034

Navajo Nation:
P.O. Box 9000
Window Rock, AZ 86515
http://www.navajo.org/

Uintah and Ouray Tribe (Northern Ute):
PO Box 190
Fort Duchesne, UT 84026

Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah:
440 N. Paiute Drive
Cedar City, UT 84720

Skull Valley Indian Community (Goshute):
PO Box 150
Grantsville, UT 84029

Northwestern Band of the Shoshoni Nation:
862 South Main St, Suite 6
Brigham City, UT 84302

Teaching and learning activities about Utah Indians:

Feel free to print these out to use at school!

Utah Tribes Word Search: Printable puzzle hiding the names of Utah's Indian tribes.

Utah Language Greetings: Learn to say "hello" in several Native Utah languages.

Utah Native Animals: Learn the Native American names of Utah animals.

Utah Indian Facts for Kids: Answers to frequently asked questions about the tribes of Utah.
We currently have pages for the Navajo, Shoshoni, Paiute, Bannock and Ute tribes.

Recommended books about Utah Native Americans
(Our organization earns a commission from any book bought through these links)

A History of Utah's American Indians: Excellent, thorough book on Utah's Native American tribes by a Ute author.

Utah Indians: Introducing Utah's Native American history and culture to kids.

Encyclopedia of Utah Indians: Thorough reference book on the Native Americans of Utah.

The Petroglyphs and Pictographs of Utah: Interesting illustrated book on the indigenous artwork of ancient Utah.

Termination's Legacy: The Discarded Indians of Utah: History book on the dispossession of Utah Indians during the 1950's.

Great Basin Indians: Excellent reference on the Native American tribes of Nevada, Utah, and the rest of the Great Basin.

The Ute Indians of Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico: A good ethnography of the Ute Indian tribe in the Four Corners area.

Other resources about American Indian history, culture and society in Utah state:

Utah State Office of Indian Affairs :
News, history, and maps of Utah's Native American tribes.

History of Native Americans in Utah:
Article on Utah Indian cultures from prehistory to the present.