Native American Tribes of New York

Welcome to Native Languages of the Americas! You have reached the Native American states section of our website, a new 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 New York tribe, or scroll below the map for New York Indian activities including a map of New York reservations, a wordsearch, fact sheets for kids about each tribe, and worksheets teaching words from the different Native American languages of New York. Feel free to print any of these materials out for classroom use!

American Indians in New York

Original inhabitants of the area that is now New York:

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The Abenaki tribe

The Cayuga tribe

The Erie tribe

The Laurentian tribes

The Mohawk tribe

The Mohican tribe (including Wappingers)

The Mohegan tribe (including Montauk and Shinnecock)

The Munsee Delaware tribe

The Oneida tribe

The Onondaga tribe

The Poospatuck/Unkechaug tribe

The Seneca tribe

Other Indian tribes that migrated into New York later:

The Tuscarora tribe

But weren't there Algonquin Indians in New York state?

No, the Algonquin people live in Canada. They were never in New York.

The people who speak about "New York Algonquins" have confused the word Algonquins with the word Algonquians. Algonquian is a general term which is used to refer to dozens of tribes with related languages. Algonquin people speak an Algonquian language, but so do Chippewa and Cheyenne people.

Algonquian-speaking tribes in New York include the Mohican, Mohegan, Munsee Delaware, Abenaki, and Poospatuck tribes listed above.

There are seven federally recognized Indian tribes in New York today.

Here are the addresses of New York's Indian reservations:

1 Cayuga Nation of Indians:
PO Box 11
Versailles, NY 14168

2 Oneida Indian Nation:
Genesee Street
Oneida, NY 13421
http://www.oneidanation.org/

3 Onondaga Nation:
Rt. 1 Box 270A
Nedrow, NY 13120

4 St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians:
Community Building
Hogansburg, NY 13655

5, 6 & 7 Seneca Nation:
PO Box 231
Salamanca, NY 14779
http://www.sni.org/

8 Tonawanda Band of Senecas:
7027 Meadville Rd
Basom, NY 14013

9 Tuscarora Nation:
5616 Walmore Rd
Lewiston, NY 14092

Teaching and learning activities about New York Native American tribes:

Feel free to print these out for classroom use!

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

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

New York Native Animals: Learn the Native American names of New York animals.

New York Indian Facts for Kids: Answers to frequently asked questions about the tribes of New York.
We currently have pages for the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora, Abenaki, Munsee,
Mohegan, Montauk, Shinnecock, Mohican and Wappinger tribes.

Recommended books about New York Native Americans:

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

New York Native Peoples: Another good book on New York tribes for kids.

Encyclopedia of New York Indians: Extremely comprehensive (but expensive) compilation about the Indians of New York.

The Mohican World: A terrific book on the Mohican tribes of New York State.

Unearthing Gotham: An excellent book about New York City's history that includes good material about local Indian tribes.

Aboriginal Place Names of New York: The Native American etymology of various New York place names.

Other Indian tribes, bands and communities remaining in New York today include:

Shinnecock Tribe:
Route 27-A, Montauk Highway
Southampton, NY 11968
http://www.shinnecocknation.com/

Unkechaug Indian Nation of Poospatuck Indians:
PO Box 86
Mastic, Long Island, NY 11950

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

The Six Nations: Interesting historical and cultural information about the Iroquois tribes of New York.

Back to the index of Native American tribes
Back to our index of Indian tribes by state
Back to our Native American links for kids

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