YELLOWSTONE, Wyo. — There are 27 listed tribes who have historic connections to the lands and resources now found within Yellowstone National Park (YNP).
Many think of YNP as an untouched wilderness, but human occupation in YNP goes back 11,000 years ago and includes an important history of indigenous peoples. However, the tribes associated with YNP aren’t just part of history; Native Americans still have ties to the contemporary landscape around YNP and are a part of Wyoming’s and surrounding states’ cultures.
The following are Yellowstone’s associated tribes:
- Nakoda (Assiniboine) and Oceti Sakowin (Sioux)
- Niitsitapi (Blackfeet)
- Titunwan (Cheyenne River Sioux)
- Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene)
- Nermernuh (Comanche)
- Colville Reservation
- Apsáalooke (Crow)
- Hunkpati (Crow Creek Sioux)
- Newe (Eastern Shoshone)
- Dakota (Flandreau Santee Sioux)
- Ah-Ah-Ne-Nin (Gros Ventre) and Nakoda (Assiniboine)
- Ka’igwu (Kiowa)
- Métis (Little Shell Chippewa)
- Kul Wicasa (Lower Brule Sioux)
- Nimiipuu (Nez Perce)
- Hinono’eino or Inun-ina (Northern Arapaho)
- Tsis tsis’tas (Northern Cheyenne)
- Oglala (Lakota Sioux)
- Sicangu Oyate (Rosebud Sioux)
- Sqelix (Salish) and Ktunaxa (Kootenai)
- Kammedeka (Shoshone–Bannock)
- Sisseton Wahpeton (Dakota Sioux)
- Tesemini (Spirit Lake)
- Yanktonai (Standing Rock Sioux)
- Pembina Chippewa (Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa)
- Imatilam (Umatilla Reservation)
- Ihanktonwan (Yankton Sioux)
The Yellowstone Tribal Heritage Center near Old Faithful will be open from May 14 through mid-October to feature Native American artists, scholars and presenters and provide “an opportunity for Indigenous peoples to directly engage visitors through formal and informal education.”
