Native Tribes of Colorado: A Historical Mosaic

Before European arrival, Colorado's mountains, plains, and canyons were home to numerous Indigenous nations. Their territories overlapped and shifted over centuries. Here are the major groups historically associated with present-day Colorado:

1. Ute (Nuche – "The People")

Colorado's longest continuous inhabitants. Four historic bands: Mouache (eastern slopes), Capote (San Luis Valley), Weeminuche (southwest), Uncompahgre (central/western). Ute territory spanned CO, UT, NM, AZ. Today: Southern Ute (Ignacio), Ute Mountain Ute (Towaoc), Ute Indian Tribe (Fort Duchesne, UT).

2. Arapaho (Hinono'ei)

Plains people who ranged across CO, WY, NE, KS, OK, TX. Close allies of the Cheyenne. Split into Northern (WY) and Southern (OK) bands after 1851 treaty. The 1864 Sand Creek Massacre (CO) targeted Cheyenne/Arapaho.

3. Cheyenne (Tsitsistas)

Allied with Arapaho, similar range. Fierce defenders of the Plains. Northern Cheyenne (MT) and Southern Cheyenne (OK) today. Sand Creek and Washita massacres devastated them.

4. Comanche (Nʉmʉnʉʉ)

"Lords of the Plains," master horsemen. Range: southern CO, KS, OK, TX, NM. Raided deep into Mexico. Pushed Apache westward. Quanah Parker, last major chief.

5. Jicarilla Apache (Haisndayin)

Southern CO, NM, AZ. Close to Mescalero Apache. "Jicarilla" = "little basket" (Spanish). Forced onto NM reservation 1887; now Dulce, NM.

6. Kiowa (Cáuigù)

Southern Plains: CO, KS, OK, TX, NM. Known for beadwork, calendars (pictographic), Sun Dance. Allied with Comanche. Reservation: Anadarko, OK.

7. Navajo (Diné)

Largest U.S. tribe. Historic range: AZ, NM, UT, CO (southwest corner). Long Walk (1864) to Bosque Redondo; returned 1868. Nation spans 27,000 sq mi today.

8. Paiute (Numu)

Great Basin: NV, UT, AZ, CO (western edge). Bands: Southern Paiute (UT/AZ), Northern Paiute (OR/NV/CA). Basketry, desert adaptation.

9. Shoshone (Newe)

Great Basin/Rockies: ID, WY, MT, UT, CO, NV. Bands: Eastern (WY), Northern (ID), Western (NV), Goshute (UT/NV). Sacagawea was Lemhi Shoshone.

Important Context

Boundaries were fluid; alliances shifted. Many tribes were forcibly removed to reservations outside Colorado (1860s–1880s). Today, the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute are the only federally recognized tribes with reservations in Colorado. The Cheyenne & Arapaho, Comanche, Kiowa, Apache, Navajo, Paiute, and Shoshone nations are based elsewhere but retain ancestral ties.

Colorado's state name comes from the Spanish colorado ("colored red") for the river—but the land's human history runs far deeper.