Whether they live in downtown Salt Lake City or on a reservation, members of at least 35 American Indian tribes are represented in Utah, according to 2000 Census results released Wednesday, from the lone Houma to the 14,634 Navajos.
Harry James of Navajo Nation says he's not surprised to learn Navajos are the most prevalent tribe in the state.
"It should be the biggest group," he said.
James left his home in the south end of the Navajo reservation in the Four Corners area in 1953 to live with an LDS family and attend school. He has been living in Utah ever since.
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James shies away from titles such as "spiritual leader" or "elder," instead describing himself as a "fun Indian." He works at the state Workforce Services office and is president of the West Valley City Pow Wow committee.
The number of American Indians and Alaska Natives grew from 24,283 in 1990 to 29,684 in 2000, but their chunk of the total state population went down slightly from 1.4 percent to 1.3 percent.
Behind Navajos are Utes, with 2,940 residents, followed by those American Indians who checked the "other" tribes category or did not specify to which tribe they belonged.
Some of those may have not known what tribe they belonged to or were only part American Indian, James said. He says it is common to find American Indians who don't know their heritage.
"We see that all the time, even those who are full blood," he said. "I see people coming in saying, 'I think I'm this, I think I'm that.' "
Many of them were probably adopted or placed in foster homes and never told what tribe they came from, he said.
Michael Baird and his family, who live in Brigham City, although not American Indian themselves, have assisted with various powwows for many years. Baird used to work with children from the Intermountain Indian School and would often bring them to his home to eat. He says the reasons for the cross section of tribes in the state are as diverse as the people themselves.
"You get a lot of students who come to Utah, then stay," Baird said. "Some come because of the LDS Church. Others marry members of other tribes or come looking for work. Many may be here because they worked at the Intermountain Indian School many years ago."
In Utah, American Indians live in every county except Rich. Utes live mostly in Uintah County, which is home to 1,766.
Salt Lake County is home to a variety of tribes and has the largest number of Cherokees, Chippewas and Latin American Indians, and half of the state's Navajos — 7,293 — live in San Juan County.
The tribes with the most numbers have tribal lands inside the state. In addition to the Navajos and Utes, other tribe members with significant numbers include Cherokees, with 736; Paiutes, with 668; Sioux with 655; Shoshones, with 619; and members of various Latin American tribes, with 599.
The Goshutes are not listed as a tribe on current census reports, but the population of the Goshute Reservation was 90.
After that, the numbers begin to tail off — with the Apaches, Chippewa and Choctaw making a relatively strong showing — until you get to the Houma tribe with only one Utah member.
Alaska Natives are smaller in number than American Indians, but according to the 2000 Census, there were 75 Eskimos in Utah — more Eskimos than Kiowas, Seminoles and Menominees combined.
Contributing: Jerry Johnston.
E-MAIL: ehayes@desnews.com