Indigenous languages of Arizona

Arizona, a state in the southwestern region of the United States of America, is known for its high population of Native Americans. Arizona has the third highest number (and the sixth highest percentage) of Native Americans of any state in the Union (See Demographics of Arizona). Out of the entire US population of 2.9 million Native Americans,^[1] roughly 286,680 live in Arizona, representing 10% of the country's total Native American population. Only California and Oklahoma have more Native Americans than Arizona by number. Arizona also has the highest proportion of land allocated to Native American reservations, at 28%.^[2] Arizona has five of the twelve largest Indian reservations in the United States, including the largest, the Navajo Nation, and the third-largest, the Tohono O'odham Nation. Also, Arizona has the largest number of Native American language speakers in the United States.^[3][4]

Distribution

There are twelve Native American languages spoken in Arizona, in addition to three other languages that are primarily spoken outside the state and one language with a disputed existence.

Population estimates are based on figures from Ethnologue and U.S. Census data, as given in sub-pages below. The twelve languages are shown in the table below:

Other minority Native American languages

In addition to the languages listed in the table above, there are three other Native American languages spoken in Arizona that are primarily found in New Mexico, located immediately to the east:

• Zuni is a language isolate spoken primarily in the Zuni Pueblo, which is located in northern New Mexico. Out of the approximately 10,000 people that form the Zuni tribe, only 538 live in Arizona, located on trust lands in Apache County. Unlike many other Native American languages, a vast majority of Zuni are able to speak their language, and Zuni is at a comparatively lower risk of extinction.^[5]
• Tewa is a Tanoan language spoken by the Tewa people of New Mexico. The Arizona Tewa are a group of Tewa that currently reside on the Hopi reservation of northeastern Arizona, primarily in two villages around First Mesa: Hano and Polacca. The Tewa language is considered endangered.
• Mescalero-Chiricahua is a Southern Athabaskan language spoken by the Chiricahua people and Mescalero people, two Apachean tribes that currently reside on the Fort Sill Apache Tribe lands in Oklahoma and the Mescalero Indian Reservation in southwestern New Mexico. A few Chiricahua also live on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in southeastern Arizona, but this language is a minority language on the reservation.

See also

• Native Americans in the United States
• Indigenous peoples of Arizona
• Indigenous languages of the Americas
• Uto-Aztecan languages
• Yuman languages
• Southern Athabaskan languages

References

Languages of Arizona
Indigenous	Athabaskan Navajo Western Apache Tanoan Tewa Uto-Aztecan Hopi O'odham Southern Paiute Yaqui Yuman-Cochimí Cocopah Havasupai Hualapai Maricopa Mojave Quechan Yavapai Language isolate Zuni
Non-Indigenous	Indo-European English Spanish

Languages of the United States
English	Dialects of American English African American Vernacular English Appalachian English Baltimore English Boston English Cajun English California English Chicano English Eastern New England English General American English High Tider English Inland Northern American English Miami English Mid-Atlantic American / Delaware Valley English Maine English Midland American English New England Englishes New Mexican Englishes New Orleans English New York City English New York Latino English Northern American English North-Central American English Ozark English Pacific Northwest English Pennsylvania Dutch English Philadelphia English Pittsburgh English Puerto Rican English Southern American English Texan English Tidewater English Transatlantic English Upper Michigan English Western American English Western New England English Yeshiva English
Indigenous Languages	Language Families Algonquian Austronesian Caddoan Chinookan Eskimo–Aleut Iroquoian Keresan Maiduan Muskogean Na-Dene Palaihnihan Plateau Penutian Polynesian Pomoan Salishan Siouan Tanoan Tsimshianic Uto-Aztecan Wakashan Wintuan Yuk-Utian Yuman–Cochimí Chumashan Kalapuyan Living Languages Abenaki Achumawi Ahtna Alabama Aleut Alutiiq Arapaho Arikara Assiniboine Blackfoot Caddo Cahuilla Pamlico Cayuga Central Alaskan Yup'ik Central Pomo Central Siberian Yupik Central Sierra Miwok Chamorro Cherokee Chevak Cup’ik Cheyenne Chickasaw Choctaw Coast Tsimshian Cocopah Coeur d'Alene Ute-Chemehuevi Columbia-Moses Comanche Cree Crow Dakota Deg Xinag Dena'ina Eastern Pomo Fox Gros Ventre Gwich’in Haida Halkomelem Hän Havasupai–Hualapai Hawaiian Hidatsa Hopi Hupa Inuit Inupiat Ipai Jemez Jicarilla Kansa Karuk Kashaya Kathlamet Kawaiisu Kiowa Kitanemuk Klallam Koasati Konkow Koyukon Kumeyaay Kutenai Lakota Tsinúk Lower Tanana Luiseño Lushootseed Mahican Maidu Makah Mandan Maricopa Massachusett Menominee Mescalero-Chiricahua Mi'kmaq Mikasuki Mohawk Mohegan-Pequot Mojave Mono Munsee Muscogee Myaamia Nanticoke Narragansett Navajo Nez Perce Nisenan Nomlaki Nooksack North Straits Salish Northern Paiute O'odham Ojibwe Okanagan Omaha–Ponca Oneida Onondaga Osage Patwin Picuris Potawatomi Powhatan Quapaw Quechan Quiripi Sahaptin Salish Samoan Seneca Serrano Shawnee Shoshoni Siuslaw Southeastern Pomo Southern Pomo Southern Sierra Miwok Southern Tiwa Stoney Tanacross Taos Tewa Thompson Tiipai Timbisha Tolowa Tübatulabal Tule-Kaweah Yokuts Tuscarora Twana Unami Upper Chinook Upper Kuskokwim Upper Tanana Valley Yokuts Washo Western Apache Wichita Winnebago Wintu Wyandot Yaqui Yavapai Yuchi Zuni Extinct Languages Apalachee Atsugewi Barbareño Bay Miwok Biloxi Buena Vista Yokuts Cahto Catawba Central Kalapuya Chico Chitimacha Chiwere Coast Miwok Cowlitz Cruzeño Cupeño Erie Etchemin Eyak Gashowu Yokuts Holikachuk Kings River Yokuts Kitsai Klamath Kwalhioqua-Clatskanie Lake Miwok Lipan Loup Lower Chehalis Mattole Mitchigamea Molala Moneton Nawathinehena Neutral Huron Northeastern Pomo Northern Kalapuya Northern Pomo Northern Sierra Miwok Nottoway Obispeño Ofo Palewyami Piro Pueblo Plains Apache Plains Miwok Purisimeño Quinault Susquehannock Tillamook Tongva Tonkawa Tsetsaut Tutelo-Saponi Tututni Upper Chehalis Upper Umpqua Ventureño Wailaki Wenrohronon Woccon Yoncalla Mixed or Trade Languages Chinook Jargon Michif
Sign languages	American Sign Language Black American Sign Language Hawai'i Sign Language Keresan Pueblo Navajo Family Sign Language Plains Indian Sign Language Blackfoot Cheyenne Cree Navajo Plateau Sign Language Puerto Rican Sign Language Samoan Sign Language? Martha's Vineyard Sign Language Sandy River Valley Sign Language Henniker Sign Language
Others (number of speakers in 2000 in millions)	Spanish (28) Caló (Chicano) New Mexican Puerto Rican Isleño Varieties of Chinese (2) French (2) Louisiana Cajun Colonial Métis Missouri Muskrat New England German (1.4) "Pennsylvania Dutch" Hutterite Plautdietsch Bernese Alsatian Texas Tagalog (1.2) Arabic (1.1) Vietnamese (1) Italian (1) Korean (0.9) Russian (0.7) Polish (0.7) Portuguese (0.6) Greek (0.4) Persian (0.3) Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (0.2) Armenian (0.2) Yiddish (0.2)