54 Nations
Tribal Nations
The Native American nations encountered by the Corps of Discovery during their journey across the continent. These nations provided essential knowledge, food, horses, and guidance that made the expedition possible.
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Arikara
A Caddoan-speaking agricultural people along the Missouri River in present-day South Dakota. The expedition held councils with Arikara chiefs in...
Assiniboine
A Siouan-speaking people of the northern Great Plains. Encountered near the Mandan-Hidatsa villages; important players in the northern plains trade...
Blackfeet
An Algonquian-speaking people of the northern Great Plains. The expedition's only violent encounter with Native Americans occurred on July 27,...
Cayuse
A people of the Columbia Plateau closely allied with the Nez Perce and Umatilla. Known as skilled horse breeders; the...
Chinook
A powerful trading people who controlled commerce at the mouth of the Columbia River. Led by Chief Comcomly, they were...
Chipawa Tribe
Variant spelling of Chippewa (Ojibwe/Anishinaabe)
Chippewa Tribe
Anishinaabe (Ojibwe/Chippewa), Algonquian people of the Great Lakes
Clatsop
A Chinookan people on the southern shore of the Columbia River estuary. The expedition built Fort Clatsop in their territory...
Coeur d'Alene
An Interior Salish-speaking people of present-day northern Idaho and eastern Washington. Part of the broader Salishan cultural world. French traders...
Crow (Apsaalooke)
A Siouan-speaking people of the Yellowstone River region. Clark's party passed through Crow territory during the return journey in 1806....
Delaware Nation
Lenape (Delaware), Algonquian people originally of the eastern seaboard
Flathead Salish
An Interior Salish people of western Montana. The expedition were the first whites to encounter the Salish in person at...
Grand Pawnee
Chaui band of the Pawnee Nation
Hidatsa
Close neighbors of the Mandan living at the Knife River villages. The Hidatsa were the tribe from whom Sacagawea had...
Iowa Tribe
Báxoje (Ioway), Chiwere Siouan people of the Missouri-Iowa region
Kathlamet
An Upper Chinookan people living along the Columbia River below the Cowlitz River. The expedition had several recorded encounters with...
Kaw Nation
Kanza (Kaw), Dhegihan Siouan people of the Kansas River region
Kickapoo Tribe
Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), Algonquian people of the Great Lakes and central Plains
Lemhi Shoshone
A band of Eastern Shoshone led by Cameahwait (Sacagawea's brother) near the Lemhi Pass on the Continental Divide. Their trade...
Makah Tribe
Kwih-dich-chuh-ahtx (Makah), Wakashan people of the Pacific Northwest
Mandan
Sedentary agricultural people living in earth lodge villages along the Missouri River in present-day North Dakota. The expedition built Fort...
Menominee Nation
Mamaceqtaw (Menominee), Algonquian people of Wisconsin
Multnomah
A Chinookan-speaking people living near the mouth of the Willamette River (which the expedition initially called the "Multnomah River"). Clark...
Nez Perce
The Nez Perce people of present-day Idaho saved the expedition from starvation when the Corps descended from the Bitterroots in...
Noisy Pawnee
Pitahawirata band of the Pawnee Nation
Omaha
A Siouan-speaking people of the eastern Great Plains in present-day Nebraska. They had been devastated by smallpox and warfare with...
Osage Nation
Wazhazhe (Osage), Southern Siouan people of the Missouri-Arkansas region
Oto Tribe
Jiwere (Otoe), Chiwere Siouan people of the Missouri River region
Otoe-Missouria
Two allied tribes that held the expedition's first formal council with Native Americans on August 3, 1804, at "Council Bluff"...
Ottawa Tribe
Odawa (Ottawa), Algonquian people of the Great Lakes
Palouse
A Sahaptian-speaking people living along the Palouse River in present-day Washington. Part of the broader Sahaptian-speaking cultural complex.
Pawnee Marhar
A band or sub-group associated with the Pawnee confederation
Pawnee Nation
Chaticks si Chaticks (Pawnee), Caddoan people of the central Plains
Piankashaw
Peanguichia (Piankashaw), Miami-Illinois Algonquian people of the Wabash region
Ponca Tribe
Ponka (Ponca), Dhegihan Siouan people of the Missouri River region
Potawatomi Nation
Bodewadmi (Potawatomi), Algonquian people of the Great Lakes
Potawatomi Tribe/Nation
Alternate designation for Potawatomi (Bodewadmi)
Quapaw Nation
Ogaxpa (Quapaw), Dhegihan Siouan people of the lower Mississippi-Arkansas region
Sac and Fox Nation
Meskwaki (Fox) and Sauk, Algonquian peoples of the upper Mississippi
Shawnee Tribe
Shaawanwa (Shawnee), Algonquian people of the Ohio Valley and beyond
Shoshone
Sacagawea's people. The Lemhi Shoshone's trade of horses was absolutely essential to the expedition's survival and ability to cross the...
Sioux of St. Peter’s River
Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Dakota bands of the Minnesota River
Sioux of the Lakes
Sisseton and Wahpeton Dakota bands of the upper Mississippi and lake country
Sioux Tribe/Nation
Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation), Siouan peoples of the Northern Plains
Teton Sioux (Lakota)
The most powerful nation on the upper Missouri. The September 1804 confrontation between the Corps and the Brule Lakota at...
Teton Tribe
Lakota (Teton Sioux), westernmost division of the Great Sioux Nation
Tillamook
A Salishan-speaking people of the northern Oregon coast encountered during the winter at Fort Clatsop. Clark's whale-blubber trading party visited...
Umatilla
A Sahaptian-speaking people of the Columbia Plateau in present-day Oregon. The expedition passed through their territory along the Columbia River...
Walla Walla
A Sahaptian-speaking people led by Chief Yelleppit. On the return journey in 1806, Yelleppit hosted the Corps for two days...
Winnebago Tribe
Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Chiwere Siouan people of Wisconsin
Wishram-Wasco
Chinookan-speaking peoples who controlled the important fishery and trade center at The Dalles on the Columbia River, one of the...
Yakama
A Sahaptian-speaking people of the Columbia Plateau. The expedition identified them as "Chimnapams" and encountered them during the downstream journey...
Yankton Sioux
A Dakota-speaking people met by the expedition on August 30, 1804. Their chiefs, including Weucha, were generally friendly and warned...
Yankton Sioux Tribe
Ihanktonwan (Yankton), middle division of the Great Sioux Nation
