Frequently Asked Questions
What are the tribes in Utah?
Where do they live?
Utes: The Uintah and Ouray reservation is located in Northeastern Utah (Fort Duchesne) approximately 150 miles east of Salt Lake City on US Highway 40. The reservation is located within a three-county area known as the "Uintah Basin".
Goshutes: The Goshutes have two separate tribes on two separate reservations. The Skull Valley Band of Goshute Reservation is located in the West Desert of Toole County, Utah. The Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation is located approximately seventy miles south east of Wendover, Utah/Nevada via U.S. Highway 93A.
Northwestern Shoshones: The Northwestern Band of the Shoshone owns land near Washakie in northern Utah, the site of the Bear River Massacre, near Preston, Idaho, as well as smaller private land holdings.
Paiutes: The Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah Reservation consists of ten separate land parcels located in southwestern Utah.
Navajos: The Navajo Nation extends into the states of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.
White Mesa Ute: The White Mesa Utes live in a small community about 12 miles southwest of Blanding, Utah.
How much land do they own?
Ute: The Uintah-Ouray Reservation is the second largest Indian Reservation in the United States covering over 4.5 million acres.
Goshute: The Deep Creek reservation covers approximately 112,870 acres and the Skull Valley Reservation covers 17,248 acres.
Northwestern Shoshones: The Northwestern Shoshone land near Washakie consists of 187 acres.
Paiutes: The tribe owns 4,470 acres scattered throughout southwestern Utah.
Navajos: The Navajo Reservation covers over 17,280,000 acres in the Four Corners region.
White Mesa Utes: The White Mesa Utes are part of the larger Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, located on 597,000 acres of land in southwest Colorado, southeastern Utah, and northern New Mexico.
How many members are in each tribe?
Utes: The Northern Utes have 3,157 tribal members, and over half of its membership lives on the reservation.
Goshutes: As of October 1997, there were 412 members enrolled in the Goshute tribe.
Northwestern Shoshones: In 2002, there were 431 enrolled members.
Paiutes: As of 2006, the total number of tribal members among the five bands was 840.
Navajos: 7,000 Navajo live in the Utah portion of the reservation, while the entire tribe has over 250,000 members.
White Mesa Utes: 380 members live in the White Mesa area.
