Across North Carolina, roughly 125,000 people identify as American Indian or Alaskan native alone – a statewide total that ranks among the highest east of the Mississippi River. Add those who identify as native in combination with other ethnicities and the total rises past 300,000, or three percent of the state’s population.
Cherokee
The state of North Carolina recognizes eight distinct tribes. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has full federal recognition. With more than 16,000 enrolled members, much of the tribe lives on the Qualla Boundary in the state’s western mountains.
Lumbee
The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is the state’s largest, with roughly 55,000 members. Their push for full federal recognition is the longest and best-known.
As of December 18, 2025, they were granted that recognition.
• The other six tribes, while smaller, occupy a distinct place in the state’s makeup.
Haliwa-Saponi
The tribe’s enrollment totals more than 4,000, most of whom live around Halifax and Warren counties, especially in Hollister. The Haliwa-Saponi are also seeking full federal recognition. In 2019, the tribe held a gala to benefit those efforts, according to the Warren Record.
Coharie
The Coharie dwell in four main settlements around Harnett and Sampson counties: Holly Grove, New Bethel, Shiloh and Antioch. With roughly 3,000 members, the tribe has occupied territory around the Little Coharie River since the early 18th century. It holds an annual pow wow at its tribal center in Clinton.
Meherrin
The Meherrin occupy Bertie and surrounding counties in North Carolina’s northeastern corner, straddling the Virginia line. Most of its members trace ancestry to the Tuscarora and Nottoway, at one time sharing a common language before disbanding and scattering in the 18th century.
Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation
The tribe is centered around Alamance, Caswell and Orange counties with roughly 1,100 members. Its members are descended from Siouan-speakers who lived in the Piedmont when European settlers arrived in the 1600s. Their main settlement is the Little Texas community in Alamance County, where the Occaneechi bought land for a tribal center.
Sappony
Since the early 1700s, the Sappony tribe has made its home in the High Plains region of Person County, also covering part of Virginia. Until 2003, they were known as the “Indians of Person County,” and the tribe now has about 850 members under the more accurate name.
Waccamaw Siouan
Much like their neighbors the Lumbee, the Waccamaw Siouan sought security in the 1700s around the swampland near the South Carolina border. With more than 2,000 people around Bladen and Columbus County, the tribe calls itself “People of the Falling Star.”
This article appears courtesy of our media partner The Charlotte Observer. https://www.charlotteobserver.com