A Tribal Council is the governing body for certain

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

within the United States or elsewhere (since ancient times), generally along regional,

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

lines. Several sovereign American Indian Nations in the United States are organized as Tribal Councils. The

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...

, or Dineh, were formally governed by the Navajo Tribal Council, known today as the Navajo Nation Council. The

Crow Nation The Crow, whose autonym is Apsáalooke (), also spelled Absaroka, are Native Americans living primarily in southern Montana. Today, the Crow people have a federally recognized tribe, the Crow Tribe of Montana, with an Indian reservation loca ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

was once organized as the Crow Tribal Council. Since the late 20th century, the Crow Nation changed their constitution and organized as a three-branch government with a ceremonial Crow Tribal General. The term usually describes the governing body of a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

that is typically distinct from other tribes as a matter of geography, native language, religion and culture. The

, usually comprising a single Reservation (although some tribes have more than one, and many have none) is the basic unit of government.

Federally recognized tribes This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...

in the United States are considered "domestic dependent nations", and they have sovereign status somewhat comparable to the individual American States. Different tribes may choose governance structures for themselves, but most tribes have adopted democratic governments in which a Tribal Council or the equivalent functions as a

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

body and an elected or appointed Chairman has an

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

role comparable to a

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. On a few American Indian reservations such as the Hopi Reservation and the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) reservations, a U.S.-recognized and -funded, democratically-elected tribal government operates in parallel, and in some cases, in conflict with, the nation's traditionalist governance.

Tribal Councils in the United States

{{see also, Federally recognized tribes *

Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

* Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. * Inter-tribal Council of Michigan *

Minnesota Indian Affairs Council The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (MIAC) is a state-level government agency created by the Minnesota Legislature in 1963 to provide a liaison between the government of Minnesota and the American Indian tribes in the state. The council also bri ...

* Navajo Nation Council *

Siletz Tribal Council The Siletz (pronounced SIGH-lets) were the southernmost of several divisions of the Tillamook people speaking a distinct dialect; the other dialect-divisions were: ''Salmon River'' on the river of that name, ''Nestucca'' on Little and Nestucca ...

* Williamsburg Tribal Council Native American organizations