The Native American Consultation Database (NACD) is a listing of federally recognized tribes that have indicated interests in specific geographical areas. The database is not a comprehensive source of information, but provides a starting point for consultation by identifying tribal leaders and Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) contacts. The NACD is updated a couple of time throughout the year with information received from Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages and corporations, Native Hawaiian organizations, and from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

The National Park Service maintains a web page devoted to NAGPRA entitled "National NAGPRA." It contains information useful on the law and regulations, as well as a link to the Native American Consultation Database.

MAPS: GIS Windows on Native Lands, Current Places, and History provides maps on current and ancestral locations of Indian lands.

Indian Land Cessions in the United States is an excellent resource on historic Indian lands.

The Indian Land Areas Judicially Established (1978) source map portrays tribal lands within the continental U.S. claimed as part of a tribe’s original territory and proven in cases before the U.S. Indian Claims Commission or the U.S. Court of Claims.

The National Congress of American Indian (NCAI) website offers a tribal directory.

A list of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers

A list of federally recognized tribes can also be obtained from the BIA by calling their general information number at (202) 208-3711 (the BIA website is not accessible due to litigation against the BIA). The Bureau of Indian Affairs is responsible for the administration and management of 55.7 million acres of land held in trust by the United States for American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska Natives. Presently, there are 562 federally recognized tribal governments in the United States.

The following Native American websites also contain links to directories of federally and non-federally recognized Indian tribes:

• http://www.nativeculture.com/lisamitten/nations.html
• http://www.dickshovel.com/trbindex.html

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The FHWA has a website, “Section 106 Tribal Consultation Q & A’s”, that provides brief summary statements on issues involving tribal consultation, including guidance on how to locate and contact tribes for consultation.

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New Publication:

Best Practices Study on Tribal Consultation in Historic Preservation [PDF 3.67mb]

The National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers in collaboration with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, with funding by the National Park Service has published a study that examines best practices in tribal consultation for Section 106 undertakings.  The study provides federal agencies and tribes with guidance on how to engage in successful consultations. All Federal Preservation Officers and federally recognized Tribes were contacted as part of a nationwide survey.  The study’s results affirm the value and importance of early consultation. Tribes define success differently than their federal agency partners, however, viewing the establishment of good relations as more a measure of success than completing a project and coming to an agreement on resolving adverse effects.

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