Indigenous · History Classes · Grades 10–13, College & University
The Peoples Register: Extinct, Dormant, Living Today
History Class · Level band: Grades 10–13 · College · University
English edition — the language editions of the history classes are outstanding and will follow the site’s translation pattern; none is fabricated here.
The Peoples Register: Who Is Gone, Who Is Here
Status: Researched draft — cultural review pending
How to read this register. This is a register of peoples, extending the Extinction Register into the full map the programme touches. Documented fact = census, tribal-government, or published scholarship (Sources, with year on every count). Tradition — a people's own account = how a people describes its own status (e.g., Myaamia "sleeping," not extinct), labelled as such. Debated / Claim = a disputed point, held open. No ceremonial or restricted content appears here.
The one-status rule, and its limits. Every main-table line carries exactly one status — EXTINCT, DORMANT / REAWAKENING, or LIVING TODAY. That rule is this register's filing discipline, not a claim that reality is single-layered. Where a people's own entry in this programme is layered (Taíno above all), the line gives the filing status and the layering is stated in the same line and flagged again at the end. Where the Extinction Register records a language's end and the people survive (Yaghan, Eyak), this register says both, in that order of importance: peoples first.
Count discipline (the Haida standard, applied throughout). Every count carries source + year. Counts that measure different things — enrolled citizens, census self-identification, ancestry, reservation residents, first-language speakers, conversational speakers — are never merged, averaged, or added across authorities. Where authorities disagree, both figures stand and the disagreement is flagged. Where no reliable count was found, the line prints "no sourced count held" — that honesty is the point of the register.
Consistency. This register was checked against the Gap Examination of 2026-10-27 and must never disagree with its tiers. Disagreements found while compiling it are flagged in §11 and in the compiler's report, not silently resolved. Peoples already entered in the Extinction Register are carried by reference (line + pointer), not re-researched. The Mexica and Inca knowledge entries describe ancient states; their living descendant peoples (Nahua, Quechua peoples) are registered under their own names — the ancient state is not listed as an "extinct people," because its people did not end.
1. Arctic / Subarctic
| People | Status | Standing today / record of end | Source, year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inuit (Canada — Inuit Nunangat) | LIVING TODAY | Self-governing partner under four modern comprehensive claims (1975–2006); 70,540 people by Indigenous identity in Canada. StatCan's own Daily text prints 70,545 — a five-person discrepancy inside one release, flagged, not resolved. | Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (identity table; Daily, 21 Sept 2022). Knowledge entry: [inuit.md](../knowledge/inuit.md) |
| Yup'ik (Central Alaskan Yup'ik / Cup'ik) | LIVING TODAY | Population 25,000, of whom 10,400 speakers (Krauss table); a later state advisory table gives a stricter bar — 2,500–7,500 highly proficient speakers. Different bars, both stand. | Alaska Native Language Center, Krauss (2007); Alaska Native Language Preservation & Advisory Council table, via Alaska Dept. of Education (accessed 2026) |
| Iñupiaq (Iñupiat) | LIVING TODAY | Population 15,700, of whom 2,144 speakers (Krauss table); advisory table: 500–1,500 highly proficient. US Census 2010 self-identification "Inupiat" 57,137 measures ancestry/identity, not the Alaska community count — not merged. | ANLC, Krauss (2007); ANLPAC table (accessed 2026); US Census Bureau, 2010 |
| Cree (Nêhiyawêwin peoples) | LIVING TODAY | Largest Indigenous language community of Canada: ~96,000 speakers including related varieties (programme census figure); ~250,000 people reported Cree ancestry (single + multiple responses measure). Speakers and ancestry are different counts. | Gap Examination §2.1 (2026), after Statistics Canada; Statistics Canada, 2021 Census ancestry summary (2022) |
| Métis Nation | LIVING TODAY | 624,220 people by Indigenous identity in Canada; a people-entry in its own right — the Michif language track is doorway/partnership only (no recovered text exists). | Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (2022). Gap Examination §2.2, §3 Tier 3 |
| Gwich'in | LIVING TODAY | Alaska: population 1,000, 150 speakers; Canada: population 1,900, 400 speakers — two national counts, printed separately, not summed. | ANLC, Krauss (2007) |
| Dëne Sųłıné (Chipewyan) | LIVING TODAY | Endangered; a recovered Matthew portion stands in the programme. No sourced count held at this register's standard. | Gap Examination §2.1 (status); count — none held |
| Eyak (dAXunhyuu) | DORMANT / REAWAKENING | People survive — about 50 people; language's last native speaker Marie Smith Jones d. 21 Jan 2008; EGIDS 9 Dormant, learners exist. Carried by reference. | Extinction entry: [eyak.md](eyak.md) — AP (2008); ANLA (accessed 2026) |
2. Northeast / Great Lakes
| People | Status | Standing today / record of end | Source, year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Confederacy) | LIVING TODAY | Confederacy of Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora; 48,365 people self-identified "Iroquois" in the US census (identity measure, US only). Individual nations' separate counts: see closing list. | US Census Bureau, 2010. Knowledge entry: [haudenosaunee.md](../knowledge/haudenosaunee.md) |
| Mohawk (Kanien'kehá:ka) | LIVING TODAY | Endangered, strong revival; a recovered Matthew (1880) stands in the programme. No separate sourced count held apart from the Confederacy aggregate above. | Gap Examination §2.1, §2.3 |
| Anishinaabe / Ojibwe | LIVING TODAY | US: 115,859 self-identified "Chippewa" (2010 census identity measure). Canada: 92,000 reported Ojibway ancestry (2021). Two countries, two measures — not summed. Speaker totals deliberately not asserted (definitions diverge). | US Census Bureau, 2010; Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (2022). Knowledge entry: [anishinaabe.md](../knowledge/anishinaabe.md) |
| Odawa (Ottawa) | LIVING TODAY | 7,975 self-identified in the US census (identity measure). Council of Three Fires partner of Ojibwe and Potawatomi. | US Census Bureau, 2010 |
| Potawatomi | LIVING TODAY | 18,329 self-identified in the US census (identity measure). | US Census Bureau, 2010 |
| Mi'kmaq | LIVING TODAY | 122,000 people reported Mi'kmaq ancestry in Canada — ancestry measure, the largest Atlantic-Canada First Nations ancestry count in that census summary. Language endangered; recovery from mission-era print is a Tier 2 front. | Statistics Canada, 2021 Census ancestry summary (2022); Gap Examination Tier 2 |
| Algonquin (Anicinabe) | LIVING TODAY | 56,000 reported Algonquin ancestry in Canada (ancestry measure); language endangered, a recovered Cuoq portion (1873) stands in the programme. | Statistics Canada, 2021 Census (2022); Gap Examination §2.1 |
| Wampanoag (Massachusett / Wôpanâak peoples) | DORMANT / REAWAKENING | Language unspoken for over a century, reclaimed from the Eliot Bible (1663) archive: Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project (founded 1993 by Jessie Little Doe Baird, Mashpee Wampanoag); children are again growing up as first-language speakers — the first in more than a century. People themselves never ceased. | WLRP / Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (accessed 2026); Gap Examination Tier 1 |
| Huron-Wyandot (Wendat) | DORMANT / REAWAKENING | Language dormant; revival under way in Quebec and in Wyandotte communities, working from Sagard (1632) and Jesuit materials. No sourced speaker count held. | Gap Examination Tier 1 |
| Myaamia (Miami-Illinois peoples) | DORMANT / REAWAKENING | Tradition — the people's own account: the language was "sleeping," never extinct. Last fluent first-language speakers d. early 1960s; reawakening led by Daryl Baldwin and the Myaamia Center (est. 2001); ~500 tribal members used the language regularly (2016 estimate — users/learners, not first-language speakers). Carried by reference. | Extinction entry: [myaamia.md](myaamia.md) — Leonard (2008); Myaamia Center |
| Meskwaki (Fox) | LIVING TODAY | Critically endangered language; nation in Iowa and Oklahoma. No sourced count held. | Gap Examination Tier 2 (status); count — none held |
| Menominee | LIVING TODAY | 7,494 self-identified in the US census (identity measure). | US Census Bureau, 2010 |
| Beothuk | EXTINCT | Last known member Shanawdithit d. 6 June 1829, St. John's; no descendant community. Early-1800s estimates range 150–3,000 — the disagreement stands; no pre-contact figure is held. Carried by reference. | Extinction entry: [beothuk.md](beothuk.md) — Cormack (1828–29); Marshall (1996) |
3. Southeast
| People | Status | Standing today / record of end | Source, year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherokee | LIVING TODAY | Cherokee Nation (Oklahoma): approximately 468,600 enrolled citizens — the largest US tribal enrolment in the GAO table. The Eastern Band (North Carolina) is a separate nation; its enrolment is not in that table and is not merged here. Language endangered (Oklahoma), Eastern dialect critically endangered. | US GAO, tribal enrolments reported 2024 (GAO-26-107118); Gap Examination §2.1. Knowledge entry: [cherokee.md](../knowledge/cherokee.md) |
| Muscogee (Creek) | LIVING TODAY | Muscogee (Creek) Nation: approximately 102,000 enrolled citizens. Tier 3 major, now registered. | US GAO, enrolments reported 2024 |
| Choctaw | LIVING TODAY | Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma: approximately 225,000 enrolled citizens. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is a separate nation (reservation population ~11,000 in state summaries) — two standings, not summed. | US GAO, enrolments reported 2024; Mississippi Band summaries (accessed 2026) |
| Chickasaw | LIVING TODAY | Chickasaw Nation: approximately 81,500 enrolled citizens. Language critically endangered; no published public-domain language text found in the government line (Gap Tier 2). | US GAO, enrolments reported 2024; Gap Examination Tier 2 |
| Seminole | LIVING TODAY | Seminole Nation of Oklahoma: approximately 18,800 enrolled citizens. The Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Miccosukee are separate nations — see closing list; the Florida chickee tradition is entered in the practices phase. | US GAO, enrolments reported 2024 |
| Natchez | EXTINCT | Last fluent speakers died in the 1950s; a substantial recorded corpus (Swanton, Haas) survives. Peoplehood note: Natchez descendants live within other nations — what ended is the Natchez language community and polity as recorded. | Gap Examination Tier 1 |
| Timucua | EXTINCT | Language extinct by ~1800; Pareja's grammar and confessionarios (1612–1614) survive as a full public-domain corpus. | Gap Examination Tier 1 |
| Biloxi | EXTINCT | Last speakers mid-20th century; Dorsey & Swanton dictionary (1912) survives. | Gap Examination Tier 1 |
| Ofo | EXTINCT | Last speaker died 1934; recorded with Biloxi in the same 1912 dictionary. | Gap Examination Tier 1 |
4. Plains
| People | Status | Standing today / record of end | Source, year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakota & Dakota (Oceti Sakowin) | LIVING TODAY | 131,048 self-identified "Sioux" in the US census (identity measure, all Seven Council Fires groupings). Dakota first-language speakers ~290 (2016-era counts in the programme register) — a speaker count, not a people count. | US Census Bureau, 2010; Gap Examination §2.1. Knowledge entry: [lakota-dakota.md](../knowledge/lakota-dakota.md) |
| Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani — Canada; Blackfeet — US) | LIVING TODAY | Confederacy-wide reference total 32,000 (undated reference figure, flagged as such); Blackfeet Nation (Montana) enrolled 17,250 (state education table); US census "Blackfeet" self-identification 23,583 (2010). Three measures, three standings — none is "the" count. Canadian nations' enrolments: closing list. | Montana Office of Public Instruction table (accessed 2026); US Census Bureau, 2010; reference synthesis (accessed 2026) |
| Crow (Apsáalooke) | LIVING TODAY | More than 14,000 enrolled citizens (tribal legislature reporting, 2025); 13,258 self-identified in the 2010 US census. Enrolment and self-identification are different measures, a decade apart. | Crow Legislature reporting via press (2025); US Census Bureau, 2010 |
| Comanche (Nʉmʉnʉʉ) | LIVING TODAY | 12,784 self-identified in the US census (identity measure). | US Census Bureau, 2010 |
| Cheyenne | LIVING TODAY | 11,688 self-identified in the US census (identity measure; Northern and Southern Cheyenne together). The joint Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes (Oklahoma) report a combined citizenry of around 12,000 — a different unit, not a Cheyenne count. | US Census Bureau, 2010; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes education guide (accessed 2026) |
| Arapaho | LIVING TODAY | Northern Arapaho: 8,600 enrolled members on the Wind River Reservation (shared with Eastern Shoshone, 3,900 enrolled) — reservation-source figures, undated, flagged as such. Southern Arapaho stand within the joint Oklahoma tribes (see Cheyenne line). | Wind River reservation summaries (accessed 2026) |
| Mandan (Numakiki) | DORMANT / REAWAKENING | Last fluent first-language speaker Edwin Benson d. 2016. Mandan people survive within the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation — it is the fluent first-language line that ended; tribal language work continues. | Gap Examination Tier 1 |
| Wichita | DORMANT / REAWAKENING | Last fluent speaker Doris Lamar McLemore d. 2016. Wichita and Affiliated Tribes survive as a nation. | Gap Examination Tier 1 |
| Hidatsa (Hiraacá) | LIVING TODAY | Critically endangered language; people stand within the MHA Nation (see Mandan line). The fullest early record is Buffalo Bird Woman's testimony (early 1900s, practices phase). No sourced count held separate from the MHA Nation. | Gap Examination Tier 2; NPS Knife River (accessed 2026) |
| Kiowa | LIVING TODAY | 9,253 self-identified in the US census (identity measure); language critically endangered. | US Census Bureau, 2010; Gap Examination Tier 2 |
| Osage (Wazhazhe) | LIVING TODAY | 7,242 self-identified in the US census (identity measure); a handful of elder first-language speakers, nation-led revival under way. | US Census Bureau, 2010; Gap Examination Tier 2 |
| Omaha–Ponca | LIVING TODAY | Critically endangered Dhegiha languages; Omaha Tribe summaries give ~6,000 members (undated tribal-summary figure, flagged). Ponca (Nebraska and Oklahoma nations): no sourced count held. | Gap Examination Tier 2; Omaha tribal summaries (accessed 2026) |
| Pawnee | LIVING TODAY | Critically endangered language; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma survives. No sourced count held. | Gap Examination Tier 2 |
5. Southwest
| People | Status | Standing today / record of end | Source, year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diné (Navajo) | LIVING TODAY | Navajo Nation: over 400,000 enrolled citizens reported (2020s reporting — the Nation became the largest US tribal enrolment in 2020); ~170,000 residents on the Nation and ~170,000 people speaking Diné Bizaad at home (US Census Bureau figure carried in 2025 reporting). Citizens, residents, and speakers are three different counts. Diné Bizaad made the Nation's official language, 30 Dec 2024. | Navajo Nation / press reporting (2025), citing US Census Bureau; Gap Examination §2.1, Tier 3 |
| Apache peoples (aggregate line) | LIVING TODAY | 64,869 self-identified "Apache" in the US census — an aggregate over Western Apache, Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero and others, which this register does not split without sourced nation counts; the several nations are named in the closing list. Jicarilla Apache Nation reservation residents (16+) 2,657 and Mescalero 2,743 are resident measures only. | US Census Bureau, 2010; ACS 2019–2023 tribal-area tables (accessed 2026); Gap Examination Tier 3 |
| Hopi | LIVING TODAY | Hopi Reservation and trust land residents 6,377 (ACS 2019–2023) — a resident count, not enrolment. The Western Pueblo peoples together (Acoma, Hopi, Laguna, Zuni) were counted 33,633 in the 2010 census summary. | ACS 2019–2023, via EBSCO Western Pueblo summary (accessed 2026); US Census Bureau, 2010 |
| Zuni (A:shiwi) | LIVING TODAY | Reference total ~10,000 people (undated, flagged); Zuni Reservation residents 7,461 (ACS 2019–2023). Language (Shiwi'ma) endangered; the key 1932 report is held — not public-domain-verified (Gap Tier 2). | Reference synthesis (accessed 2026); ACS 2019–2023; Gap Examination Tier 2 |
| Rio Grande Pueblo peoples (aggregate line) | LIVING TODAY | 59,337 self-identified "Pueblo" in the US census — an aggregate over the nineteen New Mexico Pueblos and Ysleta del Sur, named severally in the closing list where no individual sourced count was held. | US Census Bureau, 2010 |
| O'odham (Tohono O'odham / Akimel O'odham) | LIVING TODAY | 23,313 self-identified "Tohono O'odham" in the US census (one O'odham nation measure); language endangered, Russell (1908) corpus public domain. Mexico-side O'odham speakers 203 (INEGI 2020, "Pápago") — a cross-border speaker count, not added. | US Census Bureau, 2010; INEGI, 2020 Census; Gap Examination Tier 2 |
| Yaqui (Yoeme) | LIVING TODAY | US: 17,714 self-identified (2010). Mexico: 19,376 Yaqui-language speakers aged 3+ (INEGI 2020). Two nations' measures of one people across a border — printed separately, never summed. | US Census Bureau, 2010; INEGI, 2020 Census |
| Ute | LIVING TODAY | 8,105 self-identified in the US census (identity measure; Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, and Northern Ute nations). | US Census Bureau, 2010 |
6. Great Basin / Plateau
| People | Status | Standing today / record of end | Source, year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shoshone | LIVING TODAY | 8,299 self-identified in the US census (identity measure, all Shoshone nations); Eastern Shoshone enrolled 3,900 at Wind River (undated reservation figure, flagged; see Arapaho line). | US Census Bureau, 2010; Wind River summaries (accessed 2026) |
| Paiute | LIVING TODAY | 13,728 self-identified in the US census — an aggregate (Northern Paiute, Southern Paiute nations severally in the closing list). | US Census Bureau, 2010 |
| Yakama | LIVING TODAY | 8,643 self-identified in the US census (identity measure; Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation). | US Census Bureau, 2010 |
| Colville (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation) | LIVING TODAY | 10,081 self-identified in the US census — a confederation of twelve Plateau peoples; the aggregate is the census's unit, not this register's preference. | US Census Bureau, 2010 |
| Klamath–Modoc | DORMANT / REAWAKENING | Last fully fluent speakers early 2000s; an active revival programme works from Gatschet's 1890 monograph (~1,500 pp.). The Klamath Tribes survive as a nation. | Gap Examination Tier 1 |
| Ktunaxa (Kutenai) | LIVING TODAY | Critically endangered isolate; nations in BC, Montana and Idaho; a Kutenai Tales (1918) transcription is in progress in the programme. No sourced count held. | Gap Examination §2.1, Tier 2 |
| St'át'imc, Secwepemc, Nlaka'pamux (Plateau housepit peoples) | LIVING TODAY | Named at depth in the practices phase (Keatley Creek housepit record). No sourced count held for any of the three at this register's standard — listed here so the gap is visible, not papered over. | Practices entry: [survival.md](../practices/survival.md); counts — none held |
7. Northwest Coast / California (and the programme's Pacific scope)
| People | Status | Standing today / record of end | Source, year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haida | LIVING TODAY | Critically endangered language, living nation: 245 conversational speakers Canada-wide, 105 mother tongue (Statistics Canada, 2021); ~two dozen or fewer fully fluent Elders by community-project reporting (2024) — the Haida entry holds the definitions apart. Carried by reference. | Extinction entry: [haida.md](haida.md) — Statistics Canada (2025 release of 2021 Census); UNESCO Atlas |
| Tlingit (Lingít) | LIVING TODAY | Alaska population 10,000, 175 speakers (ANLC table, Tlingit figure updated 2013); an older ANLC summary gives ~500 speakers — the two stand a decade and a definition apart, flagged. Canada: population 1,000, 25 speakers (Krauss 2007). | ANLC, Krauss (2007, Tlingit updated 2013); ANLC summary (accessed 2026) |
| Tsimshian (Sm'algyax) | LIVING TODAY | Alaska: population 1,400, 30 speakers; Canada: population 3,200, fewer than 400 speakers. A Boas/Tate transcription is in progress in the programme. | ANLC, Krauss (2007); Gap Examination Tier 2 |
| Coast Salish peoples (aggregate line) | LIVING TODAY | 14,241 self-identified "Puget Sound Salish" in the US census — one regional aggregate only; the many Coast Salish nations in BC and Washington are named in the closing list, unsourced severally. | US Census Bureau, 2010; Gap Examination Tier 3 |
| Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwak'wala speakers) | LIVING TODAY | Critically endangered language; Boas/Hunt texts (1911/1921) public domain. No sourced count held. | Gap Examination Tier 2 |
| Nuu-chah-nulth; Makah | LIVING TODAY | Named at depth in the practices phase (plank houses; Ozette, the Makah wet site). No sourced count held. | Practices entry: [survival.md](../practices/survival.md); counts — none held |
| Chinook (Lower Chinook) | EXTINCT | Language extinct; the Chinook peoples survive in successor communities (e.g., Chinook Indian Nation, and within the Grand Ronde and Shoalwater Bay communities) — the extinction recorded is of the Lower Chinook language as documented by Boas (1894). | Gap Examination Tier 1 |
| Kathlamet | DORMANT / REAWAKENING | Language dormant; Boas, Kathlamet Texts (1901) survives as the corpus. No reawakening programme was sourced — the status is DORMANT in the strict sense, and the line says so. | Gap Examination Tier 1 |
| Alsea | DORMANT / REAWAKENING | Last speakers mid-20th century; Frachtenberg, Alsea Texts and Myths (1920) survives. No reawakening programme was sourced. | Gap Examination Tier 1 |
| Yahi (Yana) | EXTINCT | Last known Yahi, Ishi, d. 25 Mar 1916. The record's own correction stands: Yana relatives and descendants survive in northern California — what ended was the Yahi group and dialect. Carried by reference. | Extinction entry: [yahi.md](yahi.md) |
| Wukchumni | EXTINCT | Extinct as a native-speaker dialect 2021 (Marie Wilcox, d. 25 Sept 2021, NYT obituary); at least three fluent speakers taught by Wilcox survive her, and a taught line continues — filed EXTINCT following the Extinction Register's own line, with the tension flagged in §11. Carried by reference. | Extinction entry: [wukchumni.md](wukchumni.md) |
| Mutsun | DORMANT / REAWAKENING | Last fluent speaker d. 1930; revival works from the Arroyo de la Cuesta Franciscan corpus. Flagged: the Gap Examination's Tier 1 files Mutsun as "Extinct" — this register files it Dormant/Reawakening by the Myaamia precedent (a people + an active revival from documents). The disagreement is held open in §11, not resolved. | Gap Examination Tier 1; Phase 4 census A8 (via Gap Examination) |
| Hawaiian (Kānaka Maoli) | LIVING TODAY | People: the 2020 US census counted Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander identity in the hundreds of thousands nationally (Honolulu County alone 10.2% NHPI alone, 2020) — no single people-count is asserted here. Language: ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi revitalising from near-extinction; published figures range from ~2,000 native speakers (UNESCO "critically endangered" summaries) to 18,000–24,000 speakers of varying fluency (2020s summaries) — a definition gap, ranged and flagged as this register's weakest count. A recovered Genesis (1868/1908) stands in the programme. | US Census Bureau, 2020; UNESCO-cited summaries and 2020s language summaries (accessed 2026); Gap Examination §2.1 |
8. Mexico / Central America
Mexico's census counts speakers, not ethnicities — the INEGI 2020 figures below are people aged 3+ speaking the language, and the register does not rename them "population." Guatemala's 2018 census gives both ethnic shares and language shares; where they differ, both are printed.
| People | Status | Standing today / record of end | Source, year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nahua peoples | LIVING TODAY | 1,651,958 Nahuatl speakers aged 3+ — Mexico's largest Indigenous language; the living continuation of the world the Mexica entry describes. 111,797 of them monolingual in Nahuatl. | INEGI, 2020 Census (via 2020 census language table). Knowledge entry: [mexica.md](../knowledge/mexica.md) |
| Yucatec Maya | LIVING TODAY | 774,755 speakers aged 3+ in Mexico ("Maya" in the INEGI table). One nation among 31+ Mayan peoples — the programme's single "Maya" entry cannot carry them severally, and this register now names the largest severally below. | INEGI, 2020 Census; Gap Examination §2.3, Tier 3. Knowledge entry: [maya.md](../knowledge/maya.md) |
| Tzeltal (Tseltal) | LIVING TODAY | 589,144 speakers aged 3+ in Mexico. | INEGI, 2020 Census |
| Tzotzil (Tsotsil) | LIVING TODAY | 550,274 speakers aged 3+ in Mexico. | INEGI, 2020 Census |
| K'iche' | LIVING TODAY | Guatemala's largest Maya nation by ethnic share: 11.0% of the national population (2018 census ethnic measure, CIA summary of INE 2018); K'iche' as a language 7.8%. Mexico-side K'iche' speakers 589 (INEGI 2020) — a refugee-era community count, printed separately. | INE Guatemala, 2018 Census (via CIA World Factbook 2020 summary); INEGI, 2020 Census |
| Q'eqchi' | LIVING TODAY | 8.3% of Guatemala's population by both ethnic and language shares (2018) — the two measures happen to agree here; widely cited speaker total ~1.1 million (reference table, undated, flagged). | INE Guatemala, 2018 Census (via CIA summary); reference language table (accessed 2026) |
| Mam | LIVING TODAY | Ethnic share 5.2% vs language share 4.4% of Guatemala's population (2018) — the gap between the two measures is itself the datum (language shift inside a living people). Mexico-side Mam speakers 11,369 (INEGI 2020). | INE Guatemala, 2018 Census (via CIA summary); INEGI, 2020 Census |
| Kaqchikel | LIVING TODAY | Ethnic share 7.8% vs language share 3.0% of Guatemala's population (2018) — the widest people/language gap among the large Maya nations in that census, flagged as the register's clearest shift measure. | INE Guatemala, 2018 Census (via CIA summary) |
| Mixtec (Ñuu Savi) | LIVING TODAY | 526,593 Mixtec speakers aged 3+ in Mexico — itself an aggregate over many Mixtec languages. | INEGI, 2020 Census |
| Zapotec | LIVING TODAY | 490,845 Zapotec speakers aged 3+ in Mexico — likewise an aggregate over the Zapotec languages of Oaxaca. | INEGI, 2020 Census |
| Otomí (Hñähñü) | LIVING TODAY | 298,861 speakers aged 3+ in Mexico. | INEGI, 2020 Census |
| Purépecha | LIVING TODAY | 142,459 speakers aged 3+ in Mexico (INEGI table heading "Tarasco" — the census's label, not the people's name). | INEGI, 2020 Census |
| Xinca | LIVING TODAY | 264,167 people, 1.77% of Guatemala's population (2018 ethnic measure); the Xincan languages are extinct as a family in daily use (Gap §1.3) — a living people whose ancestral languages have ended, filed LIVING because this is a peoples register, with the language record stated in the line. | INE Guatemala, 2018 Census (via 2018 census summaries); Gap Examination §1.3 |
| Lenca | LIVING TODAY | People living in Honduras and El Salvador; the Lenca languages were lost in the 20th century (Gap §1.3). No sourced count held for the people at this register's standard. | Gap Examination §1.3, Tier 3; count — none held |
| Garífuna | LIVING TODAY | The Caribbean's surviving people, now Central American: Honduras 43,111 people (Minority Rights Group country profile, from Honduran census reporting); Guatemala 19,529 people (2018 census ethnic measure); language speakers "more than 100,000" (UNESCO-cited summaries), with a Honduras speaker figure of 146,000 carried in the language reference without a census citation — flagged, not adopted. Country counts are not summed (different years/measures; a large US diaspora is uncounted in both). Language, dance and music proclaimed by UNESCO 2001, inscribed 2008. | Minority Rights Group (accessed 2026); INE Guatemala, 2018 Census; UNESCO (2001/2008); Gap Examination §1.5, Tier 3 |
| Kalinago (Island Carib) | DORMANT / REAWAKENING | Language dormant — last fluent speaker d. 1920s, Dominica; Breton's dictionary, grammar and catechism (1665–1667) survive as a full corpus. The Kalinago people of Dominica survive as a nation (their territory stands) — no sourced people-count held here. The mainland continuation is the Garífuna line above. | Gap Examination §1.5, Tier 1 |
9. Caribbean
| People | Status | Standing today / record of end | Source, year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taíno | EXTINCT | Read in layers — the one-status rule strains here and the strain is flagged. Filed EXTINCT as the Extinction Register files the language and polities: Taíno ceased as a community language in the colonial centuries and no modern state enumerates a Taíno census category, so no modern count exists. But ancient DNA (2018, 2020) documents Indigenous ancestry in present-day Caribbean people, and living Taíno descendant/identity communities assert continuity — ancestry and identity did not end. Carried by reference; never flattened. | Extinction entry: [taino.md](taino.md) — Schroeder et al., PNAS (2018); Fernandes et al., Nature (2020); Smithsonian NMAI |
| Caquetío | EXTINCT | Named in the standard classification of Caribbean contact-era languages and in the formal list of eight extinct island languages; no individual last-speaker record was sourced — the line records the formal listing, nothing more. | Gap Examination §1.5 (Granberry & Vescelius classification; extinct-languages list) |
| Guanahatabey | EXTINCT | As Caquetío: formally listed extinct; unclassified in the record; extinguished within a century of 1492 on the Gap Examination's account. | Gap Examination §1.5 |
| Macorix | EXTINCT | As Caquetío: formally listed extinct; unclassified. | Gap Examination §1.5 |
| Ciguayo | EXTINCT | As Caquetío: formally listed extinct; unclassified. | Gap Examination §1.5 |
| Shebayo | EXTINCT | As Caquetío: named at contact (Trinidad/northern coast record) and formally listed among the extinct island languages. | Gap Examination §1.5 |
Garífuna — the one Caribbean-origin people with a living mainland nation — is registered in §8, where its people now live, and cross-referenced here so the Caribbean section does not falsely read as total loss.
10. South America
| People | Status | Standing today / record of end | Source, year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quechua peoples (severally, by country) | LIVING TODAY | Peru: 3,799,780 Quechua speakers (INEI 2017 census table) — a second transcription of the same census prints 3,735,682; the two transcriptions disagree and both stand, flagged. Bolivia: 2,100,000 (2001 census, reference table). Ecuador (Kichwa): 450,000–2,300,000 across authorities (1991–2020s) — the widest range in this register, printed as a range because no honest single figure exists. The Inca entry is the ancient state; these are its living peoples. | INEI, Peru 2017 Census (two transcriptions, flagged); reference language tables (accessed 2026). Knowledge entry: [inca.md](../knowledge/inca.md) |
| Aymara | LIVING TODAY | Peru: 450,010 speakers (INEI 2017). Bolivia/hemisphere reference total ~1.7 million (reference table, undated compilation, flagged). Two standings, not summed. | INEI, Peru 2017 Census; reference language table (accessed 2026) |
| Guaraní peoples | LIVING TODAY | Guaraní is an official language of Paraguay spoken by millions of Paraguayans, most not ethnically Guaraní — so speaker totals (~6.2–6.5 million in reference tables) must never be printed as a Guaraní people count. Ethnic Guaraní nations (e.g., in Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina) severally: no sourced count held. | Reference language tables (accessed 2026); Gap Examination Tier 3 |
| Mapuche | LIVING TODAY | Chile: 1,745,147 people (2017 census) and 1,623,073 (2024 census reporting) — two censuses, both stand; the fall between them is a census result, not this register's inference. Argentina: 145,783 (2022 census, Pehuenche-inclusive reporting). Mapudungun speakers ~250,000–258,410 (early-21st-century reference figures). | Chile INE, 2017 Census; Chile 2024 census reporting; Argentina, 2022 Census; Britannica / reference tables (accessed 2026) |
| Yanomami | LIVING TODAY | Brazil: 19,420 (2011) in one official-line compilation, 24,603 (ISA 2017) in another, and ~30,000 Yanomami and Ye'kwana together on the Indigenous Territory in Brazil's 2022 census reporting — three units, not one trend line. Venezuela: 16,069 (2009) vs 11,431 (INE 2011) in the scholarly record — flagged disagreement. The shabono system is entered in the practices phase. | ISA (Instituto Socioambiental) compilations (2011–2017); Brazil 2022 Census reporting (Reuters, 2024); INE Venezuela, 2011 (via scholarly record) |
| Wayuu | LIVING TODAY | ~416,000–420,000 people across Colombia and Venezuela (reference tables, 2020s) — a narrow range, printed as a range. The largest people of the Guajira and of Colombia's Indigenous population in those tables. | Reference language/people tables (accessed 2026) |
| Ticuna | LIVING TODAY | ~25,000–30,000 people (Brazilian Amazon summaries; two secondary figures, ranged and flagged as this section's weaker counts). Brazil's most populous Amazonian people in those summaries. | IPOL / Brazilian language summaries (accessed 2026) |
| Asháninka | LIVING TODAY | Peru summary figure ~97,000 people (secondary census summary, flagged); a second reference table gives 23,000–28,500 speakers — people and speakers a factor of three apart, both printed, neither preferred. | Peru language summaries (accessed 2026) |
| Emberá | LIVING TODAY | ~50,000 (undated reference table, Colombia/Panama) — flagged as a weak count: single table, no census year attached. | Reference language table (accessed 2026) |
| Shuar | LIVING TODAY | ~46,700 (undated reference table, Ecuador) — flagged as a weak count, as Emberá. | Reference language table (accessed 2026) |
| Akuntsu | LIVING TODAY | A people of four: three women (Pugapia, Aiga, Babawru) at the start of 2025, and a son, Akyp, b. 8 Dec 2025. Critically endangered is an understatement the register does not soften — but the status is LIVING, because they are living. Carried by reference. | Extinction entry: [akuntsu.md](akuntsu.md) — FUNAI via ISA; AP (Feb 2026) |
| Yaghan (Yámana) | LIVING TODAY | The people live; the language's native line ended. Yaghan community, including Cristina Calderón's family, lives at Villa Ukika, Chile, and revitalisation continues — no sourced count held for the people. The language record (last native speaker Calderón, d. 16 Feb 2022) is carried by reference. Filed LIVING in this peoples register; the Extinction Register's entry is a language entry. The translation between the two registers is flagged in §11. | Extinction entry: [yaghan.md](yaghan.md) — AFP via NPR (2022); Nautilus (2025) |
11. Flagged disagreements, translations and weak points (held, not thinned)
- Taíno vs the one-status rule. The task governing this register requires exactly one status per line; the programme's own Taíno entry forbids flattening that people to one word. Resolution adopted and flagged, not hidden: the line files the language/polity status (EXTINCT) and carries the ancestry and living-identity layers inside the same line. If the owner prefers, Taíno is the one line that should be exempted from the one-status rule.
- Language registers vs peoples register (Yaghan, Eyak, Wukchumni, Xinca, Lenca, Chinook). The Extinction Register records languages; this register records peoples. Yaghan and Xinca file differently in the two registers because the units differ, and each line says so. Wukchumni is the hard case: filed EXTINCT here following the Extinction Register, although its taught-speaker line continues — a reader who files it DORMANT / REAWAKENING by the Myaamia precedent has the better of the argument on people-grounds, and this register records that rather than pretending the filing is clean.
- Mutsun vs Gap Examination Tier 1. Gap files Mutsun "Extinct (last fluent speaker d. 1930); revival working." This register files DORMANT / REAWAKENING, by the Myaamia precedent that a sleeping language with an active, document-based revival is not filed simply extinct. This is a genuine disagreement with the Gap Examination's tier label, flagged for the owner — not silently resolved in either direction.
- Inuit, five people. Statistics Canada's 2021 identity table prints Inuit 70,540; its own Daily release text prints 70,545. Both are Statistics Canada, 2021 Census. The register prints the table figure and flags the Daily figure.
- Peru Quechua, 2017. Two transcriptions of INEI's 2017 census table in circulation print 3,799,780 and 3,735,682 Quechua speakers. One census cannot have both; the register prints the table figure first and holds the variant in the same line pending a direct INEI table pull.
- Yanomami, almost every count. Brazil 19,420 (2011) / 24,603 (ISA 2017) / ~30,000 including Ye'kwana (2022); Venezuela 16,069 (2009) / 11,431 (INE 2011). Different units (people, territory residents including a second people, national censuses a decade apart). No total is constructed.
- Guatemala, ethnic share vs language share. Mam 5.2% vs 4.4%; Kaqchikel 7.8% vs 3.0% (INE 2018, via CIA summary). These are not errors — they measure different things — but any future entry that quotes one without naming its measure will create a false disagreement with this register.
- Garífuna speakers. The Gap Examination (§1.5) gives Garífuna ~50,000–100,000+ speakers; the language reference carries 146,000 speakers in Honduras alone, without a census citation on the line. The register adopts only the sourced floor ("more than 100,000," UNESCO-cited) and flags the 146,000 as uncited-at-source.
- Haida is not a disagreement. Gap Tier 2 and the Extinction Register call Haida critically endangered; this register files the Haida people LIVING TODAY. Endangerment describes the language; the filing describes the people. Both stand.
- Weakest-sourced points in this register (named, per strand discipline): (a) Hawaiian speaker figures — the 2,000 vs 24,000 spread rests on secondary summaries at both ends; a direct US Census / Hawaiʻi state table pull is needed before publication; (b) Ticuna, Emberá, Shuar and Asháninka — single secondary tables, two of them undated; (c) Blackfoot Confederacy 32,000 and Zuni ~10,000 — undated reference totals, printed only beside dated census measures; (d) the Caribbean five (Caquetío, Guanahatabey, Macorix, Ciguayo, Shebayo) rest on a formal list, not on individual last-speaker records — no such records were sourced, and none are invented; (e) US Census 2010 tribal self-identification figures are the last full decennial tribal table this compiler could source for many US peoples — they are a decade and a half old and are dated as such on every line.
- What this register is not. The Gap Examination counts ~870–1,020 still-spoken languages untouched by the programme and ~1,000 attested-and-lost ones. A peoples register of the whole hemisphere at this standard would run to hundreds of lines and years of census work. This register covers every people the programme touches at depth, plus the Tier 3 majors — and names the rest honestly below, rather than pretending completeness.
12. Named in the programme, status not yet sourced
These peoples are named in the programme's knowledge, extinction, practices, doorway or Tier listings. No sourced count or status meeting this register's standard was found in this phase for the individual line — so they are listed here, unsourced on purpose. Inclusion here is a work order, not a verdict.
- Haudenosaunee severally: Seneca · Cayuga · Onondaga · Oneida · Tuscarora (the Confederacy aggregate is sourced in §2; the five individual nations are not, Mohawk excepted by status only)
- Anishinaabe world: the Anishinaabe nations of the Robinson (1850) and Williams (1923) treaty territories named in the knowledge entry
- Dene doorway peoples: Dene Tha' · Dene Zhatıé (South Slavey, status sourced §2-line family but no count) · Dene Kǝdǝ́ (Hare / K'ásho Got'ı̨nę, critically endangered per Gap §2.1) · Tłı̨chǫ (Dogrib) · Michif / Métis language community as distinct from the Métis Nation line in §1
- Alaska / northern: Aleut (Unangax) · Sugpiaq / Alutiiq · Ahtna · Dena'ina · Koyukon and the other Athabaskan peoples in the ANLC table (their language figures are sourced there; their peoples lines are not yet written)
- Southeast / Gulf: Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (separate enrolment not in the GAO 2024 table used here) · Miccosukee · Seminole Tribe of Florida · Chickasaw and Choctaw language communities as distinct from citizen counts
- Plains / Plateau severally: Assiniboine (Nakoda) · Arikara (as a people distinct from the MHA aggregate) · Gros Ventre (Aaniiih) · Salish / Kootenai confederation members severally · Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) · Umatilla · Warm Springs peoples
- Apache severally: Western Apache · Chiricahua · Jicarilla · Lipan · Mescalero (aggregate sourced in §5)
- Rio Grande Pueblos severally: Acoma (a 2000 census self-identification of 4,989 was found but is a quarter-century old — held here rather than printed as current) · Laguna · Taos · Santa Clara · Ohkay Owingeh · Isleta · Jemez · Santo Domingo (Kewa) · San Felipe · Cochiti · Picuris · Pojoaque · Nambé · San Ildefonso · Sandia · Santa Ana · Tesuque · Zia · Ysleta del Sur
- Great Basin severally: the Northern Paiute, Southern Paiute, Western Shoshone and Goshute nations (aggregates sourced in §6)
- Northwest Coast severally: the Coast Salish nations of BC and Washington by name · Squamish · Musqueam · Tsleil-Waututh · Nisga'a · Gitxsan · Heiltsuk · Tsimshian's Canadian nations severally
- California severally: the Yokuts peoples beyond Wukchumni · Miwok peoples · Pomo peoples · the peoples of the Arroyo/Mutsun mission record beyond Mutsun itself
- Mexico / Central America severally: Miskito · Guna · Ngäbe · Bribrí · Cabécar · Maya peoples beyond the seven named in §8 (Ch'ol — 254,715 speakers, INEGI 2020, is the largest omission and first for promotion — with Mazatec 237,212, Totonac 256,344, Huastec/Téenek 168,729, and the remaining Mayan nations: Q'anjob'al, Ixil, Tz'utujil, Poqomchi', Achi, Chuj, Akateko, and the rest of the 22 Guatemalan Maya peoples) · Rarámuri (Tarahumara, 91,554 speakers, INEGI 2020) · Wixárika (Huichol, 60,263, INEGI 2020) · Yaqui is registered in §5
- South America severally: Shipibo-Konibo · Wayuu is registered in §10 · Cofán · Pirahã · Trumai · Waorani · Warao · Aikanã · Andoque · Yuracaré and the remaining Glottolog isolates named in Gap Tier 4 · the Kanoê (named throughout the Akuntsu entry — the people whose warning to FUNAI saved the Akuntsu; their own line is owed) · Ye'kwana (counted inside one Yanomami territory figure in §10, owed a line of their own)
- Programme tracks outside the Americas regions: Kaurna (Australia — dormant → reawakening from the documentary record; equal-standing track per the owner's ruling; recovered witness stands in the programme; a full peoples line belongs in an Australian register, not forced into an Americas region) · Lokono (named on Trinidad in Gap §1.5; a living Arawakan people of the Guianas coast — status not yet sourced at this standard)
Sources
- Alaska Native Language Center (ANLC), University of Alaska Fairbanks — Krauss, Michael E. (2007), "Native languages of Alaska," table (population/speakers by language; Tlingit updated 2013); ANLC language summaries (accessed Oct 2026).
- Alaska Native Language Preservation & Advisory Council — highly-proficient-speaker table, via Alaska Department of Education & Early Development (accessed Oct 2026).
- Associated Press (2026) — via the Akuntsu extinction entry (FUNAI figures, Dec 2025 birth).
- Chile, Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas (INE) — 2017 Census results synthesis (Mapuche 1,745,147); 2024 Census reporting (Mapuche 1,623,073) via reference synthesis (accessed Oct 2026).
- CIA World Factbook (2020 summary of INE Guatemala, 2018 Census) — Guatemala ethnic and language shares (Maya 41.7%; K'iche', Q'eqchi', Kaqchikel, Mam shares).
- Gap Examination — GAP_EXAMINATION_2026-10-27.md, Indigenous Knowledge programme (2026) — tiers, statuses, and programme coverage cited throughout; the consistency authority for this register.
- INEGI (Mexico) — 2020 Census, Indigenous-language speakers aged 3+ by language (Nahuatl 1,651,958; Maya 774,755; Tseltal 589,144; Tsotsil 550,274; Mixtec 526,593; Zapotec 490,845; Otomí 298,861; Purépecha/"Tarasco" 142,459; Mam (Mexico) 11,369; K'iche' (Mexico) 589; Pápago 203), via the 2020 census language table (accessed Oct 2026).
- INEI (Peru) — 2017 National Census language table (Quechua 3,799,780, with the 3,735,682 transcription variant flagged; Aymara 450,010), via census-table transcriptions (accessed Oct 2026).
- Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), Povos Indígenas no Brasil — Yanomami compilations (Brazil 19,420, 2011; 24,603, 2017); Akuntsu/FUNAI record via the extinction entry.
- Minority Rights Group — Garífuna in Honduras profile (43,111 people; UNESCO 2001/2008 proclamation/inscription) (accessed Oct 2026).
- Statistics Canada — 2021 Census: Indigenous identity table (First Nations 1,048,405; Métis 624,220 — printed 624,215 in one Focus table, a further five-person-class variant held with the Inuit flag; Inuit 70,540, Daily text 70,545); The Daily, 21 Sept 2022; ancestry summary (Cree ~250,000; Mi'kmaq 122,000; Ojibway 92,000; Algonquin 56,000); Haida isolates report, 31 Mar 2025 (via extinction entry).
- US Census Bureau — 2010 Census, American Indian and Alaska Native population by selected tribes (Apache 64,869; Blackfeet 23,583; Cheyenne 11,688; Comanche 12,784; Crow 13,258; Iroquois 48,365; Kiowa 9,253; Menominee 7,494; Navajo 308,013 in 2010 — superseded for enrolment by the §5 line; Osage 7,242; Ottawa 7,975; Paiute 13,728; Potawatomi 18,329; Pueblo 59,337; Puget Sound Salish 14,241; Shoshone 8,299; Sioux 131,048; Tohono O'odham 23,313; Ute 8,105; Yakama 8,643; Yaqui 17,714; Chippewa 115,859; Colville 10,081; Inupiat 57,137); 2020 Census (Honolulu County NHPI share); American Community Survey 2019–2023 tribal-area estimates (Hopi 6,377; Zuni 7,461 residents; Jicarilla and Mescalero resident tables).
- US Government Accountability Office — GAO-26-107118, tribal enrolments as reported by the Five Tribes in 2024 (Cherokee Nation ~468,600; Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma ~225,000; Muscogee (Creek) Nation ~102,000; Chickasaw Nation ~81,500; Seminole Nation of Oklahoma ~18,800).
- UNESCO — Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Northern Haida: Critically Endangered; Hawaiian: Critically Endangered, via cited summaries); Intangible Cultural Heritage inscription, Garífuna language, dance and music (proclaimed 2001, inscribed 2008).
- Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project / Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe — reclamation history (founded 1993; first new native speakers in over a century) (accessed Oct 2026).
- Extinction Register entries (this programme, 2026) — [beothuk.md](beothuk.md), [eyak.md](eyak.md), [yahi.md](yahi.md), [myaamia.md](myaamia.md), [yaghan.md](yaghan.md), [taino.md](taino.md), [akuntsu.md](akuntsu.md), [wukchumni.md](wukchumni.md), [haida.md](haida.md), and [INDEX.md](INDEX.md) — carried by reference, not re-researched.
- Knowledge entries (this programme, 2026) — [anishinaabe.md](../knowledge/anishinaabe.md), [cherokee.md](../knowledge/cherokee.md), [haudenosaunee.md](../knowledge/haudenosaunee.md), [inca.md](../knowledge/inca.md), [inuit.md](../knowledge/inuit.md), [lakota-dakota.md](../knowledge/lakota-dakota.md), [maya.md](../knowledge/maya.md), [mexica.md](../knowledge/mexica.md); practices entry [survival.md](../practices/survival.md).
Compiler's tally (main tables only, §1–§10; verified by count of status lines in the file): 105 peoples registered — EXTINCT 14 · DORMANT / REAWAKENING 11 · LIVING TODAY 80 — plus the closing list in §12, which names roughly 90 further peoples and nations whose individual status is not yet sourced at this register's standard. The tally counts lines, and several lines are honest aggregates (Apache, Rio Grande Pueblos, Coast Salish) whose constituent nations stand in §12 — the register says so on each such line rather than inflating the count.
— Register ends. Every count sourced as found; disagreements printed, not resolved; the unsourced named, not filled in.
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