The language groups of indigenous North Americans shifted location during the advances of European settlers.

Many of the tribes thought of as the Plains Indians didn’t populate that part of the continent until they migrated there after their ancestral lands were encroached upon. Native American languages tied far flung bands together.

So some of this map of Native American language groups is based on modern locations and general whereabouts during the era of expansion after the American Revolution.

Compare this map to a previous Monday Map, the pre-1810 map drawn by Lewis and Clark, which includes many Native American bands, in the areas where they were encountered.