OoklaⓇ is headquartered in Seattle, traditional home of the Duwamish and Coast Salish people, where the mean download speed over fixed broadband is 142.67 Mbps. Thirty-six miles to the south on the Muckleshoot Reservation, it’s 101.85 Mbps. Meanwhile, the Makah Indian Reservation, located on the remote Washington coast, sees an average download speed of 5.91 Mbps.
Who gets fast internet speeds and who doesn’t involves a blend of factors (including geography, population density and economics) that is unique for every location, including individual Native American reservations and First Nations reserves. As Indigenous People’s Day nears, we are interested in how those factors combine to affect mobile and fixed broadband speeds on tribal lands across the U.S. and Canada. Because we are experts in internet speeds, not tribal policy, we are also offering our full tribal data set at the end of this article for anyone who would like to do further analyses.
Mobile speeds vary widely between tribal lands
The Capilano Indian Reserve has the fastest mean download over mobile speed of all the reservations and reserves we examined. Also called X̱wemelch’stn, this community near Vancouver, B.C. is the most densely populated reserve of the Squamish Nation and its mean download speed on mobile is 27.8% faster than nearby Vancouver, B.C.
The Rumsey Indian Rancheria of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation virtually ties for the second fastest mean download speed over mobile. Located in California’s Coast Range, this reservation contains a casino and resort and experiences a 93.7% faster average than the state of California. With a nearly identical mean download speed, the Pala Reservation of the Pala Band of Mission Indians also houses a casino and resort and an average download speed 93.6% faster than California as a whole.
Except for Kahnawake, which has a 3.8% slower average mobile download speed than nearby Montreal, Quebec, all of the reservations and reserves on this fastest mobile list have download speeds at least 26% faster than the nearby non-tribal areas (adjacent large cities or encompassing states or provinces) we compared them with. Muckleshoot is 71.2% faster than Washington. Compared to California, Rincon is 49.9% faster, Morongo 37.1%, Twenty-Nine Palms 31.3% and Viejas 27.6%. The Mashantucket Pequot Reservation was 26.3% faster than Connecticut.
All ten of the reservations and reserves with the fastest mobile download speeds are home to large commercial enterprises including shopping centers, casinos, resorts and even a data center. Six are in California. Three are located in or adjacent to large cities.
Our list of reservations with the slowest mobile download speeds contains some of the largest (by area) reservations in the U.S. A few have tribal enterprises including mining, casinos and tourism; most do not. All are located relatively far from large cities.
The Navajo Nation Reservation has the slowest mean download speeds over mobile of all the reservations and reserves we examined. This largest reservation in the U.S. shows an average mobile download speed that’s 80.8% slower than Arizona as a whole. Santa Clara Pueblo, located north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, has the second slowest mobile download speed on our list and is 68.5% slower than the state of New Mexico. White Earth Reservation is the third slowest on mobile, coming in 71.1% slower than the state of Minnesota.
The reservations and reserves with the slowest average mobile download speeds are at least 43.5% slower than neighboring non-tribal lands. The Allegany Reservation is 63.8% slower than New York. The Lummi and Colville Reservations are 63.3% and 63.0% slower, respectively, than Washington. In Idaho, the Nez Perce and Coeur d’Alene Reservations are 52.8% and 45.1% slower, respectively, than the state average. The Blackfeet Indian Reservation is 46.6% slower than Montana, and Pueblo Taos is 43.5% slower than New Mexico.
Fixed broadband speeds show even more variation
The ten reservations and reserves with the fastest fixed broadband download speeds are mostly in or directly adjacent to large, urban areas. All of the six reserves or reservations with the fastest fixed broadband download speed are in Canada with an additional seventh Canadian reserve in the top ten.
Cole Harbour 30, a Mi’kmaq reserve, has a very fast mean download speed over fixed broadband. It is located in the municipality of Halifax, Nova Scotia, a city we’ve previously found to have some of the fastest fixed broadband speeds in Canada. Cole Harbour beats Halifax’s speed by 213.1%.
Second-place Wendake is located within Quebec City, Quebec and has a fixed broadband mean download speed that’s 26.2% faster than the capital city. The Squamish Nation reserve of Seymour Creek 2 has the third fastest download speed among reserves and reservations. Located near North Vancouver, the reserve’s download speed is 24.0% faster than that of their neighboring city.
Most of these reservations and reserves show faster average download speeds over fixed broadband than comparable geographies — large cities when nearby and states or provinces when not. Cowichan 1 and Tsinstikeptum 10 are 19.7% and 16.8% faster than British Columbia, respectively. Burrard Inlet 3 is 11.2% faster than North Vancouver. The Hollywood Reservation is 5.5% faster than Hollywood, Florida, and New Songhees 1A is 1.7% faster than British Columbia. However, Salt River Reservation is 16.0% slower than neighboring Scottsdale, Arizona and the Puyallup Reservation is 4.5% slower than nearby Tacoma, Washington.
The slower list is evenly split between Canada and the U.S. and is mostly made up of rural and/or isolated reserves and reservations.
The Munsee-Delaware Nation No. 1 has the slowest mean download speed over fixed broadband of all the reserves and reservations we analyzed. Located in southwest Ontario, the reserve’s download speed is 99.4% slower than the provincial average. Close to Redwoods National Park in California, the Yurok Reservation is the second slowest for fixed broadband. It also has a mean download speed 96.9% slower than the state of California. Eskasoni 3 has the third slowest download speed over fixed broadband and was 95.6% slower than the surrounding province of Nova Scotia.
Fixed broadband download speeds on the rest of the tribal lands on this list are similarly slower than their comparable geographies: from the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation (96.1% slower than Toronto, Ontario) to the Cheyenne River Reservation (92.2% slower than South Dakota). Whitefish Bay 32A and Peguis 1B are 94.5% and 93.5% slower, respectively, than Ontario as a whole. In Washington, the Makah Reservation and the Quinault Reservation are 95.1% and 94.5% slower, respectively, than the state average. Annette Island Reserve is 93.6% slower than the state of Alaska.
There are so many reservations and reserves that we could not cover them all here. However, we are making our full CSV available for download if you’d like details on mobile and fixed broadband speeds on other tribal lands. This file includes June-August 2019 data for all locations that have 30 or more samples.
Ookla’s mission is to help make the internet better, faster and more accessible for everyone. We hope that by sharing this data we can contribute to conversation about internet equity for tribal lands. If you publish anything based on this data, please credit Speedtest IntelligenceTM as the source.