Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation is located within Maricopa County about twenty-three miles northeast of Phoenix Arizona. The desert landscape is contrasted by the Verde River, which flows north to south through the reservation. Thirty miles east of Fort McDowell, the Four Peaks rise from the desert floor to an elevation of more than 7,000 feet. The reservation is a parcel of land once inhabitant by the Nomadic Yavapai people, who hunted and gathered food in Arizona desert lowlands and mountainous Mogollon Rim country.

The reservation is governed by a Tribal Council elected by tribal members pursuant to the Tribe's Constitution. The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation takes pride in its economic development and the expansion of direct services to meet the changing needs of all tribal members while at the same time preserving traditional values.