American Indian Resources
American Indian Studies is a broad field encompassing several disciplines including anthropology, art, astronomy, biology, botany, education, geography, healing arts, history, language, law, literature, music, and politics. With the implementation of the new American Indian Studies major in fall 1996 there will be an increasing demand for information about American Indians. McIntyre Library has a wealth of resources for those studying American Indians. This guide explains how to access them. See also Guide to McIntyre Library available at the University Bookstore for additional information about the resources in this handout, and for government publication on American Indians see the six-page American Indian Studies: Government Publications compiled by the library's Government Publications Department. In addition the lead article in the March 1992 issue of McIntyre Library's newsletter, Off the Shelf, entitled "American Indian Resources in McIntyre Library," contains still-valuable information (available in Special Collections).
Reference
Those interested in American Indian Studies research should begin by consulting the Reference collection. There are many specialized bibliographies, almanacs, atlases, dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias, research guides, and travel guides geared toward the field of American Indian Studies. Examples include:
The Native North American Almanac: A Reference Work on Native North Americans in the United States and Canada (REF E77 .N37 1994)
Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History (REF E78 .G7 A 87 1987)
Ethnographic Bibliography of North America (REF Z1209 .M8 1960)
American Indian Women: A Guide to Research (REF Z1209.2 .N67 B36 1991)
Dictionary of Indians of North America (REF E89 .D52 1978)
The Encyclopedia of American Indian Costume (REF E98 .C8 P37 1994)
Consult library staff for assistance in locating other reference materials.
Using the Online Catalog to Identify American Indian Studies and Resources
Students can access listings of AIS resources through the online catalog. The UW-Eau Claire catalog includes citations for books, recordings, microfilm, microfiche, multi-media, government documents, university records, local public records, manuscripts, and journal and magazine titles. To find journal and magazine articles, use the INDEXES menu choice, which includes several specialized tools for locating articles in periodicals. For general and specific assistance with the online catalog system, see the handouts Guide to Basic Searching in the Online Catalog, Guide to Advanced Searching in the Online Catalog, and Online Indexes in the Reference Area.
Those studying general or comparative topics in American Indian Studies may want to begin with a subject or keyword search in the UW-Eau Claire catalog. Executing a subject search, "Indians of North America" (s=indians of north america) would not be advisable since it returns over 5,000 items. Students must narrow their search by subtopic. One effective way to narrow a subject search is to select citations resulting from a keyword search and to examine the list of subjects. For example, try k=indians and art, select one or more citations, choose the subject headings that best fit the research topic, and search those subject areas for additional sources within that subject field.
Students seeking information about a particular group should use the name of the tribe in the subject (or keyword) search. Generally, these names are cross-referenced, but to save time, here are the Library of Congress subject headings for Wisconsin tribes:
| Wisconsin tribal group common name(s): | Online catalog subject heading |
| Brotherton/Brothertown | s=brotherton indians |
| Chippewa/Ojibwe | s=ojibwa indians |
| Ho-Chunk/Winnebago | s=winnebago indians |
| Menominee | s=menominee indians |
| Oneida | s=oneida indians |
| Potawatomi | s=potawatomi indians |
| Sioux/Dakota | s=dakota or s=lakota or s=teton indians |
| Stockbridge-Munsee | s=stockbridge indians |
Researchers can find information about individual Indians by searching under "Indians of North America-Biography" or by searching under the name of the person as a keyword search, which will also yield information about autobiographies. There are several biographical references in both the Reference area and the Main Stacks that will be of use to those studying a particular individual. Consult a Reference librarian or the online catalog for more information about these materials.
Indexes
The local area network (LAN) workstations located in the Reference area feature several useful CD-ROM databases including America: History and Life, Historical Abstracts, Family Studies, ERIC (education), PsychLIT, CINAHL (nursing and allied health), and MARCIVE (U.S. Government publications). These databases list a variety of media, including journal articles, books, and dissertations, but the library does not own all the listed sources. Consult the online catalog to determine if the library owns a given source. If not, these materials may be obtained through interlibrary loan. (Submit requests at the Reference desk or through the library's web site.
Another collection of indexes, FirstSearch, allows researchers to locate article abstracts, catalogs, and conference papers. For more information on materials available through this service and how to use it, see the handout FirstSearch Free Databases available in the Reference Area.
Special Resources
Book Collection on Microfilm Relating to the North American Indian
This series consists of 62 reels of microfilm containing books on American Indian, such as Black Hawk: An Autobiography and Jonathan Carver's Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America. The library also owns several of these titles in book form. A guide to the collection is available in the Reference area, in Periodicals, and in the Main Stacks (E77 .B66).
Ethnic NewsWatch
A specialized newspaper CD-ROM, Ethnic NewsWatch, is available near the newspaper indexes in the Reference area. This full-text database includes articles from newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press including News From Indian Country, The Cherokee Advocate, and Akwesasne Notes.
Government Publications
The state and federal governments produce a broad range of materials dealing with American Indians, most of which can be located using the online catalog. This category of materials is rich in primary sources ranging from early contact to the present day. Students should investigate the Serial Set Index and the Guide to American Indian Documents in the Congressional Serial Set: 1817-1899 for documents related to fiscal and legal issues. Individual government agencies also produce a great deal of material on American Indians.
There are several important collections of historical documents, cultural materials, and agency publications of which those studying American Indians should be aware, including
Handbook of North American Indians
(US GOV PUBS SI 1.20/2:15)
Multivolume compendium by the Smithsonian Institution of historical and cultural information about the tribes of North America principally by region. Nine volumes published to date.
The American Indian
(US GOV PUBS GS 4.17/2:972/In 2)
This microfilm collection produced by the National Archives covers a wide range of subjects. The Government Publications desk has a list of the reels currently in the library's collection.
List of Documents Concerning the Negotiation of Ratified Indian Treaties, 1801-1869
(US GOV PUBS GS 4.7:6)
Treaties are one of the fundamental sources for understanding federal Indian policy and tribal sovereignty. This list of National Archives documents includes materials central to the understanding of treaties and the treaty-making process.
Bureau of American Ethnology. Annual Report. 1879-1931.
(US GOV PUBS SI 2.1:no.)
This collection contains a great deal of ethnological information regarding American Indians. Forty-six volumes of this 48-volume set are available in book form and a complete set is available on microfilm.
Bureau of American Ethnology. Bulletin. 1887-1967.
(US GOV PUBS SI 2.3: no.)
The bulletins cover a wide range of anthropological research including such topics as Chippewa customs. Volume 200 features a list of publications produced by the BAE.
For more information on American Indian resources pro-duced by the federal or state government, see the hand-out entitled American Indian Studies: Government Publi-cations available near the Government Publications desk.
Human Relations Area Files (HRAF)
The Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) is a microfiche collection of published and unpublished primary documents, including field notes and other writings related to anthropological research. The majority of the included resources are ethnographic descriptions of non-Western cultures, but the collection was initially intended to be used for cross-cultural or comparative research. Ask to see the HRAF folder at the Reference desk for more information about this resource.
Microbook Library of American Civilization
The Microbook Library is a collection of over 12,000 microfiche containing more than 6 million pages of material covering American history through World War I. It includes books, pamphlets, petitions, periodicals, and several works of poetry and fiction. Author, title, and subject guides (Z1236 .L5 1971) are available in Reference, Periodicals, and in the Main Stacks. A Biblioguide containing a 27-page section on American Indians is available with the other guides. The collection itself is located on the second floor of McIntyre Library in Periodicals.
Papers of the Society of American Indians
The Society of American Indians was an Indian rights organization founded by six Indian activists in 1911. This archival collection contains ten reels of correspondence and publications on microfilm. The collection is located in the microfilm area on the second floor of McIntyre Library. A guide to the collection is available in Reference (REF E77 .S6 L3 1987).
Periodicals
McIntyre Library subscribes to many periodicals that deal specifically with American Indian Studies, including American Indian Art, American Indian Quarterly, American Indian Culture and Research Journal, Ethnohistory, Journal of American Indian Education, and Sun Tracks. To find articles in these and other serials, use the various databases and indexes discussed above.
Special Collections
Special Collections, located in OL 1133, houses McIntyre Library's manuscript, archival, rare book, and local history collections. Several manuscript collections relate to American Indians, including the Veda W. Stone American Indian Reference Collection (EC MSS AP) and the Benjamin F. Stucki Papers (EC MSS G). Rare Books includes the 73-volume Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents: Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France, 1610-1791. For more information on special collections Indian holdings, consult Angela Firkus's Manuscript Collections with Information on Wisconsin Indians (Z1209 .F48 1993) in Reference or Special Collections.
World Wide Web Sites
The American Indian Studies Program has created an excellent website on the World Wide Web. McIntyre Library has also created a webpage, American Indian Resources on the Web, with links to many sites related to American Indians which in turn link to webpages for many Indian nations, tribal historical societies, organizations, and museums and sites related to treaties, law, health, art, and foodways. Students can use any of the various search engines to locate additional sites. Critical thinking skills and common sense are crucial for site evaluation. For more information on evaluating websites, see "Ten C's for Evaluating Internet Resources" in the attachments to Guide to McIntyre Library, available at the University Bookstore.
Searching for Materials on Indian Art, Music, and Literature
The Library of Congress classification system does not group all the works of a given artist, writer, or musician together. Instead, the works of a visual artist are grouped by medium (oil paintings, ink drawings, etc.) and a musician's by musical style. Because the Library of Congress groups literature by author according to time and place, there is no "American Indian literature section" as such. There is rarely a notation in the citation that a particular individual is an American Indian.
"Art," "music," and "literature" cover subjects ranging from basketry, flute music, and trickster stories to novels, films, and rock and roll. Researchers should use general works on these subjects or anthologies to identify individuals or trends for further study. These sources may appear under the broad heading "Indians of North America," but students should use a more specific search strategy for additional sources. The Reference collection contains a number of helpful works in these areas.
Resources for Children and Educators
McIntyre Library owns a wealth of children's resources and materials designed for classroom use. While the majority are located in the CRIM (Center for Reserve and Instructional Media), there is also a great deal of material elsewhere in the library. Search the subjects "Indians of North America-Education" and "Indians of North America-Study and Teaching" on the online catalog to find these resources. Key resources include the Journal of American Indian Education, Classroom Activities on Chippewa Treaty Rights (IMC PROF E99 .C6 S28 1991 or US GOV PUBS ED.6/2:I 51/T 73/1991), and Classroom Activities on Wisconsin's Indian Treaties and Tribal Sovereignty (WI GOV PUB ED.6/2:I 51T 73/2/1996). The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the American Indian Language and Culture Education Board have produced a number of important tools for classroom teachers in their units on American Indians. To find these materials, use a keyword search (k=american indian language and culture education board). Sample titles include Winnebago Applique (WI GOV PUBS ED.6/2:I 51/W 77/2/1991) and Music of the Woodland Indians (IMC PROF E78.E2 0854 1990 or WI GOV PUBS ED.6/2:I 51/M 87/1990).
Further Assistance
For more information on any of the materials discussed, consult librarians in Reference, Government Publications, CRIM, Special Collections, or Periodicals.
