Research Guides: Native American Studies: Native American Studies

Native American Studies: Introduction

This guide will help you find published scholarship (essays, books, chapters, journal articles, etc.) and primary source material on a topic.

Choose a topic that interests you and fits within your assignment's parameters.
Read good summaries of the topic in subject encyclopedias, like those listed below, to gain a basic overview of your topic.
Search for published scholarship in library discovery systems, catalogs, databases, scholarly & research organizations, etc.
Identify primary source material (e. g. documents & records, art & artifacts, personal narratives & memoirs, data & statistics, maps & charts, photographs & illustrations, etc.) through your scholarly readings, and by searching or browsing the digital collections of libraries, archives, museums, and other scholarly & research organizations.

Remember to evaluate the accuracy of your sources, and think critically about their content and arguments.

For remote login to the Library's electronic resources, see our instructions for Off-Campus Access.

Remember to talk about your project with your instructor, whether they are in the Anthropology Department, History Department, or beyond!

Native American Studies: Reference Essays (from Encyclopedias & Dictionaries)

Subject encyclopedias and other reference guides can provide good background information on a topic. Many reference books are in printed format, while others are available in electronic resource collections such as:

Gale eBooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library)

Oxford Reference

American Indian Food by Linda Murray Berzok
ISBN: 9780313329890
Publication Date: 2005-04-30
“In-depth survey of Native American Indian foodways…It sheds light not only on this group and their history but on American food culture and history as well…an intimate relationship existed between Native Americans and their food sources. Dependence on nature for subsistence gave rise to a rich spiritual tradition with rituals and feasts marking planting and harvesting seasons. The European invasion forced a radical transformation of the indigenous food habits...Indians were removed from their homelands, forced to cultivate European crops such as wheat and grapes, new animals were introduced, and the bison, a major staple in the Great Plains and West, was wiped out…The scope is comprehensive, covering the six major regions, from prehistory until today. Chapters on the foodways history, foodstuffs, food preparation, preservation, and storage, food customs, food and religion, and diet and nutrition.”

Canadian Encyclopedia (Historica Canada foundation)
"The Canadian Encyclopedia plays an essential role in providing Canadians and others with accurate, updated information about our people and country...Today, the number of articles in the Encyclopedia – more than 19,500 bilingual – is roughly four times the original total...The Encyclopedia contains more than 30,000 multimedia items including images, maps, games, audio and video..."

Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Great Plains by Loretta Fowler
ISBN: 9780231117005
Publication Date: 2003-07-02
“Here in one volume is an indispensable guide to the extensive ethnohistorical research that, in recent decades, has recovered the varied and often unexpected history of Comanche, Cheyenne, Osage, and Sioux Indians…The history of the Plains Indians has been a dynamic one of continuous change and adaptation…Contact with Europeans and the introduction of trade in horses, slaves, furs, and guns dramatically altered native societies internally and influenced relations between different groups. In the face of pressures resulting from America's westward expansion throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries--the extinction of the bison, the imposition of reservation life, and the assimilationist policies of the U.S. federal government--the native peoples of the Great Plains have struggled to preserve their distinct cultures and reorient themselves to a new world on their own terms.”
Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Northeast by Kathleen J. Bragdon; Kathleen Bragdon
ISBN: 9780231114523
Publication Date: 2002-02-13
“Descriptions of Indian peoples of the Northeast date to the Norse sagas, centuries before permanent European settlement, and the region has been the setting for a long history of contact, conflict, and accommodation between natives and newcomers. The focus of an extraordinarily vital field of scholarship, the Northeast is important both historically and theoretically: patterns of Indian-white relations that developed there would be replicated time and again over the course of American history. Today the Northeast remains the locus of cultural negotiation and controversy, with such subjects as federal recognition, gaming, land claims, and repatriation programs giving rise to debates directly informed by archeological and historical research of the region.”
Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Southeast by Theda Perdue; Michael D. Green
ISBN: 9780231115704
Publication Date: 2001-11-14
Though they speak several different languages and organize themselves into many distinct tribes, the Native American peoples of the Southeast share a complex ancient culture and a tumultuous history. "This volume examines and synthesizes their history through each of its integral phases: the complex and elaborate societies that emerged and flourished in the Pre-Columbian period; the triple curse of disease, economic dependency, and political instability brought by the European invasion; the role of Native Americans in the inter-colonial struggles for control of the region; the removal of the "Five Civilized Tribes" to Oklahoma; the challenges and adaptations of the post-removal period; and the creativity and persistence of those who remained in the Southeast".
Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) by Bruce Elliott Johansen; Barbara Alice Mann
ISBN: 9780313308802
Publication Date: 2000-05-30
"Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse) is the name the Iroquois use for their confederacy (Iroquois is the name given them by the French). This encyclopedia surveys the histories of the six constituent nations of the confederacy (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora, adopted about 1725)."
Encyclopedia of World Cultures by David Levinson (Editor)
ISBN: 9780816118403
Publication Date: 1996-03-06
"This 10-vol. set lists and describes more than 1,500 global cultures. Based on research of social scientists, it is the source for historical, social, political, economic, linguistic, religious, and other information on virtually every existing culture. Its cross-cultural perspective meets high school curricular requirements for world studies and social sciences."
Treaties with American Indians by Donald L. Fixico (Editor)
ISBN: 9781576078808
Publication Date: 2007-12-12
"The first comprehensive introduction to the treaties that promised land, self-government, financial assistance, and cultural protections to many of the over 500 tribes of North America (including Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada)...it is the only reference to explore the historical, political, legal, and geographical contexts in which each treaty took shape. Coverage ranges from the 1778 alliance with the Delaware tribe (the first such treaty), to the landmark Worcester v. Georgia case (1832), which affirmed tribal sovereignty, to the 1871 legislation that ended the treaty process...Alphabetically organized entries cover key individuals, events, laws, court cases, and other topics."
Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life by Gale Cengage Learning (Editor)
ISBN: 1410391922
Publication Date: 2016-12-22
"Covers cultural groups in Asia and Oceania, Europe, the Americas, and Africa. Five volumes, organized for quick reference by continent, cover history, politics, customs, religion, education, human rights issues, rites of passage, and much more for culture groups such as Kurds, Amish, Germans and more than 530 others.Each two- to six-page entry is written and reviewed by subject experts who have in-depth knowledge of a particular world culture and the skill to translate their knowledge in terms that students can understand."

Scholarly Books

OneSearch; Search for printed and electronic scholarly books at QC and other CUNY libraries.
WorldCat: Search for scholarly books in the national catalog for the United States and Canada. Includes holdings from libraries in other parts of the world, primarily European or English-speaking.

Journal Articles (Search Databases)

America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
Definitive index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Anthropological Index Online This link opens in a new window
An index to articles in journals taken by the Library and to films held at the Royal Anthropological Institute. The collection has nearly 800 journals, published in more than 40 languages, are indexed on a continuing basis. Records cover 1957 to the present.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
eHRAF World Cultures This link opens in a new window
Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) is internationally recognized in the field of cultural anthropology to promote understanding of cultural diversity and commonality in the past and present.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. Please sign to QC Library when prompted to browse articles within the Queens College Library collections.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Remote access to Google Scholar may not always work. In such cases we advise that you follow the steps below or review the FAQ on Google Scholar
How to access QC subscribed articles via Google Scholar:
1.Access Google Scholar via the un-proxied version: Google Scholar
2. From the Menu Icon on the Top Left select Settings then Library Links
3. In Library Links, search for Queens College then select "Queens College --> Fulltext at QC"
4. SAVE and return to the Google Scholar Homepage
5. You should be able to search for articles. When you see the "Queens College --> Fulltext at QC", select to either be re-directed to the Library Catalogue, OneSearch or asked to login to the library proxy in order to access articles.
6. Please review the FAQ on logging into the library proxy.
Should you have any additional questions, please contact our Electronic Resources Librarian by completing the Electronic Resources Access Form.
Humanities Source This link opens in a new window
Humanities Source is a valuable full-text database covering literary, scholarly, and creative thought.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is a multi-disciplinary collection of scholarly journals and e-books that include primary sources, images, and more.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
JSTOR provided expanded access during the pandemic (June 2020-June 2023). Expanded access expires on June 30, 2023. CUNY will reinstate that access beginning in January 2024.You may review the Electronic Resources Status Dashboard for updates. Questions? Email: access-support@qc-cuny.libanswers.com or Open a Ticket!
Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new window
Social Sciences Full Text (H.W.Wilson) covers the latest concepts, theories, and methods from both applied and theoretical aspects of the social sciences.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text, Peer-Reviewed sociology journals covering many studies including gender studies, criminal justice, social psychology, racial studies, religion, and social work.
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.
Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Indexes the international literature of sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences; (1952-current).
Catalogue Link: OneSearch.

What is a scholarly journal article?

A scholarly journal article is written by a scholar or an expert, and provides a detailed analysis of a topic. It is written in the specialized language of a scholarly discipline (such as Philosophy). It documents the resources the writer used by providing bibliographic citations such as footnotes, endnotes, and bibliography so a reader can check or repeat the research the scholar has completed.

A scholarly journal is edited by scholars, and any article published in the journal has usually been approved by the author's peers or by referees (other scholars expert in the subject who serve as editors or readers and critique the article before it is accepted for publication). This is why most scholarly journals are referred to as a Peer-Reviewed or Refereed journals. Here is a comparison between popular and scholarly periodicals. There are usually several databases that can be used to search for journal articles on a topic.

Native American Studies: Primary Sources

Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki (Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation, Clewiston, FL)
American Folklife Center (Library of Congress)
Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ)
Human Origins and Cultural Halls, (American Museum of Natural History, NYC)
Permanent exhibitions devoted to: the Northwest Coast, Mexico & Central America, Eastern Woodland Indians, Pacific Peoples, Plains Indians, and South American Peoples.
Millicent Rogers Museum (Taos, NM)
Mitchell Museum of the American Indian (Evanston, IL)
Museum of Anthropology (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (Santa Fe, NM)
National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian)
Native American Music (YouTube)
Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center / Seneca-Iroquois National Museum (Salamanca, NY)
Six Nations Indian Museum (Onchiota, NY)
Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian (Santa Fe, NM)

Native American Studies: History, Politics, Governance

Association of American Indian Affairs (Rockville, MD)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (U. S. Department of the Interior)
Crown-Indigenous Relatoins and Northern Affairs Canada
Federal and State Recognized Tribes (National Conference of State Legislatures)
Guide to Indigenous Land Acknowledgement (Native Governance Center)
Indigenous Services Canada
National Congress of American Indians (Washington, DC)
National Indian Education Association (Washington, DC)
Native American Tribal Directory (National Congress of American Indians)
Native Land Digital
"We strive to map Indigenous lands in a way that changes, challenges, and improves the way people see the history of their countries and peoples. We hope to strengthen the spiritual bonds that people have with the land, its people, and its meaning.We strive to map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages across the world in a way that goes beyond colonial ways of thinking in order to better represent how Indigenous people want to see themselves..."
Tribal Nations Maps