HC/SWCD Libraries: Native American Studies: Native American Studies

Native American Studies

Native American Heritage Month Resources

eBooks

American Indian Health and Nursing
Covers the history of American Indians with a focus on the drastic changes that occurred following European contact. The book addresses the roots of American Indian nursing, including coverage of indigenous knowledge and traditional approaches to health and healing.
Atlas of Indian Nations
In the most comprehensive atlas of Native American history and culture available, the story of the North American Indian is told through maps, photos, art, and archival cartography. Organized by region, this encyclopedic reference details Indian tribes in these areas: beliefs, sustenance, shelter, alliances and animosities, key historical events, and more.
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers
Contains case studies, by leading experts, of hunting and gathering peoples, in major world regions, plus thematic essays on prehistory, social life, gender, music and art, health, religion, and indigenous knowledge. Surveys the complex histories of hunter-gatherers’ encounters with colonialism and the state, and their ongoing struggles for dignity and human rights as part of the worldwide movement of indigenous peoples.
Encyclopedia of the American Indian in the Twentieth Century
The story of American Indians in the 20th century is an inspiring tale of survival and rebirth from the depths of defeat. At the dawn of the 20th century, the Indian was seen by non-Indians as the "Vanishing Red Man," a symbol of nostalgia, a figure of the past with no future. Yet not only have American Indians adapted and survived, but they have brought their talents and unique cultural perspectives to many fields.
Encyclopedia of Warrior Peoples & Fighting Groups
From ferocious tribes to charismatic leaders and daring militias, this new edition explores the origins and leadership of these powerful combat forces, chronicles their conquests and accomplishments, examines the circumstances surrounding their decline or disbanding, and assesses their influence on the groups and methods of warfare that followed.
Handy Answer: Native American Almanac: More Than 50,000 Years of the Cultures and Histories of Indigenous Peoples
From ancient rock drawings to today's urban living, this text traces the rich heritage of indigenous people. A fascinating mix of biography, pre-contact and post-contact history, current events, Tribal Nations histories, enlightening insights on environmental and land issues, arts, treaties, languages, education, movements, and more.
Native American Landmarks and Festivals
For anyone looking for an authentic adventure or interested in the history of North America's Indigenous people, this book uncovers monuments, parks, teepee sleepovers, herbal walks, building and sailing in canoes, hiking along ancient routes, exploring rock art, and preparing and eating Native foods.

Atlas of Human Rights
This timely book addresses the implications of this trend, revealing human rights inequities from nation to nation and the consequences of these inequities worldwide. Inspired by the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Andrew Fagan considers the nature of the state, national identity, and citizenship.
Dictionary of Race, Ethnicity and Culture
Provides the historical background and etymology of a wide range of words related to race, ethnicity and culture from a broadly multicultural perspective. Contains numerous references to both European and American concepts, debates and terms that are relevant today - including words such as 'boat people', 'cybernazis', 'ebonics' as well as more established words and terms, such as 'affirmative action', 'caste', 'fortress Europe' and many more.
Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice
A comprehensive and systematic collection of designated entries that describe, in detail, important diversity and social justice themes.
Encyclopedia of Human Rights in the United States
Offers easy to grasp explanations of the basic concepts and laws in the field, with emphasis on human rights in the historical, political, and legal experience of the United States. This indispensable resource surveys the legal protection of human dignity in the United States, examines the sources of human rights norms, cites key legal cases, explains the role of international governmental and non-governmental organizations, and charts global, regional, and UN human rights measures.
Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America
Recognizing that ethnic differences are transforming American education expectations, political ideals and popular culture, Gale presents a vital, new multicultural reference. Contains original essays on specific minority and ethnic groups in the U.S., with an emphasis on culture (religions, holidays, customs, language) in addition to information on historical background and settlement patterns.
Encyclopedia of Race and Racism
Provides critical information and context on the underlying social, economic, geographical, and political conditions that gave rise to, and continue to foster, racism. Religion, political economy, social activism, health, concepts, and constructs are explored. Given the increasingly diverse population of the United States and the rapid effects of globalization, as well as mass and social media, the issue of race in world affairs, history, and culture is of preeminent importance. Primary sources in this title
Key Concepts in Race and Ethnicity
Offers an accessible discussion of both foundational and novel concepts in the study of race and ethnicity. Each account will help readers become familiar with how long standing and contemporary arguments within race and ethnicity studies contribute to our understanding of social and political life more broadly.

A Brief History of Central America
This 2nd Edition explores the history of the Central American isthmus from the pre-Columbian cultures to the contemporary nations that make up the region today: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
A Brief History of Mexico
4th Edition brings readers up to date on developments in Mexico, helping them understand the deeper significance of recent events. Since Felipe Calderon took office in 2006 amidst violent protests, his reforms have been aimed at drug cartels, poverty, restructuring the role of government in private businesses, and attempts to foster trade agreements with other nations. Despite the many obstacles it faces today, Mexico has become a democratic nation with checks and balances, free elections, and the ability to build a better future.
Cassell's Peoples, Nations and Cultures
A unique and comprehensive historical guide to the world's peoples, from the earliest times to the present. Covers myriad discrete ethnic and cultural groupings that have inhabited our planet over the past 6000 years: from the Assyrians of the ancient Middle East to the modern-day Armenians, from the Belgae of ancient Europe to the modern-day Basques.
The Dictionary of Human Geography
Includes short definitional entries (see, for example, the entries for plantation and dry farming) and longer, interpretative essays on human geography and its major sub-fields (such as geopolitics, development, and spatiality), thereby providing readers with a contextual background to the terms. By directing readers to the major sources for further information, the Dictionary also serves as an unparalleled companion to geographical literature.
Encyclopedia of Empire
Provides exceptional in-depth, comparative coverage of empires throughout human history and across the globe.
The Encyclopedia of Invasions & Conquests
This authoritative, well-organized, clearly written volume will prove invaluable for a variety of readers, including high school students, military historians, members of the armed forces, history buffs, and hobbyists, and will be a useful resource for both university and public library reference collections.
Latin American History and Culture: Encyclopedia of Early Modern Latin America (1820s to 1900)
Covers the history and culture of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, examining Latin America's search for its own identity from the middle of the 19th century to the start of the 20th.
Latin American History and Culture: Encyclopedia of Colonial Latin America (1550s to 1820s)
Covers the history and culture of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean from the arrival of the Spanish, colonization, and independence movements until the 1820s.
Latin American History and Culture: Encyclopedia of Modern Latin America (1900 to the Present)
Covers the history and culture of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, focusing on Latin America (1900 to the Present) as it asserts itself in international politics, experiences the effects of globalization, and becomes an influential area worldwide, from the 20th century through the present day.
Latin American History and Culture: Encyclopedia of Pre-Colonial Latin America (Prehistory to 1550s)
Covers the history and culture of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean from prehistory through the achievements of the Incas in the 16th century.

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Peoples of the Americas

Eskimo: Topic
A general term used to refer to a number of groups inhabiting the coastline from the Bering Sea to Greenland and the Chukchi Peninsula in NE Siberia.
Five Civilized Tribes: Topic
Inclusive term used since mid-19th cent. for the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes of E Oklahoma.
Iroquois: Topic
Member of a confederation of American Indian peoples of northeastern North America formed about 1570 MORE
Plains Indians: Topic

A member of any of the North American Indian peoples formerly living in the Great Plains of the U.S. and Canada.
Sioux: Topic
Confederation of Native North American tribes, the dominant group of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock, which is divided into several separate branches.
Powhatan Confederacy: Topic
Group of Native North Americans belonging to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock. Their area embraced most of tidewater Virginia and the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay.
Mound Builders: Topic
In North American archaeology, name given to those people who built mounds in a large area from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Mississippi River to the Appalachian Mountains. The greatest concentrations of mounds are found in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys.

Aztec: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who migrated south into the valley of Mexico in about 1168.
Inca: Topic
Pre-Columbian empire, W South America. The name Inca may specifically refer to the emperor, but is generally used to mean the empire or the people.
Maya: Topic
One of the great cultures of mesoamerica, Maya civilization extended throughout southern mexico and northern Central America.
Olmec: Topic
Term denoting the culture of ancient Mexican natives inhabiting the tropical coastal plain of the contemporary states of Veracruz and Tabasco, between 1300 and 400 B.C.
Toltec: Topic

Member of an ancient American Indian people who ruled much of Mexico and Central America in the 10th-12th centuries, with their capital and religious center at Tula or Tollán, northeast of Mexico City.

Apache: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who migrated from Canada to Arizona, and parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and north Mexico.
Arapaho: Topic
One group, the Northern Arapaho, continued to live on the North Platte River in Wyoming, while the Southern Arapaho moved south to the Arkansas River in Colorado. Traditionally the Southern Arapaho were allied with the Cheyenne against the Pawnee.
Blackfoot: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who migrated from the Great Lakes north and west into the Saskatchewan River valley, Canada, and Montana, in the early 1700s.
Cherokee: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who moved from the Great Lakes region to the southern Appalachian Mountains (Virginia, North and South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and possibly Kentucky).
Chickasaw: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who moved from northern Mississippi and Alabama to the floodplains of Mississippi and parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas by the 16th century.
Chippewa: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who had settled around lakes Superior and Huron (now Québec, Ontario, Michigan, and Minnesota) by the 16th century.
Choctaw: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the Mississippi region, possibly as descendants of the prehistoric Moundbuilders.
Cree: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the subarctic regions of Canada (northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories to Québec).
Creek: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who lived in the southeastern USA (parts of Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Tennessee); they are thought to be descendants of the prehistoric Moundbuilders.
Hopi: Topic
Member of an American Indian people living in southwest USA, especially northeast Arizona, since prehistoric times.
Hupa: Topic
Member of an American Indian people living in the Hoopa Valley, northwest California.
Inuit: Topic
Member of am American Indian people inhabiting the Arctic coasts of Alaska, the eastern islands of the Canadian Arctic, Labrador, and the ice-free coasts of Greenland.
Kickapoo: Topic
Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages) and who in the late 17th cent. occupied SW Wisconsin.
Kiowa: Topic
A member of a Native American people formerly inhabiting the southern Great Plains, with a present-day population in southwest Oklahoma.
Menominee: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who lived along the Menominee River between Wisconsin and Michigan.
Mohawk: Topic
Member of an American Indian people, part of the Iroquois confederation, who originally inhabited the Mohawk Valley, New York.
Mohican: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who occupied the upper Hudson River valley in New York State until the mid-17th century.
Narragansett: Topic
Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock. Part of the Eastern Woodlands culture , in the early 17th cent. they occupied most of Rhode Island, from Narragansett Bay on the east to the Pawcatuck River on the west.
Navajo: Topic
Member of an American Indian people, who migrated from Canada to southwest USA (Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah) in about AD 1000.
Nez Percé: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the plateau between the Rocky Mountain and Coastal ranges (Idaho, Washington, and Oregon) until the mid-19th century.
Oneida: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who lived in central New York State and belonged to the Iroquois confederacy.
Osage: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who originally inhabited the Ohio River Valley, but had migrated to western Missouri by the 17th century.
Paiute: Topic
Member of an American Indian people living in the Great Basin region of Oregon, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and California.
Pawnee: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the lower Mississippi River Valley until the 17th-18th centuries when they moved to Nebraska on the Platte River after acquiring horses.
Pequot: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the Connecticut and Rhode Island coast in the 1600s. Their language belongs to the Algonquian family.
Potawatomi: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who originated in the Michigan region, but had migrated to Wisconsin by 1670, moving south into Illinois and Indiana in the late 17th century.
Quapaw: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who probably originated in the Ohio Valley, but had migrated to the Mississippi-Arkansas river confluence (northern Arkansas) by the mid-16th century.
Seminole: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited Georgia until moving to Florida in the early 18th century.
Seneca: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who originally lived in western New York State and eastern Ohio. They belong to the Iroquoian linguistic group, and were the largest nation in the Iroquois League.
Shawnee: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the central Ohio River Valley until dispersed by Iroquois aggression and white settlement from the 17th century, migrating extensively through most of eastern and southern USA.
Shoshone: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the Great Basin region (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada).
Tlingit: Topic
Member of an American Indian people living on the coasts of southwest Alaska and northern British Columbia for thousands of years.
Tuscarora: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who lived in North Carolina until the early 18th century. Their language belongs to the Iroquoian family.
Ute: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who inhabited the Great Basin region of Utah and western Colorado by the 16th century.
Wampanoag: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who lived between Narragansett Bay and Cape Cod on the Atlantic coast (Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Island) in the 1600s.
Yakama: Topic
Member of an American Indian people who lived along the Columbia River valley on the Great Columbia Plateau, Washington.

Joseph Brant (1742-1807): Topic
Mohawk chief, Anglican missionary, and British military officer during the American Revolution.
Alexander McGillivray (1759-1793): Topic
Native American chief; He was born in the Creek country now within the borders of the state of Alabama, the son of Lachlan McGillivray, a Scots trader, and Sehoy Marchand, his French-Creek wife.
Black Hawk (1767-1838)
From Encyclopedia of American Literature
An American Indian leader of the Fox and Sac (or Sauk) tribes, Black Hawk was born in a Sac village near what is now Rock Island, Illinois
Geronimo (c. 1829-1909): Topic
Leader of a Chiricahua group of the Apaches.
Hiawatha
From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Hiawatha (Ojibwa; “He Makes Rivers”). Legendary chief (c. 1450) of the Onondaga people of the northeastern U.S. He is regarded by tradition as the founder of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Pocahontas (c. 1595-1617): Topic
Daughter of Wahunsonacook, headman of the Algonquian-speaking Powhatan Confederacy of Tidewater Virginia; mythologized in American literature as an Indian princess and epitomized in Vachel Lindsay’s poem Our Mother Pocahontas as “the mother of us all.”
Pontiac (c. 1720-1769)
From The Reader's Companion to American History
Ottawa Indian chief.
Quetzalcoatl: Topic
Ancient deity and legendary ruler of the Toltec in Mexico.
Sacagawea (1788-1812)
From Encyclopedia of American Studies The Shoshone woman who accompanied Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their journey to the western shores of North America.
Sequoyah (c. 1766-1843): Topic
Native North American leader, creator of the Cherokee syllabary.
Sitting Bull (c. 1834-1890)

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
American Indian chief of the Hunkpapa Sioux during the Plains Wars of 1865–90, the struggle between the Plains Indians and the USA. In 1868 Sitting Bull agreed to Sioux resettlement in North and South Dakota. Sitting Bull was not only a chief, he was also regarded as a mystic and seer of visions.
Tecumseh (c. 1768-1813): Topic

Chief of the Shawnee, b. probably in Clark co., Ohio. Tecumseh set out to bind together the Native Americans of the Old Northwest, the South, and the eastern Mississippi valley.

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Wars, Battles, and Conflicts

Indian Wars: Topic
In American history, general term referring to the series of conflicts between Europeans and their descendants and the indigenous peoples of North America.
French and Indian War (1754-1760): Topic
Begun as colonial muscling for control of the Ohio River valley, the French and Indian War (1754-1760) ignited the worldwide conflict between the British and French known as the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) and ended France’s North American empire.
Seminole Wars (1817-1818, 1835-1842, 1855-1858)
From Britannica concise encyclopedia
Three conflicts between the U.S. and the Seminole Indians of Florida.
Black Hawk War (1832): Topic
Conflict between the Sac and Fox and the United States in 1832.
Trail of Tears (1838): Topic
Forced march of Indian tribes from the eastern United States to Oklahoma.
Plains Wars (1850-1890)
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Series of conflicts between the Plains Indians and the US Army 1850-90, during the era of US westward expansion. The Great Plains had been promised to the American Indians forever under the Permanent Indian Frontier policy of 1830, but had been increasingly invaded from the 1840s and the Indians forced onto Indian reservations.
Battle of Little Bighorn (1876): Topic
The Battle of the Little Bighorn took place on June 25, 1876. It resulted in the death of about 265 officers and troops of the 7th Cavalry under the command of General George Armstrong Custer. The battle was the most serious defeat of the US army during the war for the Great Plains.

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Sites

Navajo Indian Reservation: Topic
Area reserved for occupation by American Indian people in northeastern Arizona, southeastern Utah, and northwestern New Mexico.
Trail of Tears (1838): Topic
Forced march of Indian tribes from the eastern United States to Oklahoma.
Wounded Knee (1890): Topic
Site on the Oglala Sioux Reservation, South Dakota, USA, of a confrontation between the US Army and American Indians on 29 December 1890; the last ‘battle’ of the Plains Wars.

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Native American Studies

Native American History Timeline

EDU Native American-YouTube Videos

History Vault: American Indians and American West, 1809-1971

Native American Studies

Native American Heritage Month Resources

eBooks

Peoples of the Americas

Wars, Battles, and Conflicts

Sites