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Native American History and Culture

This guide provides links to the most useful databases, electronic and print resources for researching the history and culture of Native Americans including Native American authors and artists.

Native American Photographs

Source: Big Knife, Chippewa/Cree, Rocky Boy Reservation, Montana, Montana State University Northern American Indian: Portraits of Native Americans, 1860-1913, from the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Government Document Resources

American State Papers.
Annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
Annual Reports of the Secretary of War.
Anthropological papers. Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology.
HathiTrust. This resource is a partnership of academic & research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world. Also, U.S. Congress. House. Committee on Indian Affairs Online Books Page. Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania and HathiTrust U.S. Congress. House. Committee on Indian Affairs Online Books Page is also a good resource.
HeinOnline American Indian Law Collection. Provides access to treaties, federal statutes and regulations, federal case law, tribal codes, constitutions, and jurisprudence. This collection contains more than 800 titles and 750,000 pages. Read the collection overview for more information.
Native American Constitution and Law Digitization Project. University of Oklahoma Law Center  and the National Indian Law Library (NILL).
Internet Archive. This digital library offers free universal access to books, movies & music, as well as 456 billion archived web pages. Check out the U.S. Congress. House. Committee on Indian Affairs Book Collection.
American Indian Health.  Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine, this resource provides an information portal to issues affecting the health and well-being of American Indians. 
Tribal Government and Native American Resources from USA.gov. The tribal resources here are just a small portion of this website. USA.gov indexes all government websites (federal, state, local).
Commission on Civil Rights.  This resource explains the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Indian Bill of Rights.
U.S. Administration for Indian Affairs.  This organization promotes self-sufficiency for Native Americans by providing discretionary grant funding for community based projects and training and technical assistance to eligible tribes and native organizations.
U.S. Congress. House. Committee on Natural Resources. Subcommittee on Indian and Alaskan Native Affairs.  This subcommittee considers legislation on Native Americans issues, including the care and allotment of Native American lands and general and special measures relating to claims that are paid out of Native American funds.
U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Indian Affairs.  This committee is responsible for the study of the unique problems of American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native peoples and to propose legislation to alleviate these difficulties. Visit this site to review legislation and occasionally live broadcasts of hearings.
U.S. Department of Interior. Bureau of Indians Affairs.  Check out the Documents Library for items such as a Guide to Tracing Your American Indian Ancestry, Tribal Leaders Directory, Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible to Receive Services From the US BIA, American Indian Population and Labor Force Reports
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Tribal Justice (OTJ). The mission of this office is to provide a point of contact within the Department of Justice to listen to the concerns of Indian Tribes and other parties interested in Indian affairs and to communicate the Department's policies to the Tribes and the public; to promote policies and litigation positions relating to Indian county; and to coordinate with other Federal agencies and with State and local governments on their initiatives in Indian country.

Search tip: Additional information about OTJ responsibilities can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations. Click on the Selected Resources tab for an extensive list of resources and federal agencies providing links of interest to Native Americans.
White House Council on Native American Affairs. The policy behind the formation of this council is to recognize the government–to-government relationship, as well as the unique legal and political relationship that exists between the federal government and tribes. By Executive Order, President Obama established the White House Council on Native American Affairs on June 26, 2013.
Subjects: American Studies