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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.

Online Resources

Michigan Tribal Search Engine
This is a custom Google search engine that searches the Internet domains of the 12 federally-acknowledged tribes in the state of Michigan.
Index to Native American Resources on the Internet
Native American Sites and Home of the American Indian Library Association
Last updated September 16, 2008. 
The Open Directory Project: Indigenous Peoples of the Americas

Native American Poetry

Poet and Shawnee Tribal Leader Barney Bush's poem Voices from the Stone.

Frakes, T. (Producer). (2013, April 18). Voices from the Stone. Glen Ellyn, IL

Select Notable Native American Authors, Activists and Artists

Barney Bush, author, activist, and musician
Charles Eastman, best-known as first author to address American history from a native point of view.
David Treuer, author and professor of literature & creative writing, University of Southern California
Diane Glancy, author, best known for Claiming Breath, Lone Dog’s Winter Count, Primer of the Obsolete, and Iron Woman.
Duane Niatum, poet, fiction writer, playwright, and editor. Best-known for The Crooked Beak of Love and Song for the Harvester of Dreams, which won the American Book Award.
Gerald Vizenor, screenwriter, poet, author that has published more than 30 books. He is the Professor of American Studies at the University of New Mexico.
James Welch, author and considered one of the founding authors in the Native American Renaissance.
Janet Campbell Hale, author. Best-known for Pulitzer nominated The Jailing of Cecelia Capture and for Bloodlines: Odyssey of a Native Daughter which won the American Book Award.
John Joseph Mathews, author that became an important voice for the Osage people. Best-known for Sundown.
Joy Harjo, poet, screenwriter and children’s book author. Best-known for In Mad Love and War, which won the American Book Award and the William Carlos Williams Award.
Leslie Marmon Silko, author and recipient of MacArthur Foundation Grants. Her most well-known work is the novel Ceremony.
Louise Erdrich, author, poet, and children’s book author.
N. Scott Momaday, writer, teacher, artist, and storyteller. won Momaday the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969 and is best known for House Made of Dawn.
Nila northSun, contemporary poet and activist.
Paul Chaat Smith, author and curator. The focus of his books and exhibitions is on the contemporary landscape of American Indian politics and culture.
Paula Gunn Allen, American Indian scholar and poet.
Sherman Alexie, contemporary author and poet. He won a number of awards including a National Book Award.
Simon J. Ortiz, contemporary author and poet.
Vine Deloria Jr., author and activist. Best-known for Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto.
Wendy Red Star, contemporary visual artist.
Wendy Rose, artist, writer, and anthropologist.
Winona LaDuke, author, speaker, economist, and activist.
Subjects: American Studies