Native American and Indigenous Studies

This page will contain links to open access internet resources such as digitized archives, digital encyclopedias, and more. These links are very helpful in finding primary sources. 

• Calisphere
  •  Calisphere provides free access to unique and historically important artifacts for research, teaching, and curious exploration. Discover over two million photographs, documents, letters, artwork, diaries, oral histories, films, advertisements, musical recordings, and more.

• The American Indian Movement, 1968-1978

  • Founded in July 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the American Indian Movement (AIM) is an American Indian advocacy group organized to address issues related to sovereignty, leadership, and treaties. Particularly in its early years, AIM also protested racism and civil rights violations against Native Americans. During the 1950s, increasing numbers of American Indians had been forced to move away from reservations and tribal culture because of federal Indian termination policies intended to assimilate them into mainstream American culture. Includes primary sources and a teaching guide. From the Digital Public Library of America.

• American Indian Boarding School

  • Throughout the nineteenth century, boarding schools were established to educate and assimilate American Indian children according to US cultural standards and values. These schools, predominantly run by Christian missionaries, were often funded by the federal government and worked to “civilize” Native American children, forcing many to abandon their names, cultures, and identities in the process. This collection of photos and documents shows what life was like for the many children enrolled in American Indian boarding schools.

• Indian Removal Act: Primary Documents in American History

  • The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of primary source materials associated with the Indian Removal Act and its after-effects, including government documents, manuscripts, printed ephemera, and maps. Provided is a link to the home page for each relevant digital collection along with selected highlights.

• C. Hart Merriam Collection of Native American Photographscirca 1890-1938

  • A collection of over 4,000 photographs of Native American tribes, of which 1,441 have been digitized. At UC Berkley.

• Native American Boarding Schools

  • Photographs and documents related to Indian boarding schools. From the Library of Congress.

• Heard Museum Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives Digital Library

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