Skip to main content
LibApps staff login

American Indian Studies

This page is a starting point for all students researching American Indian issues. This guide is created by the Labriola National American Indian Data Center.

Article Databases

Books

The following bibliography lists reference material dealing with Native American religions, myths and origin stories. These resources include material found in the Labriola Center in the University Libraries at Arizona State University, websites, and other research facilities. 

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT RELIGIONS, MYTHS & ORIGIN STORIES

Religion is a basic attribute of humanity cherished by mankind in all ages, races and cultures. This subject guide attempts to provide an overview of research pertaining to Native American religious beliefs, practices and histories.

Overall, a large body of material exists about Native American worldview and sacred beliefs in spirits, the Native American Church, peyote religion, Plains Sun Dances, Navajo Chants, Pueblo ceremonialism, guardian spirits and vision quests, Inuit masks, Iroquois thanksgiving rites, shamanism, and medicine objects. Within this core of research contains the mythology and origin stories of many Native American peoples which incorporates many mythical figures, elemental and seasonal phenomenon, and landmarks and sacred sites.

Theses and Dissertations

Video Recordings

Audio Recordings

Wycliffe Bible Translations Jiosh Wechij O’ohana: The New Testament in O’odham (Papgo-Pima) [sound recording], s.l., n.d. The Christian bible translated into the Papago-Pima language. Two-sided, 30 minutes each side. BS 345 .O65x 1975

 

The American Indian Oral History Collection [sound recordings], s.l., n.d. A collection of 30 cassettes offering a broad account of the experiences of being Indian. Tape 16, for example, discusses traditional Indian religions and the similarities among other religions of various tribes and the teaching of Christianity within the Native American Church. E77 .A45x 1977 v.1:1-15

Oral History Collections

The American Indian Oral History Collection contains microfilm transcripts of some 700 interviews with members of the Navajo Nation, and from members of the Pueblo Tribes, some of which deal with origin stories and religious activities. Ask for the subject guide for these in the Labriola Center.

 

The University of South Dakota Oral history collection contains a taped series of interviews conducted in the late 1960s and early 1970s with Plains Indians and those non-Indians working actively with them. Participants include Native Christian clergyman Vine Deloria and medicine man Johnson Holy rock.

The ASU Library acknowledges the twenty-three Native Nations that have inhabited this land for centuries. Arizona State University's four campuses are located in the Salt River Valley on ancestral territories of Indigenous peoples, including the Akimel O’odham (Pima) and Pee Posh (Maricopa) Indian Communities, whose care and keeping of these lands allows us to be here today. ASU Library acknowledges the sovereignty of these nations and seeks to foster an environment of success and possibility for Native American students and patrons. We are advocates for the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge systems and research methodologies within contemporary library practice. ASU Library welcomes members of the Akimel O’odham and Pee Posh, and all Native nations to the Library.