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.
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- Autobiography and Primary Sources
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- Autobiographies
- Non-Fiction and Literature
- Theses and Dissertations - A Selection
- Video Recordings
- Audio Recordings
- Oral History Collections
- Bibliography on Repatriation
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- Veterans with an Emphasis on Code Talkers
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- Useful Websites
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- Labriola Center Video List
Article Databases
- American Indian History OnlineA unique resource that offers fast access to more than 5,000 years of culture, history, and leaders. More than 240 Native American groups are presented through subject entries, biographies, primary source documents, historical maps, and photographs.Online encyclopedia
- American Indian IndexPart of the Labriola National American Indian Data Center Collection. Includes all topics dealing with the American Indian in Alaska, Canada, and the United States. Photographs are included in this collection.Contains citations for all material in the Labriola Center except for the books, which are in the ASU Libraries Online Catalog.
- Ethnic NewswatchFull-text of ethnic, minority and native press newspapers, magazines and journals. Provides a broad diversity of perspectives and viewpoints. Represents the diversity of the American population in ways that are not seen in the mainstream media.Current contemporary American Indian perspectives
- North American Indian Thought and CultureIncluding biographies, autobiographies, oral histories, reference works, manuscripts, and photographs, the database presents the life stories of American Indians and Canadian First Peoples in their own wordContains American Indian primary source material
- In the First PersonIndex to over 2500 English language personal narratives, including letters, diaries, memoirs, autobiographies, and oral histories.personal narratives, including letters, diaries, memoirs, autobiographies, and oral histories
Internet Sites
Caution! Before using the information from any web pages in your paper, be certain that your source is legitimate and accurate.
Arizona Archives Online
- Arizona Archives OnlineArchival resources from ASU, U of A, and NAUThe mission of Arizona Archives Online (AAO) is to provide free public access to descriptions of archival collections, preserved and made accessible by Arizona repositories, including libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums. Through the collaboration of the Arizona repositories we strive to inform, enrich, and empower the researcher by creating and promoting access to a vast array of primary sources across the state of Arizona.
Autobiographies
- Navajo Way by Frank E. BeckerCall number: E97 .B35Becker describes the difficulties Navajo soldiers faced in adjusting to Army life and the English language in preparation for service in World War II.
- Silent Courage: An Indian Story: The Autobiography of George P. Lee, a Navajo by George P. LeeCall number: E99 .N3 L535 1987The story of a Navajo boy and his study to embrace the Mormon faith.
- Winning the Dust Bowl by Carter RevardCall number: PS508 .I5 S93 v.47 2001Poet and scholar Dr. Carter Revard recalls his life on the Osage Indian Reservation in Oklahoma during the Great Depression through his poetry and enjoyable anecdotes.
- The Names: A Memoir by N. Scott MomadayCall number: PS508 .I5 S93 v.16 1976Story of the author’s life on the Kiowa reservation in the 1940s and the importance of Kiowa naming ceremonies.
- Sun Chief: The Autobiography of a Hopi Indian by Don C. TalayesvaCall number: E99 .H7 T25 1963Raised as a Hopi until the age of 10, Talayesva spent the next ten years striving to become an American citizen. He returned to Hopi society years later and re-embraced his Hopi heritage and religion.
- Looking for Lost Bird: A Jewish Woman Discovers her Navajo Roots by Yvette D. Melanson & Claire SafranCall number: E99 .N3 M5174 1999Author Yvette Melanson, stolen from her Navajo parents at birth and raised by Jewish foster parents, tells her story of life in the white world, her re-discovery of her Navajo roots and being re-united with her Indian family.
- Born a Chief, the Nineteenth Century Hopi Boyhood of Edmumd Nequatewa by Edmund NequatewaCall number: E99 .H7 N45 1993Edmund Nequatewa was automatically in line to be chief of Hopi society due to his birth. He describes his responsibilities and community relations among the Hopi during the 1890s.
- Don’t Let the Sun Step Over You: A White Mountain Apache Family Life (1860-1975.) by Eva Tulene Watt & Keith H. BassoCall number: E99 .A6 W369 2004Born in 1913, Eva Tulene Watt shares the story of her family from the time of the Apache wars to the modern era. Her interpretation of her people's past is a diverse assemblage of recounted events, biographical sketches, and cultural descriptions that bring to life the men and women who lived it to the fullest.
The following bibliography lists reference material dealing with the Native Voice. 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 THE NATIVE VOICE
Significant facets to the study of Native America are the histories, cultural research, and literature written by Native Americans. This subject guide attempts to provide an overview of research pertaining to the Native American authors, researchers, and historians who have contributed to the growing fund of modern Native American scholarship.
The Native voice is derived from a variety of sources. The autobiography provides direct access to the authors’ connection to their tribe, gender, and role in Native American life. Other primary source materials include photographs, manuscripts, ephemera, theses & dissertations, and oral histories. Non-fiction research in the fields of history, ethnography, linguistics, anthropology, and literature comprise a large portion of the Native Voice. Native American academics and authors continually add to the overall scope of their fields of study furthering the development of Native American scholarship.
Non-Fiction and Literature
- Red Matters: Native American Studies by Arnold KrupatCall number: PM238 .K78 2002Professor Krupat creates a work marked by theoretical sophistication, wide learning, and social passion, Red Matters is a major contribution to the imperative effort of understanding the indigenous presence on the American continents.
- Indian Nation: Native American Literature and Nineteenth-Century Nationalisms by Cheryl WalkerCall number: PS153 .I52 W35 1997Indian Nation documents the contributions of Native Americans to the notion of American nationhood and to concepts of American identity at a crucial, defining time in U.S. history. Departing from previous scholarship, Cheryl Walker turns the "usual" questions on their heads, asking not how whites experienced indigenous peoples, but how Native Americans envisioned the United States as a nation.
- Rethinking American History by Donald L. FixicoCall number: E76.8 .R47 1997Dr. Fixico compiles essays on Native American historiography, oral traditions and modern research methodologies for providing a broad examination of Native American studies.
- Angie Debo: Pioneering Historian by Shirley A. LeckieCall number: E175.5 .D43 L43 2000Shirley A. Leckie's biography of Debo is the first to assess the significance of Oklahoma's pioneering historian on the historiography of the American Indian, the writing of regional history, and the development of national law and court cases involving indigenous people.
- A Forest of Time: American Indian Ways of History by Peter NabokovCall number: E98 .F6 N33 2002Nabokov’s multidisciplinary intellectual history describes the many ways that individual Native American groups have defined their histories for their own purposes. By bringing these varying Native perspectives to the fore, Nabokov has performed a service that will only enrich future research into the history of Native American groups.
- Natives and Academics: Researching and Writing about Native Americans by Devon A. MihesuahCall number: E76.8 .N37 1998The relationship between Native peoples and the academic community has become especially rocky in recent years. Both groups are grappling with troubling questions about research ethics, methodology, and theory in the field and in the classroom. In this timely and illuminating anthology, ten leading Native scholars examine the state of scholarly research and writing on Native Americans. They offer distinctive, frequently self-critical perspectives on several important issues: the representativeness of Native informants, the merits of various methods of data collection, the veracity and role of oral histories, the suitability of certain genres of scholarly writing for the study of Native Americans, the marketing of Native culture and history, and debates about cultural essentialism.
- Hopi Voices: Recollections, Traditions, and Narratives of the Hopi Indians by Harold CourlanderCall number: E99 .H7 H69 1982A collection of seventy-four narrations, explanations, and recollections by individual Hopi Indians with a discussion of the Hopi narrative style and themes in oral literature, history, and ethnography.
- American Indian Authors; a Representative Bibliography by Arlene B. HirschfelderCall number: PS153 .I52 H57xA detailed bibliography of Native American authors and Native American publications. Authors and publications under investigation by the researcher should be thoroughly examined to search for more current publications.
- Rising Voices: Writings of Young Native Americans by Arlene B. Hirschfeld & Beverly R. SingerCall number: PS508 .I5 R57 1992Through more than 60 poems and essays, contemporary Native American children and young adults share their feelings about themselves, their people and their land.
- Kinaaldá: A Navajo Girl Grows Up by Monty RoesselCall number: E99 .N3 R597 1993Monty Roessel, Navajo photographer and writer who specializes in contemporary Native Americans, creates a clear, strikingly photographed account of 13-year-old Celinda McKelvey's coming-of-age ceremony, set in its proper historical context.
- Native North American Biography by Sharon Malinowski & Simon GlickmanCall number: E89 .N395 1996 v. 1-2 REFWith its balanced presentation of both historical and contemporary figures, Native North American Biography offers 112 profiles of Native North Americans from the United States and Canada, both living and deceased. These individuals are notable in fields ranging from civil rights, sports, politics, tribal leadership, literature, entertainment, religion, science and the military.
- A to Z of Native American Women by Liz SonnebornCall number: E98 .W8 S65 2007This unique reference source features more than 100 fascinating profiles of notable Native American women from the 1500s to the present. Detailed entries include biographical sketches, photographs, descriptions of individual challenges and accomplishments, and recommended reading for each woman profiled.
- Gerald Vizenor: Writing in Oral Tradition by Kimberly M. BlaeserCall number: PS3572 .I9 Z56 1996Vizenor, arguably the most prolific contemporary Native American author, has written more than two dozen books, from fiction and haiku poetry to literary theory. Blaeser discusses her subject's use of the Native American trickster in his fiction, his incorporation of Ojibway dream songs and Zen aesthetics in his poetry, and his retention of the Ojibway oral culture in his writings. Her book can be read most profitably by those thoroughly familiar with Vizenor's work and knowledgeable about literary theory and recent Native American writing.
- Conversations with Leslie Marmon Silko by Ellen L. ArnoldCall number: PS3569 .I44 Z478 2000Compilation of interviews with Native American author Leslie Marmon Silko. Silko grants interviews rarely, but the sixteen included here are generously wide-ranging and deeply honest. They reflect her heritage of storytelling and give vivid accounts of her life experiences, her creative processes, and her forthright political views. As she speaks, she spins out descriptions of the living oral traditions, the communal relationships, and the desert landscape that are the sources of her inspiration.
- Cheyenne Memories of the Custer Fight: A Source Book by Richard HardorffCall number: E83.876 .C54 1995Only six Cheyenne Indians (but 32 Sioux) died in the fighting that wiped out the command of General George Custer. Brave Wolf was at the scene on that bloody Sunday in 1876. Brave Wolf and others of his tribe give a firsthand account of the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
- Lakota Recollections of the Custer Fight: New Sources of Indian-Military History by Richard HardorffCall number: E83.876 .L27 1997The fifteen Sioux (and one Cheyenne) who speak in this volume witnessed Custer’s Last Stand. Their testimony sheds light on what happened at the Battle of Little Bighorn, June 25, 1876.
Theses and Dissertations - A Selection
- Wooden Duck by Hershman R. JohnCall number: LD179.145 1998a .J64Master’s Thesis, Arizona State University, 1998. A collection of four poetry sets designed to serve as a narrative journey into the world of the Navajo.
(Located in Hayden Stacks) - Let Them Know We Still Exist: Indians in Albuquerque by Myla Vicenti CarpioCall number: LD179 .I5 2001d .V534Ph.D. dissertation, Arizona State University, 2001. An addition to the evolving research on urban Indians to illustrate the survival of Indian identity, and more importantly, tribal identity while living in an urban setting.
(Located in Storage Luhrs Rdg Room) - Longitudinal Trend Study of Three American Indian/Alaska Native Freshmen Cohorts at Arizona State University by Charles R. ColbertCall number: LD179 .I5 1999d .C643Ph.D. dissertation, Arizona State University, 1999. An extensive analysis of the educational attainment, academic achievement, and retention rates of American Indians and Alaska Natives attending Arizona State University.
(Located in Hyden Stacks & Storage Luhrs Rdg Room) - The Cherokee National Female Seminary: Higher Education for Cherokee Females in the 20th Century by Lou Ann HerdaCall number: FICHE 4x6 18199Ed.D. dissertation, University of Houston, 1999. This study analyzes the educational accomplishments of the Cherokee Nation by way of its female seminary. It also demonstrates this tribe's perseverance, spotlighting those who helped clear the way for them to create the only school of its kind run entirely by an American Indian tribe for the sole purpose of educating their females.
- Formal Education Among the Siberian Yupik Eskimos on Sivuqaq, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska: An Ethno-Historical Study by Pam PowellCall number: FICHE 4x6 19202Ph.D. dissertation, University of North Texas, 1998. The major focus of this study is the effect of formal education on individuals, communities, cultural traditions and values on Siberian Yupik Eskimos of Alaska.
- Hidden Nation: Nez Perce Identity and American Indian Sovereignty by Janice Ann JohnsonCall number: FICHE 4x6 18201Ph.D. dissertation, University of Tulane, 1999. American Indians express national identity and sovereignty often in a context of misrecognition and domination. The dominant culture frequently mythologizes, or depoliticizes, Native Americans to maintain its hegemony. The mythologization of the Nez Perce Indians has been overwhelmingly laudatory from Lewis and Clark onward, yet it frequently distorts Nez Perce/white history, denies the Nez Perces coevalness, and effaces dual U.S./Nez Perce identity and sovereignty.
Video Recordings
- Columbus Didn’t Discover Us by Wil EchevarriaCall number: E58 .C64 1992 VIDEOIndians from North, Central, and South America speak of the impact the Columbus legacy has had on the lives of indigenous people.
- A Season of Grandmothers by George BurdeauCall number: E98 .W8 S33x 1990 VIDEOGrandmothers from the Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, and Nez Perce tribes recall and demonstrate some of the roles of grandmothers, including culture carrier, teacher, child disciplinarian, and historian.
- Navajo by John ApgarCall number: E99 .N3 N238x 1980 VIDEOPeter MacDonald, Tribal Chairman of the Navajo Nation, explains the traditions represented in Navajo lifestyles.
- Interviews with Indian Elders – Part 1 and 2Call number: E78 .A7 I58 1978 VIDEO v. 1-2Interviews with Cocopah and Maricopa tribal elders discussing how life was along the Gila River for the Pima, Maricopa, Mojave and Yuman Indians.
- Native American Novelists – Parts 1 – 4 by Matteo BellinelliCall number: PS153 .I52 N38x 1995 VIDEOThe Native American experience is portrayed in conversations with four Native American authors; N. Scott Momaday, James Welch, Leslie M. Silko and Gerald Vizenor.
Audio Recordings
- American Indian Oral History Collection by Joseph H. CashCall number: E77 .A45x 1977 v. 1:1-15A collection of 30 cassettes offering a broad account of the experiences of being Indian.
- Making an Indian Place in Urban Schools: Native Americans and Education in Phoenix, 1941-1984 by Stephen Kent AmermanCall number: LD179 .I5 2002d .A447Interviews conducted by Dr. Steven Amerman relating to the educational experiences of Native Americans in Phoenix, Arizona (26 cassettes).
(Located in Hayden Stacks & Storage Luhrs Rdg Room) - Educational Studies and UraniumCall number: LAB AUDIO AT-117An Indian law student’s lecture about Uranium mining on Indian lands. One-sided, 45 minutes.
(Click on American Indian Index) - Hopi Community Value System; Role of Anglo Type School/Parental Expectations of School by Milo KalectacaCall number: LAB AUDIO AT-118A presentation on Hopi culture and education. Two-sided, 15 minutes each side.
(Click on American Indian Index)
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, all of which are representations of the Native Voice. 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 members of religious, cultural, linguistic, and political aspects of Native tribal organizations.
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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.
