Primary Source Spotlight: Native American History & Heritage

PSN curated source sets

• Charles Curtis
• Chief Joseph Surrenders
• Ruth Muskrat Bronson
• Chief John Ross & the Cherokee Nation
• Jim Thorpe
• Sarah Winnemucca
• Custer’s Last Stand
• Fort Necessity & the French and Indian War
• Captivity Narratives
• Indian Citizenship Act
• Jamestown
• Siege of Fort Meigs
• Western Missionaries & Native Americans
• The Iroquois Confederacy
• Muskogee (Creek) Nation
• Narragansett
• Navajo
• The Nez Percé
• Paiute
• The Sauk & the Black Hawk War
• The Seminoles
• Sioux (Dakota) and Sitting Bull
• The Ute People
• Wampanoag
• Indigenous Code Talkers
• Indian Removal

More Native American trailblazers

• Charles Brent Curtis, First Native American Congressional Member In Custodia Legis January 26, 2018
• Chief Standing Bear and His Landmark Civil Rights Case In Custodia Legis November 21, 2019
• Elizabeth Peratrovich, Civil and Voting Rights Activist In Custodia Legis November 1, 2022
• Treaty and Fishing Rights Activist Billy Frank: the Fish Wars In Custodia Legis November 3, 2022

More primary source sets

• New Spain and the Comanche: Encounters, Missions, and Conquests
  • Exploring the Early Americas Interpreting the Conquest online exhibition
  • Parallel Histories: Spain, United States and the American Frontier ideas to explore
  • New Spain maps
  • Travels through the western interior of the United States, from the year 1808 up to the year 1816; with a particular description of a great part of Mexico, or New-Spain 1816
  • Comanches primary source set
• Puritans and Native Americans in New England
  • Religion and the Founding of the American Republic online exhibition
  • The history of Virginia, in four parts 1722
  • The Second Great Migration: Religious Refugees and the Remaking of America, 1678-1690 streaming webcast
  • Captivity narratives primary source set
  • Historic newspaper coverage mentioning puritans and indians 1836-1922
• Fort Dearborn Massacre: Exchanging Victory for Exile
  • The Chicago massacre of 1812: with illustrations and historical documents 1893
  • Ceremonies at the unveiling of the bronze memorial group of the Chicago massacre of 1812 1893
  • Heroes and heroines of the Fort Dearborn massacre 1896
  • The Fort Dearborn massacre, written in 1814 by Lieutenant Linai T. Helm, one of the survivors, with letters and narratives of contemporary interest c1912
  • Chicago and the Old Northwest, 1673-1835 : a study of the evolution of the northwestern frontier, together with a history of Fort Dearborn 1913
  • Fort Dearborn Massacre historic newspaper coverage
• Early Explorers or Colonizers: The French in Illinois
  • The French in Illinois Country France in America online exhibition
  • French and Indians of Illinois River 1874
  • The French foundations, 1680-1693 Trustees of the Illinois State Historical Library, c1934
  • George Rogers Clark to Patrick Henry, April 29, 1779, Illinois Expedition; Capture of British Trading Post at Vincennes
  • Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, June 19, 1779, George Rogers Clark and Illinois Expedition; Capture of British Trading Post at Vincennes
  • George Washington Papers related to the Illinois-Wabash Indian Treaty 1793-94
  • Receipt book for officer and soldier’s certificates, Illinois Grant 1784-88
  • History of Lieutenant-Colonel George Rogers Clark’s conquest of the Illinois and of the Wabash towns from the British in 1778 and 1779 1903
  • An Act to enable the President to extinguish Indian title within the state of Indiana, Illinois, and territory of Michigan July 9, 1832 (PDF p. 69)
  • An act to provide for the extinguishment of the Indian title to lands lying in the states of Missouri and Illinois, and for other purposes July 14, 1832 (PDF p. 99)
  • Narrative of a voyage made to the Illinois 1852
  • Indian Land Cessions in Illinois 1784-1894
  • Illinois Indian Land Cession maps 1899
  • The transition in Illinois from British to American government 1909
  • Great Britain and the Illinois country, 1763-1774 1910
  • The last of the Illini; or, The legend of Starved Rock, a tale of Illinois 1916
  • Today in Illinois History: Indians Chicago Day Book newspaper
• Native American Resources in the Manuscript Division

Library collections & primary source sets

• Assimilation through Education primary source set with teacher guide
• Contemporary color photographs of Native Americans
• Edward S. Curtis Collection
  • Clothing & dress image set
  • Subject listings
• Indian Affairs: American State Papers, 1789-1827
• Indian Land Cessions in the United States, 1784-1894
• Indians: Travels in America, 1750-1920
• Indians: Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820-1910
• Indians: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region, ca. 1600-1925
• Indians: First-Person Narratives of California’s Early Years, 1849-1900
• Living Nations, Living Words story map featuring 47 contemporary Native Nations poets
• Omaha Indian Music
• Native American History and Culture: Finding Pictures
• Native American Images: Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
• Native American Spaces: Cartographic Resources at the Library of Congress
• Pictorial Americana: Western Life & Indian Fighting
• Native American Newspapers
• Topics in Chronicling America – Native American Education/Indian Schools timeline and select newspaper articles
• Topics in Chronicling America – Wounded Knee Massacre timeline and select newspaper articles

Veterans History Project

• Legacies of Service: Celebrating Native Americans
• Willing to Serve: American Indians

Legal Resources

• Native American Constitutions and Legal Materials (related blog post)
• Indigenous Law Web Archive
• Native American Law blog archived website 2010-07-07

Spotlights, Features & Special Presentations

• Agnes Vanderburg’s Salish Indian School on the Folklife Today Podcast
• The Alaska Native Heritage Center
• Essays for the American Indians of the Pacific Northwest Collection
• First Peoples of California
• Historical Monuments of the First Peoples story map
• Native American Resources in the Manuscript Division
• Native Americans: Their Story
• Native Americans and the Vote
• The Native Peoples of Alaska

Teaching & learning resources

Library blog posts

Teaching with the Library

• Celebrating Native American Veterans with Oral Histories and Primary Sources
• Edward S. Curtis and The North American Indian
• Images of Native Americans: Exploring Changing Visual Representations
• The Library of Congress and Native American Heritage Month
• Native American Cultures Today: Primary Sources Documenting Music, Law, and Everyday Life
• Native American Legal Struggles in Primary Sources
• Native Americans in the First World War and the Fight for Citizenship
• Native American Heritage Month: Celebrating Individuals and Exploring History
• Primary Source Highlights for Native American Heritage Month
• Sights and Sounds of the Omaha Indians: Documenting Native American Celebrations

More posts from Library blogs

• American Indian Constitutions In Custodia Legis
• American Indian and Alaskan Native Veterans Served Proudly Too Folklife Today
• Asian American/Pacific Islander and Indigenous Writers’ Author Talks Bookmarked
• Caught My Eye: The Girl in the Elk Tooth Dress Folklife Today
• Celebrating Native American Cartography: The Catawba Deerskin Map Worlds Revealed
• Celebrating Native American Heritage: Whispering Giants Timeless Stories from the Library
• Citizenship and Suffrage for Native Americans In Custodia Legis
• Congressional Cemetery: Celebrating Native American Heritage Month In Custodia Legis
• Ada Deer: Advocate for Tribal Sovereignty In Custodia Legis
• From Ella to Pocahontas In the Muse
• Harvey Pratt: Dreaming of a National Native American Veterans Memorial Folklife Today
• James Mooney Recordings of American Indian Ghost Dance Songs, 1894 Folklife Today
• Land Claims Cases of Indigenous Nations in New York In Custodia Legis
• Memoriam for a Code Talker: Joe Hosteen Kellwood Folklife Today
• Music & Native American Heritage Month In the Muse
• The Narragansett People in the Rhode Island Folklife Project Folklife Today
• National American Indian Heritage Month In Custodia Legis
• National Native Americans Veterans Memorial In Custodia Legis
• Native American Cultural Revitalization Today Folklife Today
• Native American Heritage on Film Now See Hear!
• Native American Heritage Month: Preserving Songs and Stories of the Past Timeless Stories from the Library
• Native American and Indigenous News and Comics Headlines & Heroes
• Native American Maps (and Ideas) that Shaped the Nation Timeless Stories from the Library
• Ned Blackhawk’s “The Rediscovering of America” Timeless Stories from the Library
• Ojibwe Artwork in Bureau of American Ethnology Reports In Custodia Legis
• Orange Shirt Day and the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative In Custodia Legis
• The Osage in Historic Newspapers: Envy, Ridicule and Racism Headlines & Heroes
• Pics of the Week: Sequoyah Inside Adams The Power of Words, the Power of Belonging: What the Navajo Code Talkers Taught Me Folklife Today
• Reflections on the Life of a Native American Marine Folklife Today
• Remembering Vine Deloria, Jr. In Custodia Legis
• Sequoyah: A Man of Letters Picture This
• “She Could Look Into the Heavens”: Ojibwe Poet Jane Johnston Schoolcraft From the Catbird Seat
• Sheet Music of the Week: American Indian Edition In the Muse
• Agnes Vanderburg’s Outdoor School for Traditional Indian Ways Folklife Today

Webcast videos

• Breaking the Bonds of People and Land: Native American Removal in the United States and Mexico
• Do All Indians Live in Tipis? and Other Compelling Questions for Education
• Navajo Code Talkers
• Dineh Tah Navajo Dancers Video
• Indian Yell, the Heart of American Insurgency
• Indian Religious Freedom, to Litigate or Legislate?
• Black Mesa: Water, Power, and the Story of a Master Theft
• Author Luci Tapahonso Webcast
• Author & Spokesman Vine Deloria Jr. Webcast
• Native American Women Writers Discuss Sister Nations Webcast
• Storyteller Joseph Bruchac

Recommended links to resources outside the Library of Congress

• American Indian History and Culture: Encyclopedia Smithsonian
• American Indian Youth Literature Award winners
• American Indians of the Pacific Northwest University of Washington
• Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian
• The Forgotten Slavery of Our Ancestors documentary video
• Indians of North America: News and Current Events
• National Museum of the American Indian
• NativeWeb Resources for Indigenous Cultures around the World
• Native American Authors
• Pictures of Native Americans in the United States from the National Archives
• United States Department of the Interior: Indian Affairs