Native American affairs today—issues related to housing, income, fishing rights, land claims, pipelines, reservation management, and tribal sovereignty—have through lines to American Indian history.
The documents in Native Americans in History are drawn from our collections of historical newspapers, periodicals, and books. The materials provide the historical threads that let us understand current issues.
At a glance
1663–1928
More than 250 years of history, from the Aleut to the Zuni.
55,363
publications, covering hundreds of topics from agriculture to wills.
Researchers will find
Accounts of fur trappers
Captive narratives
Local views on interactions with Native Americans
Histories of various tribes
Biographies
Chronicles on wars and massacres
Descriptions of tribal societies and customs
Surveys of tribal reservations and settlements
Short biographies
Reminiscences
Literary works
Memoirs
Vital statistics
Military reports
Legislation and congressional investigations
Appeals and broadsides
Organization
Newspapers, 1728–1922
There are news reports and popular editorials, reports from Native American delegations, and personal descriptions of chiefs. The papers trace the government's shameful campaign to Americanize and assimilate Native Americans and abolish their culture, and they show how those actions led to wars and the creation of reservations. The voices of reform are also recorded.
Books, 1663–1928
Assembled from local, regional, and national histories, the books provide a narrative on Native American social, political, and economic interactions with white Americans—including broad coverage of tribes, their popular leaders, and state and local responses to depredations and wars.
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