LibGuides: Native American Studies: Primary Sources

What are Primary Sources?

Primary sources are materials created at the time of the topic you are researching, or by an eyewitness to the topic. Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period. They are not commentary about your topic, but are the topic you are commenting about.

Watch this brief video for help differentiating between primary and secondary sources:

Library Databases

Indigenous Histories and Cultures in North America (AM) This link opens in a new window
Explore manuscripts, artwork and rare printed books dating from the earliest contact with European settlers right up to photographs and newspapers from the mid-twentieth century. Browse through a wide range of rare and original documents from treaties, speeches and diaries, to historic maps and travel journals.
Colonial America (AM - formerly Adam Matthew) This link opens in a new window
Colonial America (1606-1822) consists of all 1,450 volumes of the CO 5 series of Colonial Office files held at The National Archives in London, plus all extracted documents associated with them. This unique collection of largely manuscript material from the archives of the British government is invaluable for students and researchers of all aspects of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century American history and the early-modern Atlantic world.
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 1-5: 1691-1912 (Ebsco) This link opens in a new window
Search the entire AAS collection at once. AAS Historical Periodicals include digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals not available from any other source and provide rich content detailing American history and culture. These collections cover advertising, health, women's issues, science, the history of slavery, industry & professions, religious issues, culture and the arts, and more.
American State Papers, 1789-1838 (Readex) This link opens in a new window
Legislative and executive documents from the beginning of U.S. history.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 (Readex) This link opens in a new window
Reports, documents, and journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

Internet Sites

Print Sources

The following are a select group of titles available in print. Additional titles can be identified by searching the library catalog.

Documents of American Indian Diplomacy: Treaties, Agreements, and Conventions, 1775-1979. 2 vols. 1999. (Ref KF 8202 1999)
Provides a sketch of the diplomatic history of American Indians from June 1775 to the present. Designed as a supplement to Kappler's Indian Affairs, it provides the full text of various treaties and agreements.

Guide to American Indian Documents in the Congressional Serial Set. 1817-1899. 1977. (Ref KF 8201 A1 J63)
Chronological guide designed to help locate potential sources of data in the Congressional Serial Set. The documents deal primarily with Indian relations with the united States Government.

Nations Within a Nation: Historical Statistics of American Indians. 1987. (Ref E77 S924 1987)

Native North American Voices. 1994. (Ref E 77 N374 1994 v.6)
Presents full or excerpted speeches sermons, orations, poems, testimony, and other notable spoken works of Native Americans.