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Northeast Illinois Documents Librarians (NIDL)-Member Collections related to Native American & Indigenous Studies

Primary Source Collection Databases

The databases listed below (in alphabetical order) provide access to a range of primary source materials which may include correspondence, diaries, memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, personal narratives, speeches, oral histories, ethnographic videos, political and diplomatic documents, government publications, musical recordings, or literary texts. 

Remote access to databases is typically available only to those who are affiliated with that institution or library (for example have a library card or, in the case of universities, are currently enrolled or employed).  However, guests typically can access these databases when visiting the library in person.  There are exceptions so review guest access information on this guide and call ahead if you have questions.

  • American Indian Correspondence: Presbyterian Historical Society Collection of Missionaries' Letters 1833-1893
    • The American Indian Correspondence is a collection of almost 14,000 letters written by those who served as Presbyterian missionaries to the American Indians during the years from 1833 to 1893.
    • AVAILABLE AT:   Northwestern University Libraries
  • American Indian Histories and Cultures (Ayers Collection, Newberry Library)
    • This resource contains material from the Newberry Library’s extensive Edward E. Ayer Collection; one of the strongest archival collections on American Indian history in the world.
    • AVAILABLE AT:   Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries
  • American Indian History Online: History Research Center
    • Includes articles from reference works, primary sources, biographies, timelines, images, and maps, charts and tables. Recommended for grades six and up.
    • AVAILABLE AT:   Chicago Public Library, Northwestern University Libraries
  • American Indian Movement and Native American Radicalism
    • The American Indian Movement (AIM) was founded at a time of continuing social change and protest following achievement of national legislation of the Civil Rights Movement. The radical approach AIM adopted was based on its leaders’ perceptions that early Indian advocacy had failed to achieve any tangible results by lobbying activities with Congress and state legislatures. This collection includes the extensive FBI documentation on the evolution of AIM as an organization of social protest. In addition, there is documentation on the 1973 Wounded Knee Stand-off. Informant reports and materials collected by the Extremist Intelligence Section of the FBI provide unparalleled insight into the motives, actions, and leadership of AIM and the development of Native American radicalism.
    • AVAILABLE AT:   Northwestern University Libraries
  • American Indian Newspapers
    • Presents the publications of a range of communities, with an extensive list of periodicals produced in the United States and Canada from 1828 to 2016. Representing a huge variety in style, production and audience, the newspapers include national periodicals as well as local community news and student publications. This digital collection provides exciting research opportunities into a range of subjects from an Indigenous perspective, including the civil rights era and American Indian Movement (AIM), education, environmentalism, land rights and cultural representation. This resource has been developed with, and has only been made possible by, the permission and contribution of the newspaper publishers and Tribal Councils concerned.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern University Libraries
  • Early Encounters in North America: Peoples Cultures and the Environment
    • Database of digitized letters, diaries, memoirs and other accounts relating to the early contact of Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans in North America. Currently contains about 40,000 pages of material. When complete, it will include more than 100,000 pages from over 1,000 published and unpublished items.
    • AVAILABLE AT:   Northwestern University Libraries
  • Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian
    • Edward Sheriff Curtis published The North American Indian between 1907 and 1930 with the intent to record traditional Indian cultures. The work comprises twenty volumes of narrative text and photogravure images. Each volume is accompanied by a portfolio of large photogravure plates.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern University Libraries, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Ethnographic Video Online Volume 3
    • contains a strong emphasis on indigenous issues and perspectives, with much content made by indigenous filmmakers. Launching with nearly 100 hours of content and footage from the Oceanic regions of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia, the collection will continue to expand with films from Australia, the Americas, Africa and Asia, encouraging a global perspective on the indigenous experience.
    • AVAILABLE AT:   Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern University Libraries
  • Indian Claims Insight
    • This resource provides researchers with the opportunity to understand and analyze Native American migration and resettlement throughout U.S. history, as well as U.S. Government Indian removal policies and subsequent actions to address Native American claims. Content includes decisions, transcripts, docket books, journals of the Indian Claims Commission, a judicial panel for relations between the U.S. Government and Native American tribes; and related statutes and congressional publications.
    • AVAILABLE AT:   Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries
  • Indian Trade in the Southeastern Spanish Borderlands: Papers of Panton, Leslie and Company
    • Comprising the papers of the Panton, Leslie & Co., a trading firm, this collection is the most complete ethnographic collection available for the study of the American Indians of the Southeast. More than 8,000 legal, political and diplomatic documents recording the company’s operations for over half a century have been selected and organized for this collection.
    • AVAILABLE AT:   Northwestern University Libraries, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Indigenous Peoples: North America
    • This database allows users to trace the history of Native Peoples in North America from colonial relations in the 1600s to twentieth-century issues such as civil rights. Includes manuscript collections, rare books and monographs, newspapers, periodicals, census records, legal documents, maps, drawings and sketches, oral histories, and photos, as well as video content from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
    • AVAILABLE AT:   Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries
  • Meriam Report on Indian Administration and the Survey of Conditions of the Indians in the U.S.
    • This collection comprises two sets of documents that helped the response to 40 years of failed Native American policies. The first is the full text of the report entitled The Problem of Indian Administration, better known as the Meriam Report. The second comprises the 41-part report to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs detailing the conditions of life and the effects of policies and programs enacted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on Native Americans.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern University Libraries, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • North American Indian Drama
    • Full text of plays by American Indian, First Nation, and Pacific Islanders playwrights of the 20th century; information about the plays and their production, and biographical data. The collection represents groups across the United States and Canada, including Cherokee, Métis, Creek, Choctaw, Pembina Chippewa, Ojibway, Lenape, Comanche, Cree, Navajo, Rappahannock, Hawaiian/Samoan, and others. Also includes issues of the Native playwrights' newsletter
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern University Libraries, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • North American Indian Thought & Culture
    • North American Indian Thought and Culture represents the largest compilation ever created of biographical information on indigenous peoples from all areas of North America. Included are biographies, auto-biographies, personal narratives, speeches, diaries, letters, and oral histories dating from the 17th through 21st Centuries.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern University Libraries
  • ProQuest History Vault: American Indians & the American West (1809-1971)
    • American Indians and the American West, 1809-1971 features a number of excellent collections on American Indians in the 19th and 20thCentury, with a focus on the interaction among white settlers, the U.S. federal government, and Indian tribes.Included are Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Major Council Meetings of American Indian Tribes.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries
  • War Department and Indian Affairs 1800-1824
    • From 1789 until the Bureau of Indian Affairs was established in 1824, Indian affairs were under the direct control of the Secretary of War. This collection consists of the letters received by and letters sent to the War Department, including correspondence from Indian superintendents and agents, factors of trading posts, Territorial and State governors, military commanders, Indians, missionaries, treaty and other commissioners, Treasury Department officials, and persons having commercial dealings with the War Department, and other public and private individuals.
    • AVAILABLE AT:   Northwestern University Libraries