Jim Dan Hill Library: Indigenous Studies: Resources

Searching for Resources

Browsing the Search@UW Catalog

Think about which search terms might be the most helpful and how you can eliminate results that you don't need. For example, Indigenous Studies is a very broad concept, if you use terms within the subject you may end up with a more manageable list to look through. Terms you could use include Tribe or Nation names, i.e. Cherokee, Ojibwe, treaty, legends, origin story, and you can use your textbook and course readings to find terms to narrow down your search.

Also, because terminology changes over time and variations of subject terms you may find older language or unfamiliar language. Use these terms to search the library catalog and look at "Subject" terms used within the record, these terms will also help narrow your search.

Browsing Physical Resources

Our resources using Library of Congress (LOC) classifications and call numbers. While most items related to Indigenous Studies will be under the E American History and F Local History, it is possible to find other related materials in different areas. Please see Classification Codes for Browsing for more information about subject classification ranges.

Call number ranges to focus on when browsing the stacks on the Garden level:

E American History
E75 - 99: Indigenous people of North America
E99: Indigenous tribes and cultures--this is further subdivided by Tribe
F Local History
F479 - 485: Old Northwest. Northwest Territory
F576 - 590: Wisconsin
F975: Central America, West Indian, and other countries protected by and having close political affiliations with the United States (General)

For more specific areas like Law of Indigenous Peoples, you will need class G (Geography), K (Law-specifically KI which covers Law of Indigenous Peoples and KIA for North America Indigenous Peoples), B (Philosophy), P (Language and Literature, and N (Fine Arts).

Special Note: "The Library of congress recognizes that many of its subject headings for Indigenous peoples living within the United States and bordering countries are either incorrect or offensive. The Library is committed to rectifying these errors and is determined to do it correctly with respect for Indigenous peoples, their customs, culture, and languages." --Library of Congress Evaluation of Heading for Indigenous People-Library of Congress official communication.

Featured Books

The following is a small example of print books available pertaining to Indigenous Studies.

American Indians and the American Dream: Policies, Place, and Property in Minnesota by Kasey R. Keeler
Call Number: Garden Level, Books ; E78.M7 K44 2023

ISBN: 9781517909253

Publication Date: 2023-05-23

Examining the long history of urbanization and suburbanization of Indian communities in Minnesota, American Indians and the American Dream investigates the ways American Indians accessed homeownership, working with and against federal policy, underscoring American Indian peoples' unequal and exclusionary access to the way of life known as the American dream
By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land by Rebecca Nagle
Call Number: Garden Level, Books ; E93 .N19 2024

ISBN: 9780063112049

Publication Date: 2024-09-10

A powerful work of reportage and American history in the vein of Caste and How the Word Is Passed that braids the story of the forced removal of Native Americans onto treaty lands in the nation's earliest days, and a small-town murder in the '90s that led to a Supreme Court ruling reaffirming Native rights to that land over a century later.
Indigenous Economics: Sustaining Peoples and Their Lands by Ronald L. Trosper
Call Number: Garden Level, Books ; HM548 .T758 2022

ISBN: 9780816546619

Publication Date: 2022-08-23

The book explains how Indigenous peoples organize their economies for good living, by developing relationships among people and the natural world. Creating strong relationships is a major alternative to the proposals that urge Indigenous people to individualize their economies.
Indigenous Governance: Clans, Constitutions, and Consent by David E. Wilkins
Call Number: Garden Level, Books ; E98.T77 W5455 2024

ISBN: 9780190095994

Publication Date: 2023-12-12

Governance is a comprehensive, critical examination of Native political systems: the senior political sovereigns on the North American continent in terms of their origin, development, structures, and operation. Author David E. Wilkins provides the recognition and respect due Indigenous governments, while offering a considered critique of their shortcomings as imperfect, sovereign institutions. This appraisal will highlight their history, evolution, internal and intergovernmental issues, and diverse structures.
Indigenous Life Around the Great Lakes: War, Climate, and Culture by Richard W. Edwards; Richard W. Edwards
Call Number: Garden Level, Books ; E78.G7 E39 2020

ISBN: 9780268108182

Publication Date: 2020-09-30

In Indigenous Life around the Great Lakes, Richard W. Edwards explores how the inhabitants of the western Great Lakes region responded to the challenges of climate change, social change, and the increasingly violent physical landscape. As a case study, Edwards focuses on a group living in the Koshkonong Locality in what is now southeastern Wisconsin