Native American History - HIST 372 Resource Guide

The name was given because the Indians respected a brave and powerful adversary, which relates directly to their much revered buffalo. Others say it was due to the similarity of the soldier's hair to that of the hair surrounding the buffalo's head.

The Cherokee Nation is the federally-recognized government of the Cherokee people and has inherent sovereign status recognized by treaty and law. The seat of tribal government is the W.W. Keeler Complex near Tahlequah, Okla., the capital of the Cherokee Nation.

The tribal government of the Chickasaw Nation is a democratic republic, modeled after that of the federal government. Registered voters elect a governor and lieutenant governor to four-year terms. Like the president and vice president of the United States, the governor and lieutenant governor run as a team.

For hundreds of years before Europeans came to the United States, the Choctaw Nation was a tribe of farmers who lived in what is now the southeastern U.S. until the federal government forcibly removed most tribal members in 1830 to Southeastern Oklahoma in what became known as the “Trail of Tears.” Tribal members have overcome adversity to grow to nearly 200,000 strong, the country’s third largest tribe.

Indian Affairs (IA) is the oldest bureau of the United States Department of the Interior. Established in 1824, IA currently provides services (directly or through contracts, grants, or compacts) to approximately 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Promotes Native American arts and crafts and operates three regional museums.

The Indians of the Midwest project has drawn on the expertise of a large network of Native and non-Native scholars affiliated with the D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies.

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was founded in 1944 in response to termination and assimilation policies that the United States forced upon the tribal governments in contradiction of their treaty rights and status as sovereigns. NCAI stressed the need for unity and cooperation among tribal governments for the protection of their treaty and sovereign rights. Since 1944, the National Congress of American Indians has been working to inform the public and Congress on the governmental rights of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

The Department of the Interior protects and manages the Nation's natural resources and cultural heritage; provides scientific and other information about those resources; and honors its trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated island communities.

Digital History is committed to providing high-quality historical resources for teachers and students for free and without advertising. We have been fortunate to develop partnerships with a number of archives and museums that share this vision and have granted us permission to draw upon their resources

Primary documents including reports by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

Provides access to Congressional documents from the United States Serial Set number 4015.

The Native Peoples of Northern Great Plains Digital Images Database includes photographs, paintings, ledger drawings, documents, serigraphs, and stereographs from 1874 through the 1940's. In 1998, the images were digitized and drawn from the library collections of three of the Montana State University campuses (Billings, Bozeman and Havre), the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, and Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency, Montana.

Photographs of the Nez Perce tribe from the National Park Service at Washington State University.

Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842, contains approximately 2,000 documents and images relating to the Native American population of the Southeastern United States

The mission of the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center is to advance and share knowledge of the human experience through archaeological research, education programs, and partnerships with American Indians.

The Makah Museum in Neah Bay, recognized as the nation's finest tribal museum, welcomes visitors to experience the life of pre-contact Makah people. The permanent exhibits include artifacts from the Ozette collection, uncovered from a Makah village partially buried by a mudslide nearly 500 years ago. Inside the museum you will find a full-size replica longhouse, and four cedar dug-out canoes. Whaling, sealing, and fishing gear, basketry and other tools are also on display, preserved by the unique conditions created by the mudslide.

Diverse and multifaceted cultural and educational enterprise, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is an active and visible component of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum complex. The NMAI cares for one of the world's most expansive collections of Native artifacts, including objects, photographs, archives, and media covering the entire Western Hemisphere, from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego.