United States Native Races Part 6 - What Tools Can Help My Search?

This article is a part of a series entitled Indians of North America - A Beginner's Guide.

=Reference Works=

These reference tools can help identify residences, localities, background and historical information of American Indians, and can help you read the records.

Directories
Directories are alphabetical lists of names and addresses. These often list all the adult residents or tradesmen of a city or area. In the twentieth century there are telephone books.

The most helpful directories for genealogical research are city directories of local residents and businesses. City and county directories are similar to present-day telephone books and are useful for locating people. They were often published annually, listing heads of households and employed household members, their occupations, and addresses. These directories could help locate Indians who were integrated into the white culture during the years the directories were published. However, there are few if any directories of this type for the reservations.

In recent years Indian directories have begun to be published. They do not contain lists of individuals. Instead they list places, agencies, tribes, and businesses. Helpful directories include:

Native American Directory: Alaska, Canada, United States. San Carlos, Arizona: National Native American Co-operative, 1982. (FHL book 970.1 N213; fiche 6048680.) This is a comprehensive directory of Native American events and organizations, reserves, businesses, media, and museums.

Native Americans Information Directory: A Guide to Organizations, Agencies, Institutions, Programs, Publications, Services and other Resources Concerning the Indigenous Peoples of the United States and Canada.Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research, 1993. (FHL book 970.1 N213nai.) This directory contains addresses of libraries, museums, tribal communities, national organizations, and agencies dealing with American, Canadian, and Alaskan Indians.

Directories similar to those listed above can be found on Internet sites for Native Americans. The Internet also has directories to businesses that are operated by Indians or that sell Indian products.

The Family History Library has compact discs that incorporate telephone directories for most of the United States and Canada. These directories are not available at family history centers but may be used at the Family History Library. Current telephone directories can also be found on the Internet and may assist in finding living relatives.

Gazetteers
A gazetteer is a list and description of places. It can be used to locate the places where your family lived. There are few guides of Indian place names which have been published on the national level. Most gazetteers are compiled on the state or county level and may include Indian place names. One representative gazetteer of the Indian Territory is:

Gannett, Henry. A Gazetteer of Indian Territory. Tulsa, Oklahoma: Oklahoma Yesterday Pub., 1980. (FHL book 970.1 E2g.) This book is arranged alphabetically and includes the names and locations of counties, towns, villages, creeks, rivers, mountains, and valleys.

Maps
Several types of maps are useful for genealogists. Some give the historical background of the area or show migration routes. Topographical maps show

physical and man-made features such as creeks, hills, trails, and roads. Some maps show additional details such as cemeteries and churches. Plat and land ownership maps and other types of maps are described in the “Maps” section of the United States (30972)andCanada Research Outlines (34545).

Some useful map sources include:

Canada. National Geographical Mapping Division. Canada Indian and Inuit Communities and Languages. Ottawa [Ontario]: Surveys and Mapping Branch, Dept. of Energy, Mines and Resources Energy, Mines and Resources, Canada, 1980. (FHL map 970.1 E7c.)

Prucha, Francis Paul. Atlas of American Indian Affairs. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1990. (FHL book 970.1 P95aa.) This atlas contains maps of the Indian population, land cessions, agencies, wars, military campaigns, and military troops for various years.

''United Indian Federation of America. Principal Indian Tribes of North America''. Canada: [Not published], 1962. (FHL map 970.1 Un3p.)

Yonteff, Abraham P. Indian Reservation Areas: And Principal Highways Leading Thereto. Washington, DC: Bureau of Indian Affairs. Branch of Industrial Development, 1961. (FHL map 970.1 E7ya.) This also gives a brief description of each area.

Waldman, Carl. Atlas of the North American Indian. New York, New York: Facts on File Publications, 1985. (FHL book 970.1 W146a.) The history contains a bibliography of sources and includes regional maps showing Indian agencies, tribes and migration routes. An index is included.

The National Archives and the Public Archives of Canada have good collections of maps dealing with Native Races. These maps are not available at the Family History Library, but there are sources detailing the maps available in these collections:

Cartographic Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Special List. National Archives and Records Service, 13. Washington, DC: NARS, 1977. (FHL book 970.1 Un3cr 1977.) This book is alphabetical by the division of the BIA, then by the name of the state, and within each state by the name of the reservation or agency.

Public Archives of Canada. National Map Collection. Maps of Indian Reserves and Settlements in the National Map Collection. Ottawa, Ontario: National Map Collection, 1980. (FHL book 971 F3c.) Volume 1 includes maps available for British Columbia. Volume 2 includes the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon Territory, and Northwest Territories. Each volume contains a bibliography and is alphabetical within each province by the name of the Indian agency, reserve, or settlement.

Giese, Paula. “Maps: GIS Windows on Native Lands, Current Places and History.” in Native American Indian Resources [Internet site]. Not published: Paula Giese, 27 May 1997 [cited 15 September 1999]. Available at http://indy4.fdl.cc.mn.us/~isk/maps/mapmenu.html. This contains various historical and state maps dealing with Indians.

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
There are a number of encyclopedias of Native American races concerning Indian cultures and tribes. They often give background information, where the tribe lived, their culture, history, origins, and religion. These are often catalogued under the topics “Dictionaries” or “Encyclopedias and dictionaries”:

Dictionary of Indian Tribes of the Americas. Four Volumes. Newport Beach, California: American Indian Publishers, Incorporated, 1980. (FHL book 970.1 D561.) This dictionary lists the tribes and includes information on their location, history, economy, warfare, politics, and ceremonies.

Encyclopedia of Indians of the Americas. Seven Volumes. St. Clair Shores, Michigan: Scholarly Press., 1974. (FHL book 970.1 En19e.) Volume 1 is indexed, and the other volumes are arranged alphabetically by subject or tribe.

Hirschfilder, Arlene. The Encyclopedia of Native American Religions. New York: Facts on File Pub., 1992. (FHL book 970.1 H616e.) This encyclopedia is arranged alphabetically by the name of the tribe or the religious ceremony term. It is indexed and includes a bibliography.

Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Two Volumes. New York, New York: Pageant Books, Incorporated, 1959. (FHL book 970.1 H662h; film 934828 items 3-4.) These volumes contain information on Indian tribes, villages, terms, and subjects and are arranged alphabetically.

Johnson, Michael. The Native Tribes of North America: A Concise Encyclopedia. New York, New York: MacMillan Publishing, 1992. (FHL book 970.1 J635n.) This book is arranged by cultural area and then alphabetically by the name of the tribe. It is indexed and includes a bibliography of sources.

Klein, Barry T. Reference Encyclopedia of the American Indian. Seventh Edition. West Nyack, New York: Todd Pub., 1995. (FHL book 970.1 R259e 1995.) This encyclopedia contains information on tribes and Indian groups, addresses of reservations, tribal councils, government agencies, schools, health services, associations, museums, libraries, colleges, and periodicals dealing with Indians in the United States and Canada. It contains biographies and includes an index and bibliography.

Swanton, John Reed. The Indian Tribes of North America. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974. (FHL book 970.1 S24i 1974.) This book is arranged alphabetically by tribe or band and details the history, location, population, and names of villages of each tribe.

Waldman, Carl. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. New York, New York: Facts on File Pub., 1988. (FHL book 970.1 W146e.) This book has a good bibliography for further reading.

Records of the Indians of North America can be found in many languages. Christian church records of baptism, marriage, and burials may be written in English, French, Latin, Portuguese, or Spanish. Canadian and United States government records will usually be written in English or French.

Sources for languages include:

Pilling, James Constantine. Bibliographies of the Languages of the North American Indians. Three Volumes. Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology. Bulletin number 1, 1887-1894. Reprint, New York, New York: AMS Press, 1973. (FHL book 970.1 P645b.) This bibliography includes the languages of Eskimos, Siouan, Iroquoian, Muskhogean, Algonquian, Athapascan, Chinookan, Salishan, and Wakashan.

See also the “Guide to Manuscripts Relating to the American Indian in the Library of the American Philosophical Society”mentioned in the “Societies and Periodicals” section of this outline.