Indigenous Peoples and their history have interested Natives and non-Natives alike—from the seventeenth through the twenty-first century. Judging by the outpouring of public and private support for the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, which opened in 2004 across the lawn from the Capitol, the interest in Indigenous Peoples continues to flourish.
Indigenous Peoples: North America provides users with a robust, diverse, informative source that will enhance research and increase understanding of the historical experiences, cultural traditions and innovations, and political status of Indigenous Peoples in the United States and Canada. Researchers will explore the impact of invasion and colonization on Indigenous Peoples in North America, and the intersection of Indigenous and European histories and systems of knowledge through the use of manuscripts, monographs, newspapers, photographs, motion pictures, images of artwork, and more. These are the primary sources that take students beyond the facts and figures of history and into a deeper understanding of Indigenous Peoples. Created to meet the needs of students, faculty, and researchers, Indigenous Peoples: North America spotlights specific, specialized content delivered through an intuitive search platform. That means users spend more time exploring documents and less time searching for them.
This digital collection fortifies the more general resources, by providing an opportunity for students to “dig into the past,” to discover the background of the ideas and cultures that have defined Indigenous societies, tribal organization, and Indian-white relations.