Native Americans

Use this subject guide as a starting point to find many resources on Native Americans for your school assignments and reports. If the titles listed here are not readily available at your local Library, ask your Librarian to help you use the Request-a-Title option in the online catalog to place a hold on the item.

Print Sources

For general information on Native Americans, try these resources. Some books may be designated as reference materials, which means you would have to visit the Library that owns the book to use it there.

Atlas of Indians of North America by Gilbert Legay

Encyclopedia of North American Indians by D.L. Birchfield, general editor

Enduring Wisdom: Sayings from Native Americans selected by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve

Native Americans published by Grolier Educational

North American Indians by Herman J. Viola

Scholastic Encyclopedia of the North American Indian by James Ciment

For more detailed information on specific tribes or peoples, try using the following series recommended for elementary and middle grade students.

The Native American Peoples series is recommended for elementary grade students in grades 4 -5. Titles in the series include:

Apache by D.L. Birchfield
Cherokee by D.L. Birchfield
Comanche by D.L. Birchfield
Mohawk by Sierra Adare

The Junior Library of American Indians series is recommended for children in grades 4 and up. Titles in this series include:

Cheyenne Indians by Liz Sonneborn

Iroquois Indians by Victoria Sherrow
Kwakiutl Indians by G.S. Prentzas

Mohawk Indians by Janet Hubbard-Brown.

You may find these books about the first Thanksgiving useful:

1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving by Catherine O'Neill Grace and Margaret M. Bruchac with the Plimoth Plantation

Giving thanks: the 1621 harvest feast by Kate Waters

Nickommoh!: a Narragansett Thanksgiving by Jackie French Koller

Squanto and the First Thanksgiving by Teresa Noel Celsi

Thanksgiving on Plymouth Plantation by Diane Stanley

Web Sites

American Indian Resource Directory: includes a Tribal Directory by state and Native American literature

Native American Sites : search by native nation

First Nations Histories: search by native nation. Includes a reading list and a tribe locator in the US and Canada

Iroquois of the Northeast: click on the North, South and West to learn more about the Tlingi, Hopi and Dakota peoples too

Native American Nations : includes information on individual native nations
Native Tech: information on Native American technology and art

Native Web: resources on crafts, history, religion and much more
Selective Bibliography- "I" is not for Indian: recommendations for choosing literature for young people

Online Databases

Use our online database called Lifelines for students in grades K-12 in order to find homework resources on Native Americans. Information for students in grades K-4 on North American Indians includes magazine articles, more great web sites and local resources. Check out the Social Studies - Native Americans section of the database for students in grades 5 and up, which includes recommended web sites and suggestions on how to effectively search the online catalog.

Recommended Authors

Authors Joseph Bruchac and Paul Goble's books are excellent sources for reading about Native Americans. Click on their names to see full listings of titles that they have written. To view the titles owned by your local Library, choose your Library's name from the drop-down menu and click on the "Search" button. Here are some titles that we recommend for children of all ages, which include fiction, folk tales, plays and more.

Tiles by Joseph Bruchac are below. For more information on this author, see his web site.

Code Talker: a novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two

Pushing Up the Sky: Seven Native American plays for children

Skeleton Man

Squanto's Journey: the Story of the first Thanksgiving

Tiles by Paul Goble:

Girl who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble

The Great Race of the Birds and the Animals by Paul Goble

Mystic Horse by Paul Goble

The return of the buffaloes : a Plains Indian story about famine and renewal of the earth told and illustrated by Paul Goble

Recommended Reading

Here are some recommended titles with Native American themes for young readers:

Buffalo Dreams by Kim Doner
Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin
Kumak's Fish: A Tall Tale from the Far North by Michael Bania

Little Runner of the Longhouse by Betty Baker
On Mother's Lap by Ann Herbert Scott
Sky Dogs by Jane Yolen

Check out these fiction selections for older readers:

Adaline Falling Star by Mary Pope Osborne
The Birchbark House by Lois Erdrich

Children of the Longhouse by Joseph Bruchac
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway by Kirkpatrick Hill
Sacajawea: The Story of Bird Woman and the Lewis and Clark Expedition by Joseph Bruchac

Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
Sweetgrass Basket by Marlene Carvell

Here are some folklore and legends that may interest you:

Iktomi and the Buffalo Skull by Paul Goble

Rough-face Girl by Rafe Martin

Story of Jumping Mouse: a Native American Legend by John Steptoe

Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back: a Native American year of moons

Turkey Girl: Zuni Cinderella by Penny Pollock

DVDs

Native American Life published by Schlessinger Media
United States Expansion published by Schlessinger Media

Search the Catalog

To do a Subject search:

Although we now use the term "Native Americans," the subject heading used in the online catalog to search for information is Indians of North America. If you scroll through the list of subject headings, you'll see that Indians of North America may be subdivided by region and topic, such as:
Indians of North America -- New York (State)

Indians of North America -- History

Indians of North America -- Social Life and Customs

You may also perform a Subject search by the name of the native nation. For instance:

Iroquois Indians
Iroquois Indians -- History
Iroquois Indians -- Social life and customs

The terms Juvenile Literature designate books for preschool through middle grade readers:
Iroquois Indians -- Social Life And Customs -- Juvenile Literature

We recommend that you try Keyword searches as well. The following are just a few examples:

Native Americans

Native Americans History

Native Americans Juvenile

Name of the native nation

Name of the native nation History

Name of the native nation Juvenile

Name of the native nation Social Life

Browse the Collection

If you would like to browse the collections in the Library to see what is available on the shelves, you should look in the following Dewey Decimal number range: J 970 for elementary and middle grade reading levels or YA 970 for young adult titles.