American Indian studies should have a theoretical and methodological focus sufficient to organize an academic discipline. A primary focus of American Indian studies as a discipline is to conceptualize, research, and explain patterns of American Indian individual and collective community choices and strategies when confronted with relations with…

Maintains that tremendous changes in the historiography and treatment of Native American history have occurred since the late 1960s. Provides a historiographic essay on contemporary historians and their interpretations of Native American history and culture. (CFR)

Maintains that academic historians are frustrated about their ability to reach different publics. Describes the National Park Service's public history activities. Concludes that exciting opportunities exist for academic historians in research and presentation of U.S. history. (CFR)

Explores traditional and contemporary sex roles of American Indian women. Describes how women have aided survival through 200 years of government policy, and how they may help in overcoming present day problems by traditional means. (DM)

To be used by researchers, this specialized supplement to the general "Guide to the National Archives of the United States" (1974) employs an historical approach to describe pre-federal, federal, and non-federal holdings relating to American Indians. Included are Continental Congress and Revolutionary War records. Records of the Bureau…

Discusses the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the Americas. Criticizes contemporary condemnation of Columbus as unproductive. Acknowledges the deaths of countless Native Americans through disease and warfare. Recognizes that the pre-Columbian Americas did not comprise a paradise. Concludes that commemorating the…

Relates the history of the Friends of the Indian, an influential turn-of-the-century organization which attempted to rescue Indians from their prisoner-pauper status by facilitating their assimilation and total integration into the larger society. (DM)

In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries prehistoric earthworks were to be seen throughout North America. Fascinated colonialist and European settlers attributed these mysterious mounds to mythic Eurocentric sources rather recognizing them as evidence of prehistoric Amerinds. By the end of the nineteenth century interest in the…

This document provides interpretive and bibliographical information concerning Christopher Columbus and his voyages to the New World. Following a preface, Part A of the sourcebook presents four authors'"Introductory Perspectives" on the meaning of Columbus' contacts with the Americas. Part B consists of resources on: (1) "Europe and…

Written by one of the tribe's few remaining members and based on oral history and legend, this study traces the history of the Tsetsaut tribe, ancient original inhabitants of the Portland Canal area of southeastern Alaska. Chapters recount the quest for the coast, legends of Portland Canal, exploration of the area, material culture, establishment…

Attempts to refute the multiculturalist revisionism surrounding the observance of the Columbian Quincentenary. Notes that warfare, epidemics, deforestation, and political turmoil existed in the Americas before Columbus' arrival. Discusses Christianity's central role in medieval Europe, some of multiculturalism's contradictions, and the importance…

Examines the historical bases for the story of Squanto's introduction of fish fertilizer to the Pilgrims at Plymouth (Massachusetts). Presents new evidence from an ethnohistoric, anthropological, and archaeological perspective that challenges Indian fish fertilizer use, suggesting that Squanto conveyed knowledge of the practice from one group of…

Examines common sources of error for scholars using mission registers to study California Indian history. Draws examples from mission register studies of the Chumash tribe to illustrate problems resulting from missing entries, name changes, linguistic errors, and cross-cultural confusion about naming taboos and kin relationships. Contains 34…

Focuses on the role that maps have played in delimiting, clarifying, and evaluating Indian land tenure. Demonstrates the utility of the map record to academic research and land administration using five southern California maps representing a cross-section of types and preparation methods. Contains 51 references. (SV)

Provides students of American Indian affairs with a schematic map survey in 10 subject areas that demonstrate stages in the history of Indian land tenure and territoriality. Pulls together relevant map sources and indicates their cartographic utility. Contains references in extensive notes. (SV)