Ethnic Studies

Includes Media Galleries for images, video, and audio related to European voyages of discovery and exploration from the Renaissance to the race for the Poles. Covers the years from ca. 1420 to 1920. Images, which may be downloaded for educational use, include maps, charts, ethnographic studies, natural history, photography, and more.

The wide range of material included in American Indian Histories and Cultures presents a unique insight into interactions between American Indians and Europeans from their earliest contact, continuing through the turbulence of the American Civil War, the on-going repercussions of government legislation, right up to the civil rights movement of the mid- to late-twentieth century. This resource contains material from the Newberry Library’s extensive Edward E. Ayer Collection; one of the strongest archival collections on American Indian history in the world.

1809-1971; consists of a large variety of collections from the U.S. National Archives, a series of collections from the Chicago History Museum, as well as selected first-hand accounts on Indian Wars and westward migration. This module focuses on American Indians in the first half of the 20th Century, a period that has not been studied in as much detail as the calamitous 19th Century. The two major collections on the 20th Century in this module are Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and records from the Major Council Meetings of American Indian Tribes. In addition to these 20th Century records, American Indians and the American West, 1809-1971 features a number of excellent collections on American Indians in the 19th Century, with a focus on the interaction among white settlers, the U.S. federal government, and Indian tribes.

The primary source documents collected here in Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement & Colonial Encounters help us to understand existence and consequences on the various frontiers that arose from the movements of Europeans to Africa, Australasia and North America. The earliest documents in this collection are from the seventeenth century but the majority of the material originates from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The material covering North America covers the varied frontier regions from fur trappers in Canada to cowboys in Texas and government in Baja California. It is divided into the frontier regions of the American East, the American Midwest, the American Southwest, California & Mexico, and Canada. It covers the exploration of these regions followed by trade with native peoples, colonial rivalries, expansion of government and new nations and the final settlement and 'closing' of the frontier.

1789-present; unique compiled docket histories provide researchers with the ability to quickly search the full text of all content related to each Indian claim. The compilation includes not only court documents, but also cites treaties, related congressional publications, and maps to facilitate the ability of researchers to fully understand the specifics of each case without leaving the docket history page. The inclusion of histories for both Court of Claims and Indian Claims Commissions dockets allows researchers to easily grasp the changes in the Indian claims process throughout U.S. history up to the present time. Trace by Indian Nation and/or geographic location.

This edition of North American Indian Drama contains 244 plays by 48 playwrights. More than half of the works are previously unpublished, and hard to find, representing groups such as Cherokee, Métis, Creek, Choctaw, Pembina Chippewa, Ojibway, Lenape, Comanche, Cree, Navajo, Rappahannock, Hawaiian/Samoan, and others.