Native American and Indigenous Studies

Capsule descriptions of many of the more than 300 unique collections of rare books, archival materials and manuscript collections that form Special Collections, housed in the John Hay Library

Primarily post WWII and USGS maps

Maps of the Americas through 1825

An unusual compilation of more than a thousand diverse and interesting maps representing a wide variety of periods, topics and world geography. Use BruKnow to search the Library Catalog for "hay maps" to pull up a browsable list of titles; add the name of a country or region to focus your search on a particular geographical area. Some maps have been scanned and may be viewed in the Brown Digital Repository

Scholar Claudio Saunt created this digital project using maps originally created by the Smithsonian's Bureau of Ethnology in 1899. The project documents the dynamics of dis-appropriation of Native lands between 1776 and 1887, as the United States actively engaged in seizing more than 1.5 billion acres from America's indigenous people by treaty and executive order, mapping each such action taking place in this period. It also includes present-day federal Indian reservations.

A map of native peoples of the area that is now known as Southern California

For over a decade, the Calista Elders Council in Southwest Alaska worked with elders from varied Yu'pik communities to document Yup'ik place names for a mapping project. The project was initiated and encouraged by CEC's Board of Elders and community members, and funded by the National Science Foundation. It forms part of the larger Yu'pik Environmental Knowledge Project.

Previously called "Aboriginal bark paintings," scholars are increasingly realizing how graphic productions by indigenous Australians read as maps. This site explains Aboriginal mapping techniques.