This guide is designed for new researchers who need to find articles, sources, and get started with research in topics related to American Indian Studies.
What are primary sources?
Primary sources provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic under investigation. They present original thinking, report a discovery, or share new information. Primary sources are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. They are from the time period involved and have not been filtered through subsequent interpretation or evaluation.
Examples of primary sources include: autobiographies, letters, diaries, musical scores, works of art, speeches, recordings, photographs, articles in newspapers that describe events.
Select digital primary source collections
The Primary source online A-Z guide contains a full list of digital primary source collections available through the UMN Libraries. Find a lists of databases covering current and historical U.S. executive, legislative, and judicial information United States Government Information Guide.
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Accessible ArchivesUse this database to find primary source materials in American history. The information is from historical periodicals and books, eyewitness accounts of historical events, descriptions of daily life, editorial observations, commerce as seen through advertisements, and genealogical records.
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American Indian Movement and Native American RadicalismIncludes FBI documentation on the evolution of AIM as an organization of social protest, as well as valuable documentation on the 1973 Wounded Knee standoff.
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American Indians and the American West, 1809-1971Includes collections from the U.S. National Archives, Chicago History Museum, first-hand accounts of Indian Wars and westward migration, records from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and records of Major Council Meetings of American Indian Tribes.
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Indian Trade in the Southeastern Spanish Borderlands: Papers of Panton, Leslie and CompanySearch more than 8,000 legal, political and diplomatic documents recording ethnographic and trading relationships between Panton, Leslie & Co., a trading firm, and American Indians of the Southeast US borderlands.
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Indigenous Histories and Cultures in North AmericaExplore manuscripts, artwork and rare printed books dating from the earliest contact with European settlers right up to photographs and newspapers from the mid-twentieth century. Browse through a wide range of rare and original documents from treaties, speeches and diaries, to historic maps and travel journals.
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Indigenous Peoples Social Justice and CultureIncludes global coverage of recent and current digital-first primary sources such as blogs, magazines, videos, podcasts, tweets, newspapers, and other content created by and for Indigenous Peoples.
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Native American Tribal Histories, Series 1-4 This link opens in a new windowSearch the the complete 19th century records on the education, land rights, treaty negotiations and other affairs of Native American tribes as recorded by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
Select archives and special collections at UMN
To view Archives and Special Collections items contact ascref@umn.edu.
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American Indian Student Cultural Center RecordsThe American Indian Student Cultural Center (AISCC) records contain documentation of the center from the early 1970s to 2016. Material includes administrative records of their incorporation and meeting minutes, financial statements, AISCC newslettesr and cultural event advertisements and artwork.
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Bill Tilton Papers, Native American Rights, 1973-1974This box of the Bill Tilton Papers in the University Archives contains material on Tilton’s involvement in the Minnesota 8 during the 1970s and includes legal notes and court records. Other papers related to Tilton’s activity in the Minnesota Student Association, the African American Action Committee, and the Morrill Hall Sit in. There are also documents on his legal work and research into Wounded Knee and the Minnesota Prison Investigation. The collection also contains material related to the play, “Peace Crimes: The Minnesota 8 vs. the War,” produced by the St. Paul’s History Theatre and performed by the University of Minnesota’s Rarig Theater Center in 2008. The remainder of the collection contains subject files, publications, posters and newspaper clippings related to Tilton, his work and related activism.
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Louise Erdrich - The Round House manuscriptThis collection in the Upper Midwest Literary Archives contains one typewritten manuscript with handwritten edits.
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Two-Spirit PapersThis collection in the Jean Nickolaus Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies includes manuscript, visual, and digital materials. Topical coverage is given over to general Two-Spirit issues, the representation of Native Americans in the national GLBT community, gender identity, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and the organizational records of the American Indian Gay and Lesbian Center in Minneapolis, MN.
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UMediaDiscover 161,819 images, maps, manuscripts, video, audio, and more. UMedia provides open access to digitized materials from across the University of Minnesota.
Learn more about all UMN special collections.
Last Updated: Nov 4, 2025 12:11 PM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/AmericanIndianStudies