Introduction
Welcome to our guide to Indigenous Studies!
This resource guide will help direct you to the following resources:
- Books and eBooks
- Journals
- News and Media
- Primary Sources
- Government and Legal Resources
- Educator Resources
- Respectful Research Practices
If you have suggestions for this guide, or would like to recommend or request additions, please feel free to contact us at askalibrarian@seattleu.edu with the subject line, “Indigenous Studies guide”.
Where to Begin
When searching for books on Indigenous Peoples, you will find a variety of different headings and words are used.
- First Nations (used in Canada)
- Indigenous peoples
- Inuit
- Métis (used in Canada)
- Native peoples
- Indian
- American Indian
- Native American
Historically, the bulk of materials in these areas were catalogued under the subject heading of Indians of North America, but this has been changing as some libraries have been decolonizing some of their subject headings for items.
You can also search for tribal affiliation names, but be aware that some of these have multiple names and spellings. The Native Americans of Puget Sound have been known as Puget Salish and Southern Coast Salish, and by various spellings of tribes and reservations such as Duwamish, Nisqually, Skagit, and Snoqualmie. Conversely, they are sometimes called the Lushootseed peoples. Lushootseed comes from two words, one meaning "salt water" and the other meaning "language," and refers to the common language, made up of many local dialects, that was spoken throughout the region.
To see rough and overlapping indigenous territories and historical lands, see https://native-land.ca/. It has maps of indigenous historical lands from around the world, and is being updated all the time.
