Native American & Indigenous Studies

To find books at UMass, you have two options.

1. Start with the general search box on the library home page, www.library.umass.edu.  
Advantages:

• This catalog gives you access to libraries and collections throughout North America and beyond! It starts with UMass but does not limit you to our catalog.

2. Or, use the Five Colleges Library Catalog.
Advantages:

• This catalog lets you search in some very specifc ways, for example, by Library of Congress Subject Heading. Be as specific as possible in your searching. Start with a subject search (use keyword if subject yields no results). Search by author, title, subject, keyword, call number, journal title, etc. For materials on a specific subject, enter your term(s) into the Subject or Keyword search boxes. See below for some examples of relevant subject headings in Native American Indian Studies.

The standard subject heading for the whole of native communities in North America is: Indians of North America. Related headings include Indians of Central America and Indians of South America. These broad terms return over 5000 entries, which can be browsed for more specific subheadings.

For works on specific communities, most headings follow the format "[community/nation] Indians". Examples:

• Cree Indians
• Delaware Indians
• Mashpee Indians
• Pequot Indians
• Wampanoag Indians

There are many other possible subject searches. For example:

• Cherokee Language
• Indian Activists
• Indian Dance
• Indians of North America -- Music
• Indians of North America -- New England
• Indians of North America -- Politics and Government
• Indians of North America -- Religion
• Indians of North America -- Social Conditions
• Iroquois Indians -- Government Relations
• Powwows

If UMass doesn't have the book(s) you need, try the other Four Colleges.

TIP: When you look for a particular book on the shelf, make sure to browse the shelf and nearby shelves for related books. Take your time! Open the books!

Reference Sources

• Encyclopedia of Massachusetts Indians: Tribes, Nations, and People of the Plains Eastern Woodlands E78.M4 E63 1999
• Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes Ref. E76.2 .W35 1999
• Encyclopedia of North American Indians Ref E76.2 .E53 1997
• Encyclopedia of North American Indians (online)
• Handbook of North American Indians Ref E77 .H36. Library has volumes 2-15 and 17
• Native Americans: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Peoples Ref E77 .P89 1998

Call Number Locations

The Library Catalog provides a call number and location for each item. The call number consists of an alphanumeric string based on the Library of Congress classification system. (Learn how to read a call number.) Information on Native American Indian Studies are found primarily in the E 75-E 99 call number area. Other call number areas are listed below. Specific topics and locations follow.

Main Floor (one floor below the Entrance level)

Reference Collection, as well as access to databases

Floor 14

E 75-99 Indians of North America, with significant subsections as follows:

E 93 Government relations
E 97 Education
E 99 Individual nations (in alphabetical order). Examples:

• E99.A83 Assateague
• E99.C5 Cherokee
• E99.I7 Iroquois
• E99.M4 Mashpee
• E99.M433 Mayas
• E99.P5 Penobscot
  
• E99.S54 Siksika
• E99.W2 Wampanoag

F1435 Central America, Mayas
F1465 Central America, Guatemala, Mayas
F2230 South America, Modern Indians
F3429 South America, Peru, Inca

Floor 5

KF 8201-8228 Law of the United States and Indians

Floor 18

ML 3557 American Indian Music

Floor 12

PM 101-2711 North American Indian Languages
PM 3001-4566 Languages of Mexico and Central America
PM5001-7356 Languages of South America and the West Indies

Floor 21

Z 1209-1210 Bibliography on American Indians

Books recently acquired by libraries in the Five Colleges on Native American Indian Studies.

Search our growing ebook collections for topics in Native American Indian Studies.

ebrary
Scholarly and popular books online in full text, from 1990 to present.

Gale Virtual Reference Library
A collection of several hundred current subject encyclopedias.

Reading Call Numbers

The Library Catalog provides a call number and location for each item. The call number consists of an alphanumeric string based on the Library of Congress classification system. Learn how to read a call number. 

Note: If the Call Number of a book says "UM Reference," you will find it in the Learning Commons, lower level of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library. Otherwise, for BOOKS and PERIODICALS in the UM W.E.B. Du Bois Library, use the chart below.

Call Number begins with:     Floor: