A Guide to American Indian and Indigenous Studies Collections
Introduction
The Newberry holds primary and secondary sources related to American Indian and Indigenous peoples, history and culture in printed and manuscript form from travel accounts, exploration, and settlement of the Americas to papers, diaries, photographs, and ephemera. Use the sections below to explore. Please call the reference desk at (312) 255-3512 with questions about our holdings, or contact a librarian with research questions.
In 1911, the Newberry received more than 17,000 items related to Indigenous peoples from collector and trustee Edward E. Ayer (1841-1927). Like many Americans at the time, Ayer subscribed to the belief that American Indians were a “vanishing race.” Incorrectly assuming that American Indian peoples would eventually cease to exist, Ayer urgently collected items about their histories and cultures. Building on Ayer’s original gift, we’ve expanded the collection to include more and more materials representing Native writers, artists, and activists from throughout the Western Hemisphere.
While the nucleus of the Ayer Collection consists of an extensive body of literature that concerns the American Indian directly, there are five main subject areas within Ayer:
- Native American Archaeology, Ethnology, Art, and Language
- History of the Contact between Europeans and Native Peoples
- Voyages, Travels, and Accounts of Early America
- Development of Cartography of the Western Hemisphere
- Philippine and Hawaiian History: the history of the aboriginal peoples under the jurisdiction of the U.S. in the Philippine Islands and Hawai'i
Ayer Collection acquisitions are listed in the Newberry’s Online Catalog and in WorldCat. In addition, Ayer Collection acquisitions to 1978 are described in the Dictionary Catalog of the Edward E. Ayer Collection of Americana and American Indians (21 volumes, 1961-1980). Newberry librarians and assistants have compiled various resources containing bibliographies, checklists, and other resources helpful in directing research in certain subjects at the Newberry; a few closely related collection descriptions are Latin American History, Portuguese and Brazilian History (also see the Greenlee Collection description on Portuguese and Brazilian history), and French in the Americas.
One of the Newberry’s research centers, the D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies, offers resources and programming, including fellowships and seminars, that allow participants to draw from the Newberry’s collections in their research.
Relevant digital collections, such as the Edward E. Ayer Digital Collection, are found at the bottom of this page.
The Newberry has also developed a policy regarding access to and treatment of Culturally Sensitive Indigenous Materials in the Library’s collections. Download a pdf or read more below.
Access to Culturally Sensitive Indigenous Materials
Collection Development Policy for American Indian and Indigenous Studies
Newberry Library Catalog:
Search the online catalog by author, title, or keyword(s) such as:
- Ayer, Edward Everett, 1841-1927
- Edward E. Ayer Manuscript Collection (Newberry Library)
- Edward E Ayer North And Middle American Indian Collection Newberry Library
- Indians of North America
- Indians of the West
- Hawaii
- Mexico-History-Conquest, 1519-1540
- Mexico
- Nahuatl language-Texts
- Philippines
- Spain-Colonies-Law
- West Indies-History
Choose “Held by Library” to find physical items held at the Newberry and Sort By to see the newest or oldest materials. Use the Advanced Search to search for multiple terms or phrases in different fields and to search for materials created during a specific year or range of years. Many of our Ayer collection resources are in English, Spanish, Nahuatl, or other Indigenous/non-Indigenous languages. To view these resources, search in the Newberry’s catalog for the subject. You can also use the facets on the left side of the results page to limit by language.
Brief citations for manuscripts acquired before 1937 are included in A Check List of Manuscripts in the Edward E. Ayer Collection compiled by Ruth Lapham Butler (Chicago: Newberry Library, 1937). For those items listed as on the 3rd floor Reference shelves, you might also consider looking at the call numbers around those books, since there should be materials dealing with similar topics nearby. All items with a “Ref” call number can be viewed on the open shelves on the 3rd floor. General and Special Collections items must be retrieved by staff.
For more information about searching the online catalog, please see our Guide to PrimoVE.
Modern Manuscripts & Archives at the Newberry: Search finding aids.
Search by the keyword(s) suggested above or browse by topic or subjects and filter results for relevant terms. Newberry Digital Collections: Search digitized collection items
Browse all and use relevant filters or search by the keyword(s) listed above.
[Black Horse ledger], ca. 1877-1879. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: VAULT oversize Ayer MS 3227.
Burbank, E.A., E. A. Burbank Indian Portraits. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: Oversize Ayer Art Burbank Prints.
Catlin, George. Souvenir of the North American Indians as They Were in the Middle of the 19th Century, between 1852 and ca. 1860. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: VAULT oversize Ayer Art Catlin 1.
[Codex Zempoala], ca. 1720. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: VAULT Ayer MS 1472.
Cortez, Hernan, [Mexico City and the Gulf of Mexico], 1524. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: VAULT Ayer 655.51 .C8 1524d.
[Map of lands in the Tultepec and Jaltocán regions adjacent to the Hacienda de Santa Inés (Mexico)], 1569. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: VAULT drawer Ayer MS 1801 map1.
Sahagún, Bernardino, Siguense veynte y seis addiciones desta postilla: las quales hizo el auctor della despues de muchos años que la avía hecho, ante que se imprimiese/oquimochi huilli yn fray Bernardino de Sahagun, 1560-1579. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: VAULT Ayer MS 1486.
Ximenez, Francisco, Arte de las tres lenguas kakchiquel, quiché y tzutuhil, ca. 1700-1703. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: VAULT Ayer MS 1515. More information about the Popol Vuh can be found here.
Boudinot, Elias (editor), Cherokee Phoenix. New Echota [Ga.]: Isaac H. Harris, 1828-1829. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: Ayer 1 .C45.
Waldeck, Frédéric de. [A collection of Waldeck’s original artwork of Mesoamerica]. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: VAULT oversize Ayer Art Waldeck.
Carlos Montezuma Papers, 1888-1936. Call number: Ayer Modern MS Montezuma.
Chicago American Oral History Project Records, 1982-1985. Call number: Ayer Modern MS Oral History.
David Tilden Brown Papers, 1848-1850. Call number: VAULT Ayer MS 1819.
E.A. Burbank Papers, 1897-1949. Call number: VAULT Ayer MS 120.
John Howard Payne Papers, 1794-1842. Call number: Vault Ayer MS 689.
The Pete Brown Collection of Native Americans in Comic Books, 1937-2015. Call number: Ayer Modern MS BrownP.
Seeing Indian in Chicago Exhibition Records, 1958-1985. Call number: Ayer Modern MS Seeing Indian.
Waldeck, Frédéric de. Papers, 1825-1867, Call number: VAULT Ayer MS 1268.
All of these collections are located in Special Collections on the 4th floor.
The Spanish American manuscripts constitute an important part of the larger Ayer Collection of manuscripts, books, photographs, maps, and artwork that Ayer donated to the Newberry Library between 1911 and 1927. They offer a detailed picture of life in the Spanish colonies of South and Central America (especially Mexico), the Caribbean, and parts of North America, including Florida, Texas, and Louisiana. They are particularly rich in Spanish colonial administrative papers, ecclesiastical and legal documents, and travel literature of discovery and exploration. Please refer to the links below for further resources on this subject area.
Ethnohistory
American Indian Studies – Colonial Spanish Sources for Indian Ethnohistory
Indigenous Linguistics
American Indian Studies – Colonial Spanish Sources for Indian Linguistics
Modern Editions of Indigenous Ethnohistory
American Indian Studies – Modern Editions of Colonial Spanish Sources for Indian Ethnohistory
Modern Editions of Indigenous Linguistics
American Indian Studies – Modern Editions of Colonial Spanish Sources for Indian Linguistics
American Indians. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 1995. Location: 3rd floor Reference. Call Number: Ref E 76.2 .A45 1995.
Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987. Call Number: Ref E 78 .G7 A87 1987a. Notes: With other atlases on Atlas Stand on 3rd floor Reference. Other copies shelved at Local & Family History Reference 2nd floor, Special Collections 4th floor, and Special Collections Reference 4th floor.
Bataille, Gretchen M. American Indian Women: A Guide to Research. New York: Garland, 1991. Location: 3rd floor Reference. Call Number: Ref Z 1209.2 .N67 B36 1991.
Beam, Joan. The Native American in Long Fiction: An Annotated Bibliography. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1996. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call Number: Ayer Z 1231 .F4 B42 1996.
Biographical Dictionary of Indians of the Americas. Newport Beach, CA: American Indian Publishers, 1991. Call Number: Ref E 89 .B56 1991.
More reference resources can be found here.
- Pargellis, Stanley. “The Problem of American Indian History.” The Newberry Library Bulletin 4.5 (1957): 129-138.
- Read John Phelan’s 1955 article in the Newberry Bulletin on Edward Ayer’s Philippine Collection.
- Read about the modest beginnings of this great collection in Edward E. Ayer’s “How I Bought My First Book.”
Digital Collections for the Classroom
The Newberry Library’s Digital Collections for the Classroom website is an educational resource designed for teachers and students featuring primary sources from the Newberry’s holdings, contextual essays, and discussion questions. Newberry Teacher and Student Programs collaborates with scholars, university faculty, and classroom teachers to develop the collections in this growing resource for classroom use.
- Resistance in the Colonial Caribbean (Advanced): This lesson will help students see evidence of marginalized peoples actively resisting the injustice of colonization and enslavement in the 1600s.
- The Colonization of the Black Hills in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, in Historic Maps and Documents: How can old maps help us understand the complexities of colonization in North America? What sorts of evidence do they offer? Does their distinct styling, framing, and content change how a particular landscape can be represented? Might these elements have in fact aided colonization in the Black Hills?
Other Digital Resources
- Indigenous Chicago Curriculum: Created for the social studies classroom, the Indigenous Chicago curriculum reflects different perspectives and priorities of Indigenous people who reside in Chicago and the Native nations who recognize Chicago as part of their traditional homelands. Building a shared future where Indigenous voices, histories, and perspectives are present in K-12 classrooms requires that Indigenous people themselves have authority over the narratives and practices that reflect their lives. From 2020 to 2024, a 25-member Advisory Group guided development of the Indigenous Chicago project components.
- Indigenous Histories and Cultures in North America: American Indian Histories and Cultures is a deep and wide-ranging selection of visual and textual resources related to Native American culture and history. Taken from the Newberry Library’s Edward E Ayer Collection, one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of American Indian history, the resource provides documents, images, context, and insight into American Indian culture and history, the European settlement of the Americas, and the interactions between the two groups. Access to this subscription database is available on-site through any of the Newberry’s public computers.
- Edward E. Ayer Digital Collection: The Edward E. Ayer Digital Collection features several thousand digitized images and texts selected from the Newberry’s Ayer Collection, one of the strongest on American Indians in the world.
- Indians of the Midwest: On “Indians of the Midwest,” you can explore important issues, learn how to do further research, and gain an introduction to the research methods that underlie scholars’ findings.
The following definitions are from A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology copyrighted by the Society of American Archivists. Consult the glossary for 2,000+ additional entries.
Archives: 1. Materials created or received by a person, family, or organization, public or private, in the conduct of their affairs and preserved because of the enduring value contained in the information they contain or as evidence of the functions and responsibilities of their creator, especially those materials maintained using the principles of provenance, original order, and collective control; permanent records. - 2. The division within an organization responsible for maintaining the organization's records of enduring value. - 3. An organization that collects the records of individuals, families, or other organizations; a collecting archives. - 4. The professional discipline of administering such collections and organizations. - 5. The building (or portion thereof) housing archival collections. - 6. A published collection of scholarly papers, especially as a periodical.
Archival description: 1. The process of analyzing, organizing, and recording details about the formal elements of a record or collection of records, such as creator, title, dates, extent, and contents, to facilitate the work's identification, management, and understanding. - 2. The product of such a process.
Administrative Records: A document that has been preserved because it facilitates the operations and management of an agency, but which does not relate directly to programs that help the agency achieve its mission.
EAD (encoded archival description): A standard used to mark up (encode) finding aids that reflects the hierarchical nature of archival collections and that provides a structure for describing the whole of a collection, as well as its components.
Ephemera: Materials, usually printed documents, created for a specific, limited purpose, and generally designed to be discarded after use.
Finding aid: 1. A tool that facilitates discovery of information within a collection of records. - 2. A description of records that gives the repository physical and intellectual control over the materials and that assists users to gain access to and understand the materials.
Inventory: 1. A list of things. - 2. Description · A finding aid that includes, at a minimum, a list of the series in a collection. - 3. Records management · The process of surveying the records in an office, typically at the series level.
Primary source: Material that contains firsthand accounts of events and that was created contemporaneous to those events or later recalled by an eyewitness.
Provenance: 1. The origin or source of something. - 2. Information regarding the origins, custody, and ownership of an item or collection.
Rights management: A system that identifies intellectual property rights relevant to particular works and that can provide individuals with access to those works on the basis of permissions to the individuals.
Secondary source: 1. A work that is not based on direct observation of or evidence directly associated with the subject, but instead relies on sources of information. - 2. A work commenting on another work (primary sources), such as reviews, criticism, and commentaries.
Scope and Content: A narrative statement summarizing the characteristics of the described materials, the functions and activities that produced them, and the types of information contained therein.
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