Celebrate Native American Heritage in Our Collections

Installed on the 4th floor of Langsam Library, the exhibit features Native American history and culture resources from the collections of UC Libraries. Included are books, movies, e-journals and online digital collections and databases.

The exhibit was curated by Mikaila Corday and Susan Banoun, both of Content Services in UC Libraries, and was designed by Sami Scheidler, third year design student in the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning.

Give me knowledge so I may have kindness for all. – Blackfeet

Digital Collections and Repositories @ UC Libraries

George Catlin: The Printed Works is a collection of over 600 images of lithographic, chromolithographic and engraved plates from Catlin’s principal printed works. George Catlin (1792-1872) traveled the North American continent from 1830-1838 to chronicle the people, customs and traditions of Native American tribes. His life’s ambition was to record the disappearing Native American culture in paint and print. Catlin’s adventures resulted in over 600 portraits and scenes of rituals, hunting and daily life of over fifty North American tribes and several important printed works.

McKenney & Hall: History of the Indian Tribes of North America is a collection of 125 images of lithographic and chromolithographic plates. Thomas Loraine McKenney (1785-1859) served as Commissioner of Indian Affairs from 1824 to 1830. In that capacity he commissioned and collected portraits of Native Americans for his Gallery in the War Department. McKenney’s goal was to publish a record of vanishing peoples: portraits, biographical sketches and a history of North American Indians. He accomplished this in the first issue of the History of the Indian Tribes of North America, published in three volumes between 1838 and 1844. James Hall (1793-1868) provided the text.

C. Szwedzicki: The North American Indian Works is a collection of 364 images and 6 texts. Between 1929 and 1952 C. Szwedzicki, a publisher in Nice, France, produced six portfolios of North American Indian art. The publications were edited by American scholars Oscar Brousse Jacobson, Hartley Burr Alexander and Kenneth Milton Chapman. Many of the images were published as pochoir prints which are similar in appearance to silk screen prints. These works represent original works by 20th Century American Indian artists. Important documentation of the Battle of the Little Big Horn is provided in the reproduction of the now lost ledger art of Amos Bad Heart Bull.

The contents of this collection are drawn primarily from holdings of the Archives & Rare Books Library, University of Cincinnati Libraries, but also include materials from the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County and the Yale Collection of Western Americana.

Databases @ UC Libraries

Accessible Archives – A site devoted to primary source material in American history. Information archived is from leading historical periodicals and books, and includes eyewitness accounts of historical events, vivid descriptions of daily life, editorial observations, commerce as seen through advertisements, and genealogical records. Databases are encyclopedic in scope and allow full Boolean, group, name, string, and truncated searches. Transcribed individual entries are complete with full bibliographic citations and are organized chronologically. Titles will continue to be added covering important topics and time periods for scholars and students of all academic levels
Connect Access= UC Only

American National Biography
The landmark American National Biography offers portraits of more than 17,400 men and women — from all eras and walks of life — whose lives have shaped the nation. More than a decade in preparation, the American National Biography is the first biographical resource of this scope to be published in more than sixty years. (from the Web site).
Connect Access= UC Only

Bibliography of Native North Americans
Bibliography of Native North Americans (BNNA) is a bibliographic database covering all aspects of native North American culture, history, and life. This resource covers a wide range of topics including archaeology, multicultural relations, gaming, governance, legend, and literacy. BNNA contains more than 80,000 citations for books, essays, journal articles, and government documents of the United States and Canada. Dates of coverage for included content range from the sixteenth century to the present.
Connect Access= UC Only

Sabin Americana (1500-1926) Collection Online
Based on Joseph Sabin’s landmark bibliography, this collection contains works about the Americas published throughout the world from 1500 to the early 1900’s. Included are books, pamphlets, serials and other documents that provide original accounts of exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and much more. With over 6 million pages from 29,000 works, this collection is a cornerstone in the study of the western hemisphere.
Connect Access= UC Only

American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library
Compiled by the library of Congress, American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. The database contains over 7 million digital items from more than 100 historical collections.
Connect Access = Open to All

Speech Accent Archive
The speech accent archive uniformly presents a large set of speech samples from a variety of language backgrounds. Native and non-native speakers of English read the same paragraph and are carefully transcribed. The archive is used by people who wish to compare and analyze the accents of different English speakers.
Connect Access = Free

Movies @ UC Libraries

UC Libraries offers thousands of streaming video titles with unlimited concurrent users for classroom or independent use via Kanopy streaming video. Kanopy works directly with filmmakers and film distribution companies to offer award-winning collections including titles from PBS, BBC, Criterion Collection, Media Education Foundation and more. Check it out at http://uc.kanopystreaming.com/ or by searching by title on the library website.

Standing Silent Nation / Hermann, Courtney; Towfighnia, Suree, filmmakers

Permanent link to this record: http://uclid.uc.edu/record=b6162109~S39

When the Oglala Sioux Tribe passed an ordinance separating industrial hemp from its illegal cousin, marijuana, Alex White Plume and his family glimpsed a brighter future.

Having researched hemp as a sustainable crop that would grow in the inhospitable soil of the South Dakota Badlands, the White Plumes envisioned a new economy that would impact the 85% unemployment rate on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

They never dreamed they would find themselves swept up in a struggle over tribal sovereignty, economic rights, and common sense.

Native Americans / W Burshtan, John, filmmaker

Permanent link to this record: http://uclid.uc.edu/record=b6162110~S39

What does it mean to be a Native American? Perhaps Native American model Stormy Hollingsworth (Ute) says it best, “to be proud, to know that our past and our whole history is a circle of life.” This program introduces us to members of the Ute, Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Omaha nations, who reveal that Indians’ lives are based on a circle which incorporates their beliefs in respecting their heritage, preserving their traditions and educating their young.

The Crazy Horse Memorial

Permanent link to this record: http://uclid.uc.edu/record=b6172400~S39

The construction of Mount Rushmore was looked upon unfavorably by Native Americans who were promised the Black Hills in a treaty later broken by the United States. In order to honor the legacy of the Native Americans who lived in western South Dakota, an even larger monument of Crazy Horse is currently under construction.

6 Generations / Goldsmith, Paul, producer

Permanent link to this record: http://uclid.uc.edu/record=b6152771~S39

Ernestine De Soto is a Chumash Native American whose mother Mary Yee was the last speaker of her native Barbareno language. In 6 Generations, her family reaches back to the days the Spanish arrived in Santa Barbara and made first contact. Ernestine tells this history from the perspective of her female ancestors, making her a unique link with the past.