Research Guides: English: American Indian Literature

Journals

If you want to narrow your search to a specific time period or genre, finding a journal that publishes in that area can help. SAIL for example, is the United States' only dedicated literary journal for American Indian literature.

American Indian Quarterly
The journal is a forum for diverse voices and perspectives spanning a variety of academic disciplines. The common thread is AIQ’s commitment to publishing work that contributes to the development of American Indian studies as a field and to the sovereignty and continuance of American Indian nations and cultures
Early American Literature
Early American Literature publishes work of scholars examining American literature from its inception through the early national period, about 1830, including Native American literature.
Studies in American Indian Literatures (SAIL)
Studies in American Indian Literatures (SAIL) is the only journal in the United States that focuses exclusively on American Indian literatures broadly defined to include all written, spoken, and visual texts created by Native peoples.
Western American Literature
This journal is devoted to publishing critical essays on the literature, culture, landscape, and art of the American West, the journal publishes New Western and postwestern literary criticism, as well as traditional Western literature.

Internet Resources

There are a number of research guides with information that is historical, legal, educational, and more. For a starting point, see the following pages on different guides:

Indigenous books on the Children's Literature Guide
State and National Resources on the IS 325 Federal Policy and Native Nations Guide
State and National Education Resources on the Education Guide

Books

The majority of books on American Indian literature and works by American Indian authors can be found starting at the PS.I53 call number. These books are found on the third floor of the Chester Fritz Library.

Search the entire library catalog here.

You can search "everything", or can specify the type of results, like books or articles.
Stick with keywords or phrases, instead of questions. So, instead of searching "what are some problems faced by Native American youth?" you would search "Native American youth" instead.

A few search examples:

American Indian OR Native American nonfiction
American Indian OR Native American literature
Native American drama

One example available both as a physical or eBook:

Red Ink by Drew Lopenzina
Call Number: PS153.I52 L67 2012
The Native peoples of colonial New England were quick to grasp the practical functions of Western literacy. Their written literary output was composed to suit their own needs and expressed views often in resistance to the agendas of the European colonists they were confronted with. Red Ink is an engaging retelling of American colonial history, one that draws on documents that have received scant critical and scholarly attention to offer an important new interpretation grounded in indigenous contexts and perspectives, reexamining a literature that has been compulsively “corrected” and over-inscribed with the norms and expectations of the dominant culture, while simultaneously invoking the often violent tensions of “contact” and the processes of unwitnessing by which Native histories and accomplishments were effectively erased from the colonial record. A book that helps fully appreciate and understand from a Native-centered perspective.

Literature and history are, and have always been, closely related. To help find resources covering various topics on American Indian history, try searching for words such as:

Native American Studies
Native Historians
American Indian History
American Indians AND United States History

Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias can help you get started on your research with general background information, definitions, and history on many literary terms, concepts, works, and authors specific to American Indian literature.

Online Sources

Handy Answer: Native American Almanac: More Than 50,000 Years of the Cultures and Histories of Indigenous Peoples
From ancient rock drawings to todays urban living, the Native American Almanac: More Than 50,000 Years of the Cultures and Histories of Indigenous Peoples traces the rich heritage of indigenous people. It is a fascinating mix of biography, pre-contact and post-contact history, current events, Tribal Nations histories, enlightening insights on environmental and land issues, arts, treaties, languages, education, movements, and more.

America: History and Life
Historical coverage of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.

Physical print encyclopedias

These are available in the Reference section on the second floor of the library. Two examples of available items:

Encyclopedia of American Indian Literature by Jennifer McClinton-Temple; Alan Velie
Call Number: Ref. PS153.I52 E53 2007
merican Indians have produced some of the most powerful and lyrical literature ever written in North America. ""Encyclopedia of American Indian Literature"" covers the field from the earliest recorded works to some of today's most exciting writers. This encyclopedia features the most respected, widely read, and influential American Indian writers to date.
Native American Literatures by Kathy J. Whitson
Call Number: Ref. PS153.I52 W47 1999
An encyclopedia of Native American literatures featuring articles on individual authors, on individual works, on important characters in works, and on terms and events of historical significance that figure in many of the works.