Serial Set Vol. No. 1885, Session Vol. No.4
46th Congress, 2nd Session
S.Exec.Doc. 124
Letter from the Secretary of the Interior, transmitting, in response to Senate resolution of March 11, exemplifications of land patents issued to Indian tribes in Indian Territory, and copies of applications of railway corporations and action thereon. March 19, 1880. U.S. Congressional Serial Set
During November, we celebrate and commemorate the history and culture of American Indians. The Libraries offer many print and online research materials to aid you in understanding the legacies and contributions of native peoples. One such tool is the U.S. Congressional Serial Set Online. This massive compilation — more than 10 million pages from 13,800 volumes — offers all the reports from and to House and Senate Committees from 1789 up until 1980. While millions of pages of U.S. government documents might sound a little, um, dull, this database offers you history at first hand.
Description of Ghost Dance Activities.
Serial Set Vol. No. 2900, Session Vol. No.5
52nd Congress, 1st Session
S.Exec.Doc. 58
Title: In the Senate of the United States. Letter from the Secretary of the Interior, in relation to the affairs of the Indians at the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations in South Dakota. March 16, 1892. — Referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs and ordered to be printed. U.S. Congressional Serial Set.
The Congressional Serial Set, called so because reports were bound serially as they were printed, contains a wealth of information on the changing relationships between the U.S. federal government and various American Indian groups. The set includes committee findings on topics such as Indian education and boarding schools, appropriations for Indian reservations, health services for Native Americans, treaties, land apportionment, and sad chapters such as the removals and forced migrations of the 19th century. Because Congress also received printed reports from federal executive agencies in the 19th century, the Serial Set also contains reports on military affairs, including campaigns against the plains tribes, as well as detailed descriptions of art and culture from the Smithsonian Institution and the Bureau of American Ethnography. Twentieth century topics include resolutions to thank the Navajo code talkers of World War II and reparations for losses during the standoff at Wounded Knee in 1973.
It’s easy to get lost searching these 10 million pages and the language of the documents is not always the same terminology that you or I would use. If keyword searching of citations or full text does not seem to be retrieving the materials you need, try instead browsing the subject guide to all documents related to Indian Affairs. This lengthy list is subdivided into sections on specific Indian tribes, treaties, agencies, reservations, laws or Supreme Court decisions.
Food Bowls with Figures of Birds from Sikyatki.
Serial Set Vol. No. 3837, Session Vol. No.95
55th Congress, 3rd Session
H.Doc. 316 pt. 2
Title: Seventeenth annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1895-96. U.S. Congressional Serial Set.
The Libraries also provide access to American Indian Histories and Cultures. This resource offers unique manuscripts and published material from the Newberry Library’s extensive Edward E. Ayer Collection; one of the strongest archival collections on American Indian history. The Ayer collection is truly vast, containing 130,000 volumes, over one million manuscript pages, 2,000 maps, 500 atlases, 11,000 photographs, and 3,500 drawings and paintings. You may also wish to visit the Native American Heritage Month resource page from the the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, and National Park Service. Our LibGuide, Native American Resources in Special Collections, provides information about archival materials, rare books, photographs, as well as published materials on Native Americans of the region.