American Indian Studies

Many Terms Identify American Indians

When searching for articles and books, use different combinations of these terms to find the most sources:

• American Indian
• Native American
• Native People
• Indians of North America (the official term used in our catalog)
• First Nations (term for the indigenous peoples of Canada)

Search Many Variants at the Same Time

You can use quotations marks (" ") to hold the concepts together (so you don't get "Indian Americans" instead), and use OR to find articles that match any of the various terms. For example, create a search like:

"American Indian" OR "Native American"

In the next boxes put your topic keywords: culture, identity, treaties, education, etc.

Also consider adding locations of interest, such as Great Plains or Minnesota.

Tribe Name Variations

Searching by tribe is also important, especially if your topic is tribe specific. As tribes often have variant spellings or use entirely different terms, account for this in your search:

Ojibwa or Chippewa or Anishinabe

Using an asterisk * will truncate, or stem, your keyword, including everything after it:

• Ojibw* captures Ojibway, Ojibwe, and Ojibwah
• Chippewa* captures Chippewa and Chippeway