American Indians - Archival Resources: Help for Archival Research

Guide to archival resources about Native Americans (American Indians/Eskimos of North/South America) in the Marquette Archives and other archival repositories

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General Helps

Catholic Directories
Directories provide annual identification of national and local Catholic institutions and key personnel including missions and schools for Native Americans.
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Marquette's holdings for Canada, Mexico, and the United States and Jesuit province catalogs worldwide; directory index also available.
Catholic Groups
Lists of Catholic Organizations engaged in ministry among Native Americans in the United States.
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Holy See, U.S. Catholic Conference, Arch/dioceses, Evangelistic Organizations, Religious Institutes (Orders) of Men, Religious Institutes (Orders) of Women.
Glossary of Catholic Terms
Glossary of Catholic terms commonly found in Catholic records about Native Americans in the United States.
Glossary of Native Terms
Glossary of terms about Native Americans in the United States commonly found in Catholic records.
Native American Groups
Native American groups in the United States identified in Catholic records.
Native Writes
List of published research from the Marquette Archives.
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Divided into research with university records and special collections with the latter further divided into "General" and tribal-specific topics arranged alphabetically.
Using Marquette Archival Materials
Location, hours, rules, services, and guidelines about citations, and copyright.

Reading Pictures

How to read and interpret pictures and photographs. Approximate dating of photographs can be accomplished by identifying and correlating within them the clothing styles, hair styles and notable objects with the specific eras when they were prevalent.

Color and Ethnicity – Interpreting Black & White Photography
Matches photographic processes and gray tones with colors favored by several American Indian tribes.
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Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Crow, Dakota, Kiowa, Sac & Fox, Nez Perce, Ojibwa, and Yakima Indians.
General Motors Cars and Trucks (1902-1938)
Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century
Includes timelines for 20 fields of technological change.
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Electrification, automobile, airplane, water supply and distribution, electronics, radio and television, agricultural mechanization, computers, telephone, air conditioning and refrigeration, highways, spacecraft, Internet, imaging, household appliances, health technologies, petroleum and petrochemical technologies, laser and fibre optics, nuclear technologies, and high-performance materials.
History of the Telephone (1876-)
Shows changes in telephone technology.
History of U.S. Kerosene Lanterns (1840s-1920s)
Shows changes in kerosene lanterns, which preceded electric lights.
Indians of the Midwest
Pertains to Native peoples of the Midwest and the importance of treaties and historically/culturally accurate imagery; compares accurate imagery with stereotypical ones.
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Focuses on Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Perpetual Calendar
Provides calendar tables for past years of the Gregorian calendar with identification of major U.S. and international holidays.
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Useful for dating documents and photographs for which the known date information is incomplete, e.g. weekday, month and day but no year, holiday and weekday but no year, monthly calendar page shown in image with illegible year.

Reading Maps

How to read and interpret maps and charts.

What is an Archive(s)?

An archive (or archives or archival repository) collects and provides access to collections of original and surrogate records in-house and/or online and it insures that these records are authentic and preserved.

Research Tips

Historic Directories
Past special directories are resources for identifying related individuals, institutions and groups.
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Directories pertain to cities, ethnic, professional, religious and special subject organizations. Frequencies vary.
Historic Pictures
An archivist's tips to reading and interpreting historic photographs.
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Most examples pertain to Native Americans and Catholic missionaries.

Marquette University

Raynor Library

Raynor Library

American Indians - Archival Resources: Help for Archival Research

Have a question?

General Helps

Reading Pictures

Reading Maps

What is an Archive(s)?

Research Tips

Location

Key Resources

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