By: Ann Marie Megoulas
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush and Congress passed a joint resolution officially designating November as “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Since then, the full month of November has served as a time to honor and celebrate the diverse cultures, significant contributions, and deep histories of Native American Indian communities. In more recent years, this observance was expanded to include recognition of Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and American Samoan peoples as well, and starting in 2009, presidential proclamations have regularly designated November as National Native American Heritage Month.
A visit to a library is a wonderful way to celebrate National Native American Heritage Month as libraries offer rich collections of books and materials on this topic. Here at the Dauphin County Library System, you can find nearly 700 Native American themed books, e-Books, videos, music, and more by searching our catalog using the search term, “Native American.” Search for “Indigenous American” content and your will find even more.
Library databases are another major source of information about Native Americans and this year we are introducing the newly added Indigenous Life in America database.
What is Indigenous Life in America? It is an easily navigable digital news archive that delivers an expansive overview of the Indigenous experience in the United States, spanning from 1690 to the present day. It features more than 16 million primary source documents from varied sources and presents a multifaceted narrative that highlights the profound influence Native communities have had on shaping the nation’s history.
Where can you find Indigenous Life in America? Indigenous Life in Americacan be found by visiting The Library’s Research webpage and browsing through the alphabetic list of resources. When you find it, just click on its title or its “USE RESOURCE” link to open it. Remember that whenever you are outside of a library, you will also need to enter your library card and PIN.
What does Indigenous Life in America offer? It offers an aggregated news archive covering the experience and impact of Indigenous Americans as recorded by the news media from the late 17th century to the early 21st century. Its content is organized by significant time period and event and then further sorted into subcategories covering topics like arts and entertainment, government action, notable people, and more. Since that content is pulled from so many varied new sources, Indigenous Life in America offers balanced coverage and varied viewpoints.
How can you search Indigenous Life in America? You can perform a keyword search of your own choosing, or you can browse through Indigenous Life in America’s Suggested Searches (expertly composed search queries created to provide focused access to the search results covering the most significant topics impacting Indigenous Americans.) I personally recommend browsing the Suggested Searches as they provide students and researchers with quick access to the most relevant content.
Want to learn more? View this short video.
This November, please join us in honoring the contributions and impacts of Native American communities by exploring The Library’s broad collection of Native American resources and by examining the interesting articles and reports shared in our newly added Indigenous Life in America. You will not be disappointed!