Research Guides: Indigenous Research &amp; Knowledges in North America: Home

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Native American and Indigenous Studies Librarian

Kathryn Randall

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Guide Collaborators

Nickoal Eichmann-Kalwara, Digital Scholarship Librarian

Contact Nickoal at nickoal.eichmann@colorado.edu

Naomi Heiser, Map Curator and Metadata Projects Manager

Contact Naomi at naomi.heiser@colorado.edu

Megan Friedel, Head of Collections Management & Stewardship for Rare and Distinctive Collections

Contact Megan at megan.friedel@colorado.edu

Kathia Ibacache, Romance Languages Librarian

Contact Kathia at kathia.ibacache@colorado.edu

Ilene Raynes, Map Library Program Manager

Contact Ilene at ilene.raynes@colorado.edu

Frederick Carey, History & Philosophy Librarian

Contact Freddy at frederick.carey@colorado.edu

Emily Dommermuth, Engineering, Science & Design Librarian

Contact Emily at emily.dommermuth@colorado.edu

Amanda Rybin Koob, Literature & Humanities Librarian

Contact Amanda at amanda.rybinkoob@colorado.edu

Alexander Watkins, Art & Architecture Librarian

Contact Alex at alexander.watkins@colorado.edu

Adam Lisbon, Japanese & Korean Studies Librarian

Contact Adam at adam.lisbon@colorado.edu

Welcome and Scope of the Guide

Welcome! This guide is intended to provide an overview of Indigenous Knowledge and research methods, in addition to providing starting points for exploring Indigenous ways of knowing using different types of resources. We expect this guide to be a continual work in progress as new information, community needs, and our own understandings of these issues evolve.

This guide intentionally prioritizes materials created by Indigenous peoples and centers Indigenous perspectives, ontologies, and epistemologies. Some resources from our archival collections or other databases contain valuable documents by Indigenous peoples among other documents authored by settler colonialists, colonizing governments, or non-Indigenous scholars. We make note of resources like this wherever possible.

Based on our geographic location in Colorado, we highlight materials from the Indigenous peoples of these lands, including resources held by our library and archival collections at CU Boulder. We also recognize that certain issues are experienced by many Indigenous groups, and we share resources as starting points for exploring these issues and peoples within North America. We welcome feedback and suggestions from the community.

CU Boulder's Land Acknowledgement
The University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado’s flagship university, honors and recognizes the many contributions of Indigenous peoples in our state. CU Boulder acknowledges that it is located on the traditional territories and ancestral homelands of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Ute and many other Native American nations. Their forced removal from these territories has caused devastating and lasting impacts. While the University of Colorado Boulder can never undo or rectify the devastation wrought on Indigenous peoples, we commit to improving and enhancing engagement with Indigenous peoples and issues locally and globally.

We will do this by:

Recognizing and amplifying the voices of Indigenous CU Boulder students, staff and faculty and their work.

Educating, conducting research, supporting student success and integrating Indigenous knowledge.

Consulting, engaging and working collaboratively with tribal nations to enhance our ability to provide access and culturally sensitive support and to recruit, retain and graduate Native American students in a climate that is inclusive and respectful.
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Land acknowledgments honor the contributions, histories and place-based knowledge of Indigenous peoples with historic and contemporary ties to lands across what is today known as the United States. Land acknowledgments also recognize the devastating and lasting impacts of the forced assimilation and forced removal of Indigenous peoples from their traditional territories and ancestral homelands, including the lands that are now part of Colorado and the University of Colorado Boulder.

CU Boulder, founded the same year Colorado became a state in 1876, recognizes that it sits on the traditional territories and ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Ute and many other Native American nations. Recognizing the history of the state, the university and the campus’s origin story, however difficult, and the histories and experiences of the Indigenous peoples who have lived in these territories for millennia aligns with the campus’s academic and research missions as Colorado’s flagship public research university.

CU Boulder’s land acknowledgment is an iterative work in progress and is expected to evolve over time. While it is not a requirement, students, faculty and staff may read the land acknowledgement during campus meetings and use it in email signatures and on campus websites to show their support for the success and well-being of Indigenous students, faculty and staff at CU Boulder, for Native American communities in Colorado and nationwide, and for First Peoples worldwide.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgement of Reviewers and Collaborators

We are grateful for the campus community members and libraries colleagues who have contributed to this guide. We would like to especially thank Angelica Lawson, Natasha Myhal, Sheila Goff, and members of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies Executive Board for providing thoughtful and constructive feedback.

Creative Commons License

The content on this guide is available for sharing and reuse under the following Creative Commons license: CC BY-NC 4.0 Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International.

This license requires that reusers give credit to the creator. It allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, for noncommercial purposes only. We appreciate attribution of our work of the creators whose work we reference. Thank you!