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Indigenous Research & Knowledges in North America

This section of the guide suggests research methods and recommendations for identifying Indigenous research materials in the CU Boulder Catalog.

Description

This section of the guide suggests research methods and recommendations for identifying Indigenous research materials in the CU Boulder Catalog. Note: Many historical documents use terminology that is culturally inappropriate or insensitive, in reference to Native Americans and other Indigenous cultures. Please be aware that you may find harmful and pejorative terminology across sources. 

Library Catalog Widgets

Finding Indigenous Materials in the CU Boulder Catalog

Try these basic strategies to begin your research in the CU Boulder Catalog.

Keyword Searches

In your research you may encounter, and need to perform searches, using terms as seen in the examples below. Although some terminology is harmful and outdated, it may still be in use in cataloging systems. Combine keywords relating to the concept of Indigenous identity AND keywords about art. For example:

  • Plains Indians
  • Native American
  • Indian
  • Native
  • Arapaho
  • American Indian
  • Indigenous
  • hinono'eino'biito'owu
  • "Northern Arapaho"

AND

  • Language?
  • "Algonquian languages"
  • "Indigenous linguistics"
  • Art?
  • "cultural production practices"
  • Artistic mediums
  • Indigenous ways of knowing
  • "Indigenous pedagogies"
  • "Indigenous information literacy"

Helpful Hints for Keyword Searches

  • Use quotation marks to search for a phrase.
    Example: "Northern Arapaho"
  • Use a question mark to truncate a term to search for words with the same stem.
    Example: Medic    ? retrieves Medicine(s), Medicinal, Medical, Medic, etc.

Try these basic strategies to begin your research in the CU Boulder Catalog.

Subject Headings

Subject headings are a tool designed to help researchers find related materials. These are only some examples of the many subject headings use by CU Boulder Libraries. 

Please note that some materials in the CU Boulder Catalog may contain outdated, inaccurate, offensive, derogatory, and/or harmful terminology. This language reflects usage at the time of a document's creations (historical context) as well as controlled vocabularies used to describe particular topics (i.e., the Library of Congress Classification Scheme as it is used to catalog Indigenous materials). Materials on Indigenous topics can be challenging to locate because Indigenous peoples, places, and ways of knowing may be identified by more than one name, variant spellings, as well as colonially imposed names. 

You may need to conduct multiple searches using a variety of search terms to find information about a specific Indigenous topic. Spend a few minutes exploring them when you find a book or article in the catalog that supports your research.

Browse Catalog > Subject begins with:

Try browsing subject headings beginning with the specific Indigenous topic you are interested in. For example: 

TIP: Names of Indigenous languages often change over time and spellings may vary.

Try these basic strategies to begin your research in the CU Boulder Catalog.

Browse Call Numbers

Library classification systems, such as the Dewey Decimal System and the Library of Congress Subject Headings, which CU Boulder Libraries and many other academic libraries use, reflect Western colonial systems of sorting information rather than Indigenous ontologies or epistemologies. There are extensive issues with both of these library classification systems. To learn more about these issues and the ongoing work to redress the harmful mishandling of Indigenous Knowledge within libraries, please refer to the Indigenous Knowledge and Methodologies page of the Indigenous Research & Knowledges in North America guide. Click this link for a complete list of the LC Classification.