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Native American Cultural Center - A Research Guide: Find Native American Resources

Subject Searching in Orbis

If you want to find material (like books) on Native American studies in the library catalog, a keyword search for “Native Americans” would be far too general.

More often than not, a subject search will be more precise. However, for Native American studies the phrase "Native American" will unfortunately not yield many results because the schema developed by the Library of Congress Subject Headings was created between 1898 and 1912. Instead, you will need to start by using "Indian”.

Screenshot of a subject search for "Indian art" in Obis

Here's a list of terms that will yield results in library catalogs, including the Yale Library catalog. Use these terms to search by subject using Advanced Search in Orbis.

  • American literature - Indian authors
  • Indian Literature
  • Indians in literature
  • Indian
  • Indian art
  • Indians
  • Indians - Cultural assimilation
  • Indians - Government relations
  • Indians - Poetry
  • Indians - Treatment of
  • Indians of North America (again, instead of Native Americans)

There are also narrower terms you can search by subject for, including:

  • Algonquian Indians
  • Caddoan Indians
  • Ojibwa Indians
  • Sewee Indians
  • … and more, just search for “Indians of North America” and you’ll see a list of options appear.

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