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Compiled and annotated by Donna
Radcliffe, Library Media Specialist, |
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| Index: Diverse Native American Collections | Southwest, Plains, & Northwest Indians | Southwest Desert Indians | Plains Indians | Northwest / Arctic Indians | Eastern Woodland Indians | Native American Literature-Related | Shelters | |
| General Informational Sites | |
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| Click the canoe to travel to the websites. | |
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This First Americans site was designed by middle school teachers with facts, pictures, and links about the cultures of the North American Indian tribes. |
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This website, NativeWeb, provides Resources for Indigenous Cultures around the World in the form of links to 124 Native American museums across the country. |
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This is Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Natural History display entitled, "North, South, East, West -American Indians and the Natural World." It is an EXCELLENT site that links to information about different cultures, including the Tlingit of the Northwest Coast, the Hopi of the Southwest, the Iroquois of the Northeast, and the Lakota of the Plains. This seemed like a great resource as it explored four different visions of living in diverse regions and how each group used its natural resources to survive!!!! A wealth of information!!!!! |
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This is a website for the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian. It gives information about the museum and shares some information and photos of Native American cultures. Here is an excerpt that gives an overview of the museum: "The National Museum of the American Indian is the sixteenth museum of the Smithsonian Institution. It is the first national museum dedicated to the preservation, study, and exhibition of the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of Native Americans. Established by an act of Congress in 1989, the museum works in collaboration with the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere to protect and foster their cultures by reaffirming traditions and beliefs, encouraging contemporary artistic expression, and empowering the Indian voice." Since students will create a museum display, this site may provide them with a model for doing this and is a relatively close location they might visit. It also includes a virtual exhibition and public program, but it should be noted that "Flash" is required to run the virtual video. |
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This NativeWeb website includes links to 128 Native American tribes recognized today by the U.S Government. Listings here are restricted to US Government "recognized" tribes. NativeWeb realizes that there is great controversy about who is "recognized" and who is not. Web sites have specific information about recognized tribal governments, reservations, and contacts. |
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This is a page from Grolier Online's America the Beautiful, a fee-based database for which all BCPS elementary students have access from school or home. This page, entitled "U.S. Topics" contains a Native American link, which takes the user to a linked list of information for over 60 tribes, who lived in different U.S. regions. Get your school's login and password from the library media specialist. |
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Index
of Native American Resources in the Internet Categories of information on all topics related to Native American culture and life, past and present. The table format of subject links allows for easy access to resources from this website. |
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This is another website authored as part of a school project, which questions how authoritative it is. However, it contains informative facts on all 3 groups, which are at a good readability level and photographs that, used along with other more authoritative sources could be helpful to student learning. Students shouldn't use this type of site solely. |
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This homepage for this site consists of a map showing Native American regions. Click on the region being studied and it links to a page about the shelter of this Native American group. Each page consists of information and photographs. The information seems accurate and reliable, but it should be noted that this is a part of a website created as past of an elementary school's grant project. Because of its origin, however, a positive feature is that the readability level is appropriate for 4th graders. |
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This is another informative site with information about all types of Native American homes, based on regions. It is a product of the same grant discussed above, but created by a different group. |
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Native
American Literature Units The information on this Web page offers suggestions for using literature (nonfiction, poetry, novels, picture books, and myths) in Native American studies. It also includes links to many resources. |
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Native
American Lore Index Page There are links to hundreds of Native American legends and stories from tribes across the U.S. |
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The Heard Museum, located in Phoenix, Arizona is an "internationally acclaimed museum and one of the best places to experience the myriad cultures and art of Native Americans of the Southwest." |
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These are sites (Parts 1 & 2) which give information about the Anasazi and pueblo building. They have some nice pictures and are very informative. One concern is the high reading level of the information. |
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This is a travel guide to the Mesa Verde area that was the home of the Pueblo people. It contains pictures and some information about their lifestyle and the natural resources used to survive. |
| Kachinas and other Art Forms | |
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This site includes the Elkus collection images of dolls from the Hopi and Navajo tribes. One of the dolls links to a kachina story. At the bottom of the page is a link to a collection of southwestern artifacts that are quite impressive. |
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This is a virtual art collection of kachina dolls created by artist Gordon Crook. The are labeled with their kachina names and each can be enlarged for a closer view of its detail. Note that at the bottom of the page a link is provided for purchasing each doll. |
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This is the Internet Gallery of the Arizona Tribal Collectors. It is a gallery that features Pueblo pottery, Navajo rugs, and Hopi kachinas. It will give students an appreciation of the artistic nature of this group of Native Americans. The kachina collection sited in the previous description is a part of this collection. |
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Another gallery type site of kachinas, but this site does include information about kachina spirits and their importance in Hopi beliefs and rituals. |
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This virtual exhibition, "Woven by Grandmothers" is a link from the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City. It shows the museum's collection of 19th century Navajo textiles, one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind. Students just click through the presentation. |
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This is The National Park Service's website about the Plains Indians. The beginning information is difficult to understand, but as the article continues, there is some good information, which might be helpful. |
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This is a map of the United States that shows the Plains Indian region and the location of various tribes that lived in the region. |
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Information is given about different facets of the Plains Indian culture. It includes shelter, clothing, importance of buffalo hunting, etc. |
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Part of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Wyoming, the The Plains Indian Museum features one of the country's largest and finest collections of Plains Indian art and artifacts. This museum explores the cultural histories, artistry and living traditions of the Plains Indian people, including the Arapaho, Crow, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Comanche, Blackfeet, Sioux, Gros Ventre, Shoshone and Pawnee. This website has some nice examples of artwork, showing Plains Indian life. |
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The Smithsonian Institute's Museum of Natural History's virtual tour of Native Americans, including a nice graphic and information about the buffalo hunt. There are links to other artworks that show different cultures. |
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This website focuses on the history of this group, including important events, places, and people. It even has an e-mail link which can be used to ask questions about the Plains Indians. (Since I did not try this link, I'm not sure of the response time in receiving answers.) |
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This is a kids page of activities from the Texas Beyond History project. Texas Beyond History (TBH) is a public education project of the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Archeological Society. Its purpose is to share the results of archeological and historical research on the cultural heritage of Texas with the citizens of Texas and the world. This page focuses on the Plains Indians. My favorite activity was one in which students could point to a part of the buffalo and a pop-up label would show what that part was used for by the Plains Indians. |
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This link of the website, "eThemes, Creating Internet Resources for Teaching and sharing" focuses on the Plains Indians. There are many topics which link to information. The Kids Page site described as the previous entry was found on this site. |
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This Library of Congress site contains a digital collection integrates over 2,300 photographs and 7,700 pages of text relating to the American Indians in two cultural areas of the Pacific Northwest, the Northwest Coast and Plateau. These resources illustrate many aspects of life and work, including housing, clothing, crafts, transportation, education, and employment. The materials are drawn from the extensive collections of the University of Washington Libraries, the Cheney Cowles Museum/Eastern Washington State Historical Society in Spokane, and the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle. |
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This current, up-to-date website of the Makah tribe discusses the history of this northwest cultural group. |
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This is a very informative website about Native Americans living in the Northwest. Entitled, "Daily Life in Ancient Times - Pacific Northwest Coastal Indians," this site has a wealth of information and links that give information on such topics as totems, totem poles, potlatches, etc. |
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An informative website which includes colorful pictures that show how the Native Americans who lived along the Pacific Coast from Alaska to California used their natural resources to survive. |
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Smithsonian Institution's display and information about the Arctic region and its history, including the importance of Native American masks and prayers. Audio and video are included, if the needed technology to run them is available. |
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This is the link to the page entitled, "Native Americans of Maryland Sites," that is a part of the BCPS Research Model about Native American groups who lived in Maryland. It includes a map showing their locations, articles, graphics and sites giving information about six culture groups indigenous to MD and its surrounding region. It is an excellent source of information and may be used by students as they work through this research model. Completing the model itself, which would be a collaboration between the classroom teacher and LMS, would be an excellent addition to our online curriculum!!!! |
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This excerpt from the 1994 edition of Compton's Encyclopedia is entitled, Document: The Founding of the Iroquois League. It explains the way that the Iroquois Confederation, the banding together of different eastern woodland tribes who spoke the same Iroquois language, was formed. |
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This
is entitled, The Constitution of the Iroquois Nation and appears
to be a primary source document laying out the agreement made
between Iroquois speaking tribes. It is quite lengthy and contains
names of tribal chiefs of the time. It is from a source called
World History Archives. It should be noted that the following
disclaimer appears when linked to Document Information: The history
of the Iroquois - Hartford Web Publishing is not the author of the documents in World History Archives and does not presume to validate their accuracy or authenticity nor to release their copyright. |
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This is the link for Culture and History from the Oneida Indian Nation website. It contains many very informative links that provide information about different facets of Woodland Indian life. The next two sites, which are from this website, seemed to be of special value to our curriculum. |
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This is a link from the Oneida Nation website. It provides information about the Shakowi Cultural Center, located in New York. The purpose of this center is to share the culture and history of the Oneida people. This site contains a virtual tour of the artifacts housed in the center, which requires Quick Time to be downloaded to run. It also has a link to descriptions of its exhibits, including a very interesting article about Lacrosse and its origins. Some students may find this information of special interest. |
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This is another link from the Oneida Nation website. It includes three Iroquois legends. Native American legends are a wonderful way for children to learn about the culture and values of different groups! |
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This is a website about the Woodland Indians which includes colorful graphics about their shelters and clothing. It also talks about how this group used mathematics. When clicking on the Table of Contents link, I was taken back to its homepage , which included a wealth of articles on different topics. It should be noted that this is a personal homepage of an individual known as Running Deer and shares some of his personal Native American anti-European viewpoints on his homepage. This might be insightful for students, but they should also be educated about the persuasive nature of a site like this, that is written form one person's viewpoint. The information and pictures on the Woodland Indians page was to the point and its readability level was appropriate for elementary age students. |
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This is a website, known as Native Tech (Native American Technology and Art) The purpose of the site is described by its webmaster in this manner, "NativeTech is an educational web site that covers topics of Native American technology and emphasizes the Eastern Woodlands region. The web site is organized into categories of Beadwork, Birds & Feathers, Clay & Pottery, Leather & Clothes, Metalwork, Plants & Trees, Porcupine Quills, Stonework & Tools, and Weaving & Cordage. I provide simple instructional information about how some of these materials are used by Natives. More importantly, I provide detailed background on the history and development of these kinds of Native technologies, showing both the change and continuity from pre-contact times to the present." This site is a virtual tour of scenes from the Eastern Woodland Indian culture and provides artwork and information about various survival topics, such as shelter, tools, cooking, hunting, etc. It is a very graphic, very interesting site! |
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This is a site that focuses on the clothing worn by the Powhatan Woodland Indians of the American Northeast. |
Annotated Resources of Native American
WebsitesWeb Design by Della Curtis, Coordinator
Office of Library Information Services
Baltimore County Public Schools
Towson, MD 21204
January 2003