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Library Home > Special Collections > Research > Native.html

Native American Studies Resources

The Department of Special Collections at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has a wide range of ethnographic, historical, literary, and other resources relating to Native Americans, including books, serials, pamphlets, newspapers, letters, diaries, documents, photographs, and sound recordings. Materials are located in several areas of Special Collections, with the largest concentration in the William Wyles Collection (history of the American West).

Additional significant resources are found in the Native American Studies Collection and elsewhere in the UCSB University Libraries. For details, consult Information Resources for Native American Studies, the library handout Native American Studies Reference Guide, and Pegasus, the UCSB Libraries online catalog. The Native American section of the Voice of the Shuttle website also provides useful links to relevant resources at other institutions.

The following list describes areas with significant Special Collections holdings and gives some representative examples.


Art and Artists. Mainly depictions of Native Americans, by 19th and early 20th century artists, and related scholarly examinations (more recent works relating to Native American art and Native American artists generally are located in the UCSB Arts library).

Biographies/Autobiographies. Primarily of 19th century Indian leaders.

California. Studies of Native Americans in California and historical overviews with descriptions of Native Americans (including exploration, early settlement, Spanish/Mexican period, Gold Rush, and 19th century American expansion).

Chumash. Historical, ethnographic, and literary works (UCSB Library’s Native Amer. Studies Collection and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History also have extensive Chumash holdings).

Frontier and the West. Histories, travel accounts, diaries, and popular literature, often with descriptions of Native Americans. Also, some manuscript collections and more recent analyses and bibliographies.

Government Relations, Law, and Public Policy.

Literature. Mainly fiction and poetry by Native American authors, in first, signed, and early editions (other copies frequently are in the Main stacks).

Missions. Early accounts and more recent analyses dealing with issues such as conversion and treatment of Native Americans, with emphasis on California.

Music. Printed materials and sound recordings.

Organizations/Advocacy Groups.

Photographs. Primarily 19th and early 20th century western photographers shooting Native American scenes and portraits) and more recent scholarly examinations.

Religion. The American Religions Collection (ARC) has books, serials, and some manuscript files relating to Native American religions, religious organizations working with Native American populations, and other groups drawing upon Native American religions and religious practices.