This page provides information about a selection of resources in the Government Information Connection collections as well as links to relevant legal materials include treaties and tribal constitutions. Many more relevant resources are available. Please contact your Subject Librarian for assistance. 

The American State Papers reproduces many documents pertaining to Native Americans covering the years 1789 through 1827, and is a valuable source of information on this topic prior to the establishment of the Office of Indian Affairs in 1824. The documents include letters from special Indian agents, reports to Congress, and records pertaining to Indian-White relations. Researchers should consult the volumes pertaining to military affairs as well as those relating to Indian affairs. Each volume has an index.

Annual Reports: 

Congress required government agencies to submit annual reports, providing an overview of the agency's activities. The annual reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of American Ethnology, and the Secretary of War are particularly noteworthy. They are all reproduced in the Congressional Serial Set. The U.S. Congressional Serial Set is also available through the Libraries' subscription to ProQuest Congressional.

Handbook of North American Indians: 

An encyclopedia summarizing knowledge about all Native peoples north of Mesoamerica, including cultures, languages, history, prehistory, and human biology, is a standard reference work for anthropologists, historians, students, and the general reader.

Synopsis from the Smithsonian Institution.

Resources here aim to illustrate the legal relationship between the U.S. Federal government and Native American tribes. U.S. law and policy with Native Americans has evolved frequently since the founding of the U.S.