Note: This page is still under development
Virginia Tech's College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences offers an undergraduate minor in American Indian Studies that "aims to educate students and the community on American Indian cultures and issues in a sensitive way..." (Quoted description from the American Indian Studies Minor site.)
American Indian, Indigenous, or Native?
This question is not easily answered and is well beyond the scope of this guide. It is, however, relevant to consider when approaching research on the topic of First Nations peoples. Michael Yellow Bird, citizen of the Sahnish (Arikara) and Hidatsa First Nations, published an article titled What We Want to be Called: Indigenous Peoples' Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Identity Labels in the Spring 1999 issue of American Indian Quarterly. This article explores this question and provides context that may help you decide what term you want to use.
American Indians are not from a single monolithic culture and it is often preferable to identify them by their tribal affiliation rather than by a single uniform term. However, you will also find that information about American Indians will have the generic labels "American Indian", "Indigenous", and "Native" attached to them.
In this guide, I will default to the term "American Indian" because that is the terminology used at Virginia Tech for our academic programs relating to this population.
Suggested Books & Manuscripts in Special Collections and University Archives
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Southwest Virginia Vertical Files, 1960s-presentVertical files at Special Collections and University Archives include newspaper clippings, photocopies, ephemera, unpublished and/or informal publications, and other papers relating to a specific subject area. Files in this collection relate to the New River Valley and counties and locations throughout Southwest Virginia.
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Elizabeth Fine Papers, Ms2015-041The Elizabeth Fine Papers include papers and materials collected by Fine during her tenure as a professor at Virginia Tech. Fine taught in the Department of Religion and Culture from 1979 until her retirement in 2015. The collection includes research and subject files on aspects of Appalachian culture and history; papers from her instruction, departmental, and administrative activities; and files on historic buildings on campus, particularly the history, renovation, and reopening of "Solitude."
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Record Group Vertical Files, 1960s-PresentIn general, vertical files at Special Collections include newspaper clippings, photocopies, ephemera, unpublished and/or informal publications, and other papers relating to a specific subject area. Files in this collection relate to Virginia Tech and its history. Topics may include, but are not limited to, colleges and departments, student organizations, administrative offices, centers and other campus units, and athletics.
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Dorothee Stelzer King Architectural Collection (Ms2013-023)Born in Berlin, Germany. Dorothee Stelzer King is an architect and professor who has practiced in Germany, the United States, and the Bahamas. The collection consists of material (drawings, presentation boards, photographs, and printed material) created and accumulated by King as a student and during her professional career. Some examples include: her award-winning student project of creating a flexible and transportable exhibition hall and her project work for the Government of the Bahamas. Materials in this collection range in date from 1950-2008.
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Records of the Virginia Tech Museum of Natural History (RG 38/01)This collection conains the records of the Virginia Tech Museum of Natural History. Scrapbooks include newspaper articles, pictures, and flyers all related to the museum and its activities and exhibits. The collection also includes many pictures, slides, brochures, posters, and even a book related to the museum and the people involved.
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Appalachian Student Organizing Committee Collection, 1964-1975 (bulk, 1971-1974) | RG 31/14/10The Appalachian Student Organizing Committee (or Appalachian Student Committee) was an approved student organization at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in the early 1970s. The collection consists primarily of the papers of David Tice and Allan Cox, student organizers of the Appalachian Student Organizing Committee.
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Earl Palmer Appalachian Photograph and Artifact Collection (Ms1989-025)This collection contains the photographs of Earl Palmer, an award-winning photographer from Cambria, Virginia, whose work depicted the landscape and traditional culture of rural Appalachia in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Materials date frome 1880 to 1989, but are primarily from the 1940s to the 1970s. The collection is divided among the following series: photographs, duplicate photographs, written materials, oversize photographs, and artifacts.
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Michael Two Horses Collection, n.d. | Ms2006-001The collection contains a combination of academic papers, personal papers and research, drawings, correspondence, thesis and dissertation materials, and some artifacts from Two Horses' career as a student, scholar, and activist.