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Special Collections - Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: Home

Guide to Special Collections and primary source materials created by and relating to the Indigenous peoples of the Americas

Land Acknowledgement

Gettysburg College is on unceded Indigenous land including the traditional homelands of the Susquehannock/ Conestoga, Seneca and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Leni Lenape, and Shawnee Nations, and the connections of Indigenous Peoples to this land continue today. We have a responsibility to honor these connections and we strive to understand our place within the past, present, and future of this Indigenous land by reflecting on our relationships with the human and other-than-human relatives with whom it is shared.

For more information, please visit The Office of Diversity and Inclusion's Land Acknowledgement page.

Introduction

Special Collections and College Archives maintains holdings by and about Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. Our holding are comprised of a variety of materials a researcher might want to investigate, including books, art, manuscript collections, and photographs. This guide will provide you with a sampling of primary sources housed by Special Collections, as well as resources to advance your research.

Wa-pel-la, Chief of the Musquakees, lithograph from the original painting done by Charles Bird King (1838)

Protocols for Native American Archival Materials

From the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials website:

The Protocols were developed to provide best practices for culturally responsive care and use of Native American archival and documentary material held by non-tribal organizations. The Protocols build upon numerous professional ethical codes; a number of significant international declarations recognizing Indigenous rights, including several now issued by the United Nations; and the ground-breaking Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Protocols for Libraries, Archives, and Information Services.

The proposed standards and goals articulated in Protocols for Native American Archival Materials are meant to inspire and to foster mutual respect and reciprocity. The Protocols include recommendations for non-tribal libraries and archives as well as Native American communities.