Indigenous Peoples of North America: Identifying Tribal Names

It is important to know the name of the tribal group before making an attempt to locate its members. Two apporaches can be taken to identify the name of a tribe and its locality of residence at a given time period. The history of a locality can be studied to determine the names of tribes living in that locality at various time periods. Or the history of a tribe can be studied to determine where they were located at various points pf history.

By Locality
To find the name of a tribe in a locality in the United States, use:

Swanton, John Reed. The Indian Tribes of North America. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1952.

By Tribal Name
To find more of the history of a tribe, their migrations, cross-references ot other names by which they were known, etc., use:

Hodge, Frederick Webb, ed. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1912. 2 v.

Use the following to identify tribal web sites.

– Lists of Tribes with links and bibliographies

– List of Federally Recognized American Indian Tribes and links to their web sites.