The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign sits on the lands of the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Piankashaw, Wea, Miami, Mascoutin, Odawa, Sauk, Mesquaki, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Chickasaw Nations. These lands were the traditional territory of these Native Nations prior to their forced removal; these lands continue to carry the stories of these Nations and their struggles for survival and identity.
As a land-grant institution, the University of Illinois has a particular responsibility to acknowledge the peoples of these lands, as well as the histories of dispossession that have allowed for the growth of this institution for the past 150 years. We are also obligated to reflect on and actively address these histories and the role that this university has played in shaping them.
The tools we use to find information rely heavily on metadata (structured data about data). Metadata is created by human beings in historically-specific contexts. It is not and cannot be entirely "neutral" or "objective."
Controlled vocabulary, an agreed-upon list of terms used to catalog or organize books, is an early form of metadata. Librarians have used controlled vocabulary since long before the 20th-century "information revolution." The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) are an enormous compilation of controlled vocabulary terms used in many research libraries, including ours, to provide access to library collections. The LC system has been in use since 1898. Although its vocabulary is frequently updated, many older terms and concepts remain, some of which may now be considered offensive or inaccurate. Academic libraries are now working to "decolonize" the LCSH, but it will be some time before these changes are widely reflected.
In the meantime, to find materials about Native Americans, you may need to use some or all of these strategies:
An even more substantive challenge that faces researchers is the long history of cultural bias in academic research. Until recently, the religions, philosophies, artistic expressions, and scientific discoveries of Indigenous peoples have usually been studied separately from those of dominant cultures. As a result, they are often classified under "ethnography" or even "antiquities" rather than in the mainstream of humanities and scientific disciplines. (Look at the Library of Congress Classification outline to see what this means concretely for the arrangement of materials in libraries.) This is also starting to change, but its impact on the accessibility of information is huge.
For example, if you are researching Native American religions, you may need to use some or all of these strategies:
Learn more about these issues:
A good overview of changes in terminology over the past 50 years can be found in the recently-published
Since the University Library is split into several departmental libraries, and this is an interdisciplinary field of research, relevant materials are held in different places. Use the tabs in this guide for help finding different types of material; if you need further help, please do not hesitate to contact us via email or in person.
This page shows a few of the libraries that may have the resources you are looking for. A complete list of the departmental libraries is also available.
History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library
Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library
Government Information Services, Access, and Collections
Substantive updates in 2023 and 2025: Celestina Savonius-Wroth. Archives highlights selected and described by Sammi Merritt, Archives Research Assistant, February 21, 2023.
Originally compiled in 2007 by HPNL staff.