Indigenous Peoples of Latin America

 

 
 
 


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Library Resources:
 - Anthropology Resources
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Introduction

This web page was developed to help students in Professor Michael Ennis-McMillan's courses at Skidmore College find information on Indigenous Peoples of Latin America at the Scribner Library and beyond. It is not a comprehensive survey of Latin American resources but rather an attempt to direct users to an appropriate starting place.

For assistance using these and other resources in the library, please contact Elizabeth Putnam, Social Sciences Librarian at ext. 5542 or in Library Office #211. You are also welcome to seek help at anytime from the librarian at the reference desk.


Subject Headings

A subject search will often provide you with more relevant results than will a keyword search. Use the following chart as an introductory guide to creating Library of Congress (LC) subject headings (LC subject headings can be used for searching Lucy2, Anthropological Literature Index and Handbook of Latin American Studies). Discover other relevant subject headings by browsing each catalog or index's Thesaurus or Subject Index.

Country/region   Term/phrase    Subject heading examples
Central America   Civilization   Central America
Guyana   Economic Conditions   Guyana - Social Conditions
Latin America alone or combined with Politics and Government = Subject Heading Latin America - Civilization
Peru   Social Conditions    Peru- Politics and Government
South America   Social Life and Customs    South America
         
Phrase   Country/Region   Subject heading examples
    Central America   Indians of Central America
Indians of
combined with
Mexico = Subject Heading Indians of Mexico- kinship
    South America   Indians of South America


The name of the indigenous group that you are researching can also be used as a subject heading:

 Principal Indigenous Groups  
 Ashaninka Huoarani (Woarani) Mapudungun Taino
 Aymara Kawésqar Maya Tarahumara (Raramuri)
 Arawak Kayapo Miskitu U'wa
 Carib Korubo Mixteca Wichi (Mataco)
 Garifuna  Kuna Nahuatl Yanomami
 Guarani Lenca Quechua Yaqui
 Huichol Mapuche Quichua Zapotec

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Online Catalogs

LUCY 2 Scribner Library's Online Catalog
Use LUCY2 to locate books, videos, CD-ROMs, journals (but not articles), and selected government documents in our library. Consult the Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings books to determine appropriate keywords and subject headings for your topic, or see list above.

WorldCat on FirstSearch
Updated daily. Contains more than 24 million records describing items owned in libraries around the world including books, musical scores, and sound recordings, films, software, videos. It does not include individual articles appearing in journals. Use Interlibrary Loan to retrieve non-Scribner Library materials found in WorldCat.

Interlibrary Loan
Many specialized materials on indigenous peoples are available from libraries other than Scribner. To access books and journals that Skidmore does not own, use the Interlibrary Loan service.  Count on an average of 7-10 days to receive ILL materials, so plan ahead!  ILL requests are placed online through the Interlibrary Loan web page.

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Print Resources

Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture.  Prentice Hall International, c1996.
Ref.  F1406 .E53 1996

Encyclopedia of Latin American Politics. Diana Kapiszewski, ed. Westport, CT: Oryx Press, 2001.
Ref F1410 .E56 2001
 
Encyclopedia of World Cultures.  Boston: G.K. Hall, 1991-1996.
Ref. GN307 .E53 (Index volume lists cultural groups by country. Volumes contain country maps by culture.)

Endangered Peoples of Latin America: Struggles to Survive and Thrive. Susan C. Stonich, ed. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001.
Ref. E65 .E57 2000 (Currently on reserve at the Circulation Desk)
 
Handbook of Middle American Indians. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964-1976; Supplement, 1981- .
F1434 .H3

Handbook of South American Indians. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946-59.
Ref. E51 .U6 no.143

South America, Central America and the Caribbean (Regional Surveys of the World). London: Europa Publications, 2000.
Ref F1401 .S68 2000

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Electronic Indexes/Databases
The following indexes are recommended for researching Latin American peoples. Additional indexes may be accessed through the library's Anthropology subject page or the Electronic Indexes A to Z page.  For search help, please see Help With... Database Searching.

Anthropological Literature Index
Use Anthropological Literature Index to identify journal articles, essays and book chapters on all aspects of anthropology and archaeology,  including art history, demography, economics, psychology, and religious studies. Anthropological Literature Index uses Library of Congress subject headings (as outlined above). 19th century to present. Includes foreign language materials.

EHRAF: Human Relations Area Files
Contains text, photographs, drawings, charts, graphs, cultural summaries, and bibliographic data on 360 cultures of two general types: traditional cultures and North American ethnic groups.

Ethnic News Watch
Use Ethnic News Watch to identify and retrieve full-text articles from over 100 ethnic newspapers and magazines published in the United States. Provides multicultural coverage of subjects of interest to African Americans, Hispanics, Latinos, Chicanos, Native Americans, Asian, Jewish, Arab and European Americans. 1985 to Present. In both Spanish and English.

Handbook of Latin American Studies
Use the Handbook of Latin American Studies to identify articles, book chapters, and books relating to Latin America and Latin American Studies. Edited by the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress, the multidisciplinary Handbook alternates annually between the social sciences and the humanities. Each year, more than 130 academics from around the world choose over 5,000 works for inclusion in the Handbook. Also available in print, call number REF Z 1605 H23.

Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI)
Use HAPI to identify articles, book reviews, documents, original literary works, and other materials appearing in more than 400 key social science and humanities journals published throughout the world. HAPI covers worldwide information about Central and South America, Mexico, the Caribbean basin, the United States-Mexico border region, and Hispanics in the United States. English and Spanish. 1970 to the present.

Lexis-Nexis Academic
Use Lexis-Nexis Academic to identify and retrieve full-text worldwide news. Using the "Guided News Search", select "World News" or "Non English Language News" as your news category, then "North/South American News Sources" or "Spanish Language News" as your news source. Updated daily.

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Periodicals

Anthropology Journal Subscriptions in the Scribner Library
(includes titles found in print, on microfilm, and available online through JSTOR or Project Muse. This list does not include titles accessed through full-text providers such as Ebsco)

Latin American Studies Journal Subscriptions in the Scribner Library
(includes titles found in print, on microfilm, and available online through JSTOR or Project Muse. This list does not include titles accessed through full-text providers such as Ebsco)

Enhanced Journal Title Search
(Use the search feature below to find journal titles in print, microfilm, online through JSTOR, Project Muse and online through full-text indexes such as Ebsco, LexisNexis, ProQuest.)

Enter words from the journal title.
Keywords:

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Internet Resources

Country Information

  • Country Studies (Library of Congress)
    The Country Studies Series presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world and examines the interrelationships of those systems and the ways they are shaped by cultural factors.
  • CountryWatch
    A library subscription database that provides breaking news developments in all the world's countries and a substantial set of geopolitical and business background information and data on individual countries.
  • CIA World Factbook
    The World Factbook is produced by CIA's Directorate of Intelligence. The Factbook is a comprehensive resource of facts and statistics on more than 250 countries and other entities.

General Latin American Studies

  • UT-LANIC (University of Texas-Latin American Network Information Center)
    Regarded as the best web site for access to academic databases and information on and about Latin America. Searchable by country or subject.
  • Internet Resources For Latin America, NMSU
    A useful guide to Latin American internet sources by Molly Molloy of New Mexico State University Library.
Indigenous Peoples
  • Cultural Survival
    Cultural Survival is a non-profit organization that develops educational materials that promote tolerance and understanding of other cultures, and respect for indigenous peoples. Articles from Cultural Survival Quarterly and Cultural Survival Voices are available in full-text.
  • NativeWeb
    NativeWeb is a volunteer organization providing online resources about indigenous cultures, predominantly about the Americas.  Particularly useful is the site Abya Yala Net, which  presents information on Indigenous peoples in Mexico, Central, and South America.
  • Indigenous Peoples/LANIC

  • Extensive links available by region or ethnic group. From LANIC (Latin American Network Information Center)

  • US Department of State Human Rights Reports

  • Click on "country reports" in the left frame, choose a report date, select "Western Hemisphere" in the left frame, then choose a country. Each report has an "Indigenous Peoples" section- scroll down to find it or use your browser's "find" feature to locate the section. (In Internet Explorer and Netscape, go to "Edit", then "Find on Page")

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Updated and maintained by Elizabeth Putnam
Originally created by Barbara Norelli
Lucy Scribner Library, Skidmore College
Last updated November 4, 2004
http://hudson2.skidmore.edu/library/courses/Indigenous/index.html