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Native American Law: BLSL's New Databases

Research guide to support the Native American Law course taught by Professor Precious Benally.

Tip

BLS patrons can access the databases below on campus through the BLS network or off campus through a web browser that communicates with the BLS proxy server.  (Remote access requires implementation of the BLS proxy server instructions for 1 web browser and librarians recommend the instructions for Firefox browser.)

Archives Unbound modules (provider: Gale)

Archives Unbound (provider: Gale) collections available through BLS Library:

  • The American Fur Company: America's First Business Monopoly
    • Gale's summary of this searchable collection: "The papers include original letters received from factors, foreign and domestic agents, mainly to Ramsey Crooks, president of the Company; copies of letters sent by the Company; records of furs received from the [Native Peoples], and orders for goods to be shipped to the factors in exchange for furs."  (Date range: 1831-1849, source institution: New York Historical Society) 
  • The American Indian Movement and Native American Radicalism
    • Excerpt from Gale's summary of this searchable collection: "The American Indian Movement (AIM) was founded at a time of continuing social change and protest following achievement of national legislation of the Civil Rights Movement. The radical approach AIM adopted was based on its leaders' perceptions that early [Native Peoples'] advocacy had failed to achieve any tangible results by lobbying activities with Congress and state legislatures." (Date range: 1968-1979, source institution: Federal Bureau of Investigation Library)
  • The Indian Trade in the Southeastern Spanish Borderlands: Papers of Panton, Leslie and Company
    • Gale's summary of this searchable collection: "Comprising the papers of the Panton, Leslie & Co., a trading firm, this collection is the most complete ethnographic collection available for the study of the American [Native Peoples] of the Southeast. More than 8,000 legal, political and diplomatic documents recording the company's operations for over half a century have been selected and organized for this collection."  (Date range: 1763-1901, source institution: University of West Florida)

Note: Gale provides additional content (to which BLS does not currently subscribe) in its collections: American Studies; Business and Economic History; Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies; and Native American Studies.

History Vault modules (provider: ProQuest)

History Vault (provider: ProQuest)

  • History Vault's home page provides a main screen search feature and access to archival material by "Subject Areas," including:
    • American Politics and Society (including Progressive Era and New Deal)
    • Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle
    • [Native Peoples] and the American West (1809-1971)
    • Southern Life, [Enslavement], and the Civil War
    • Women at Work During World War II
  • These are digital versions of original documents.  Older documents (such as letters, journals and petitions) may be in cursive text and might exhibit some deterioration.

Labor & Employment: The American Worker (provider: W.S. Hein through HeinOnline)

Labor & Employment: The American Worker (provider: HeinOnline).   In BLS Library's SARA catalog record for this collection, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (HEIN).  (Remote access requires implementation of the BLS proxy server instructions for 1 web browser and librarians recommend the instructions for Firefox browser.)   

  • Provides 10,000+ subject-coded titles "that illuminate the history of labor conditions and employment law in the United States."
    • Editors assigned each title one (or more) subjects:  Captive Labor; Employment Benefits; Equal Employment; Immigrant Workers & Agriculture; Labor Disputes & Strikes; Labor Laws & Legislation; Labor Market; Labor Unions; Mediation & Labor Relations; Minimum Wage; Occupational Illness & Dangers; Overtime Pay; Pensions & Retirement; Public Sector Employees; Trade & Economy; Unemployment Compensation; Wages; and Workplace Protections.
  • Includes a chart of 24 landmark labor and employment cases (date range: 1842-2018) with links to the case texts.
  • Includes a curated collection of scholarly articles on "employment discrimination, wrongful termination, collective bargaining, how the New Deal shaped labor law, right-to-work laws, labor disputes in major league sports" and additional topics.
  • Includes "thousands" of books from the early 1900s-present. 
  • Provides legislative histories of labor-related laws.  Examples:
    • Fair Labor Standards Act 1938
    • Legislative History of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, P.L. 92-261
    • Railway Labor Act of 1926: A Legislative History