Researching Native Americans in the Military

Spring and Summer Museum programming highlights the new Mashantucket Gallery exhibit titled, Pequot Lives in the Lost Century (opening May 16), and further explores the theme of “Indians in Unexpected Places.” Both reveal the various important yet little known societal roles played by Native people during the years 1870-1970. Not least among these is service to the United States armed forces.

Subject headings
The Library of Congress has assigned a variety of different subject headings on this topic, depending on the focus of the work. Following is a list of essential subject headings to explore in our Online Catalog.

United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Participation, Indian
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Participation, Indian
United States -- History -- War of 1812 -- Participation, Indian
Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 -- Participation, Indian
World War, 1914-1918 -- Participation, Indian
World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Indian

Indian code talkers
Navajo code talkers
World War, 1939-1945 -- Cryptography

Indian scouts
Indian veterans

United States -- Armed Forces -- Indians
United States. Army -- Indian troops
United States. Marine Corps -- Indian troops

Bibliographies
We have also prepared the following bibliographies as guides to our resources.
For a bibliography of Research Library materials (books, articles, videos), please see
Native Americans in Foreign and Domestic Wars

For a bibliography of archival materials from our Archives & Special Collections, please see Bibliography of Native Americans in the U.S. Military

Discovering Online Historic Documents

Primary source documents play a key role in researching Native American-colonial interactions in early American history. Todays researchers have the advantage free, immediate access to primary source material. In this blog post, we will explore some of the free primary source repositories available online, and highlight some of the sources most relevant to the study of early Native American history in Southern New England.

Works published in the United States before 1923 are said to be in the public domain and may therefore legally be reproduced, republished and distributed in any form. Fortunately there are many institutions with the resources, either onsite or cooperatively, to not only digitize the original material, but also to provide the platform for entire web-accessible digital libraries. These may be academic institutions (such as University of Nebraska-Lincoln's "Digital Commons"), government agencies ("American Memory" from Library of Congress), cooperative non-profit ventures (Internet Archive or Project Gutenberg), or,as in the case of Google Books, a commercial enterprise adding value to its signature product.

Using the aforementioned digital repositories, I have located some of the primary source documents that are most frequently referenced here at the museum, in relation to early Native-colonial interactions in Southern New England. In doing so, I have found it best to diversify the search across several different sites, as you will encounter gaps in one collection that will be made up for in another. Also, learning the differences in user interfaces across different platforms reveal some to be more useful than others, depending on your personal search habits and expectations. For example, while keyword searching across titles is a common feature to all, Google Books has the advantage of results returned in a general Google search; and the Internet Archive and Project Gutenberg texts are described with Library of Congress Subject Headings for those accustomed to searching by these headings in library catalogs.

Another feature to look for and take advantage of is the availability of full text keyword searching. I recently used this feature to find a reference to Cantantowit, a figure in Algonquin folklore, which was remembered to be mentioned in the Roger Williams' A Key Into the Language of America- but where? We found it much more quickly by searching the digital text, than we would have thumbing through pages. Note that some PDF documents are not searchable, so alternatively look for an ASCII text version (ASCII documents can be opened in common desktop applications like Microsoft Word or Notepad).

The following is a list of primary source documents available online which directly support the focus of the Mashantucket Pequot Research Library, selected from a representative sample of different hosting sites. Of course, all of these sites may be used to broaden the scope to other topics in Amercian History, or other fields of study.

• Willams, Roger. A Key Into the Language of America. (1643)
  http://www.archive.org/details/keyintolanguageo00will
  


• Hubbard, William. A Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in New-England, from the First Planting Thereof ... to this Present Year 1677 ... To which is added a discourse about the warre with the Pequods in the year 1637 (1814, originally published in 1677)
  http://books.google.com/books?id=VxATAAAAYAAJ
  (Compare with: http://www.archive.org/details/narrativeofindia00hubb)
  


• Higginson, Francis. New-England’s Plantation. (originally published 1630)
  http://books.google.com/books?id=9BXuJEKGbUUC
  (Compare with: http://www.archive.org/details/newenglandsplant00higgrich )
  


• Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut. The Rumored Indian Plot of 1669.
  http://www.colonialct.uconn.edu/ViewPageByPageNew.cfm?v=2&p=548&c=4
  


• Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut. Laws for the Pequots, 1675.
  http://www.colonialct.uconn.edu/ViewPageByPageNew.cfm?v=2&p=574&c=4
  


• Vincent, Philip. A True Relation of the Late Battell fought in New England, between the English, and the Salvages: With the present state of things there. (1637)
  http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/35/
  


• Underhill, John. Newes from America; Or, A New and Experimentall Discoverie of New England; Containing, A True Relation of Their War-like Proceedings These Two Yeares Last Past, with a Figure of the Indian Fort, or Palizado. (1638)
  http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/37/
  


• Mason, John. A Brief History of the Pequot War. (Written ca. 1670, published posthumously in 1736)
  http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/42/
  


• Gardener, Lion. Relation of the Pequot Warres. (1660)
  http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/38/
  


• Apess, William. Indian Nullification of the Unconstitutional Laws of Massachusetts Relative to the Marshpee Tribe Or, the Pretended Riot Explained. (1835)
  http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12486
  
  

Sources consulted in the creation of this article

Stanford University Libraries - CopyRight and Fair Use Overview. Chapter 8: Public Domain
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter8/index.html

Primary Source Sites on the Internet
http://libguides.asu.edu/content.php?pid=6321&sid=39557

Repositories of Primary Sources
http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html

How the Open Source Movement Has Changed Education: 10 Success Stories
http://oedb.org/library/features/how-the-open-source-movement-has-changed-education-10-success-stories

Internet Archive
http://www.archive.org/details/texts

Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Google Books
http://books.google.com/books

Digital Commons at University of Nebraska - Lincoln
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/

The Colonial Connecticut Records Project
http://www.colonialct.uconn.edu/

Resources for Researching Indian Law

(Adapted from: Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, Office of the Secretary of the Tribal Council, www.mptnlaw.com)

This is a brief summary of the tools and resources available for researching decisions of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court and Court of Appeals and the Tribal laws. In addition, this guide contains information and suggestions on researching other tribal court decisions and Federal Indian law in general.

Mashantucket Pequot Tribe
Tribal Laws
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Laws presently are published by the Tribal Court in a set containing the general laws, the Probate Code and Rules of Court. Our call number: REF KF8228.P53 A5

The laws are also available online at http://www.mptnlaw.com/ . This web site is updated as new laws are enacted or amendments to existing laws are made. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Laws can also be accessed through the web site of the State of Connecticut’s Judicial Branch at www.jud.state.ct.us/LawLib/Federal.htm

Tribal Court Decisions
The decisions of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court and the Court of Appeals are published in the Mashantucket Pequot Reporter (call no. REF KF 8228 .P53 A43), a multi-volume set updated 4 times a year. The decisions are also available for your reference at the Tribal Courthouse and at Connecticut State Libraries, including the Courthouse libraries in New London and Norwich.

Another source for obtaining Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court decisions can be found online at http://www.versuslaw.com/ . Versus Law offers a subscription-based database which allows keyword and phrase searching for tribal court decisions, including decisions from the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe and the Mohegan Gaming Disputes Court.

Some of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court decisions also can be obtained through the State of Connecticut’s Judicial Branch at www.jud.state.ct.us/LawLib/Federal.htm#Indian

Additionally, the National Tribal Justice Resource Center website offers links to
various tribal laws and decisions, including some of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court decisions http://www.tribalresourcecenter.org/ .

Other Tribal Courts and Laws
The Indian Law Reporter (call no. REF KF 8201 .A3 I5), is a monthly publication with a subject index, that collects cases concerning Indian law and Tribal law from federal, state and tribal courts from 1975 through the present.

The Native American Law Digest (call no. REF KF 8203.1 .N38) is another resource for obtaining Tribal Court decisions. The Digest is a monthly publication that summarizes legal
decisions and discusses legal developments in the Native American community.

Decisions and laws from other tribes can be obtained through the Tribal Court Clearinghouse at http://www.tribal-institute.org/ and from the National Tribal Justice Resource Center website at http://www.tribalresourcecenter.org/ . These websites provide information concerning tribal court decisions, tribal codes and constitutions for Native American and Alaskan Native tribal
justice systems, along with links to other resources such as federal and state laws, Indian Law Reviews, supreme court decisions, and pending federal legislation.

Federal Indian Law
There are several treatises and casebooks concerning Federal Indian Law. The leading treatise in this area is Felix S. Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law (call no. REF KF 8205 .C6 1982). Some other good references are William C. Canby’s American Indian Law in a Nutshell (REF KF 8205 .Z9 C36 2004) and Cases and Materials on Federal Indian Law, published by Thompson/West (call no. REF KF 8204.5 .G47 2005)

Native American Report (Research Library - Serials Stacks) is an independent news source on Native American issues that covers legislative updates, litigation, federal news, the Federal Register, and funding opportunities.

In addition to searching via Internet, computer-assisted legal research services such as Westlaw (fee-based) are available. Westlaw provides access to federal and state cases, statutes, and administrative regulations through searchable databases. Specifically, Westlaw has a database called Native American Law in which cases, statutes, and rules can be accessed, as well as law reviews and periodicals relating to Indian law. Title 25 of the United States Code (25 U.S.C.) and Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations (25 C.F.R.) contain the majority of federal statutes and regulations concerning Indians.

Another source for receiving updates on current legal issues in Indian Country can be found
at various web sites, including http://www.pechanga.net/ and http://www.indianz.com/ .