Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Part I & II

 

Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Part I & II is an authoritative reference work providing an exhaustive compilation of historical, ethnographic, linguistic, and cultural information on Native American peoples throughout the United States and Canada. Originally published under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution’s Bureau of American Ethnology, this two-volume set remains one of the most comprehensive resources for scholars, historians, and students of Indigenous studies.

The handbook covers hundreds of Indigenous nations, tribes, and bands, documenting their histories, social organization, languages, customs, religious practices, material culture, and interactions with European settlers and the United States government. It also includes information on treaties, conflicts, migrations, and demographic changes, making it an indispensable tool for understanding the complexities of Native American life across time and geography.

Part I and Part II together provide alphabetically arranged entries, supported by extensive bibliographies and references to primary sources. The volumes integrate the knowledge of ethnologists, historians, and linguists of the early 20th century, offering a foundation for later research while reflecting the scholarly perspectives of the period. Although some interpretations reflect the biases of their time, the handbook remains invaluable for tracing historical records, tribal histories, and cross-cultural comparisons.

Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Part I

Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Part II

Lack of knowledge of the aborigines and of their languages led to many errors on the part of the early explorers and settlers. Soon after the organization of the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1879, the work of recording a tribal synonymy was formally assigned to Henry W. Henshaw. The 2,500 tribal names and synonyms appearing in this list were taken chiefly from James Mooney's manuscript; the linguistic classification was the result of the work that the Bureau had been conducting under Henshaw's supervision. The handbook contains a descriptive list of the stocks, confederacies, tribes, tribal divisions, and settlements north of Mexico, accompanied by the various names by which these have been known, together with biographies of Indians of note, sketches of their history, archeology, manners, arts, customs, and institutions, and the aboriginal words incorporated into the English language.