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About this Guide

Note: Many of the databases and/or article links referenced in this guide require CaneID authentication through the the UM Library system unless denoted by the "open access" symbol. 
online access
*peer-reviewed
  open access

Collections Online

American Museum of Natural History 
Division of Anthropology 


Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)
Indigenous Collections

Indigenous art at the AGO currently includes works from the First Peoples of North America, namely First Nations, Inuit, and Metis. The collection also includes global Indigenous Art from Africa, Australia, and the Torres Strait Islands.

Denver Art Museum
The American Indian Art collection represents the artistic works of nearly every tribe across the United States and Canada and all artistic traditions created within these cultures from prehistoric times to the present. 

Institute of American Indian Arts (IIAIA) 

Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA)
 
Located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, MoCNA is the country’s only museum for exhibiting, collecting, and interpreting the most progressive work of contemporary Native artists.

Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Art of Native America Collection 

National Gallery of Canada Indigenous Art
Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Canada includes works from Aboriginal Peoples of Canada as well as art from indigenous peoples around the globe.

National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI)
One of the most extensive collections of Native American arts and artifacts in the world—approximately 266,000 catalog records (825,000 items) representing over 12,000 years of history and more than 1,200 indigenous cultures throughout the Americas. 

Pitt Rivers Museum Haida Collections

Seneca-Iroquis National Museum, Salamanca, NY
Collections consist of items from the Six Hodinöhsö:ni’ Nations – Seneca, Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga and Tuscarora- Or also known as the Iroquois.

Virginia Museum of Fine Art (VMFA)
 Includes objects dating from prehistoric times to the present day. Geographic regions that are particularly well represented include the Arctic North, Northwest Coast, Plains, and Southwest.

Funding Resources

Best Online Guide to Scholarships and Resources for Native American Master's Students  https://www.onlinemastersdegrees.org/financial-aid/scholarships/native-american-alaskan-students/

UM Libraries Land Acknowledgement

The University of Miami acknowledges the ancestral and traditional territories of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Council of the Original Miccosukee Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida who are the original owners and custodians of the land upon which we stand and learn.

Virgil Ortiz
Cochiti Pueblo

Archival Resources & Web Portals

Bureau of Indian Affairs Photographs (Finding Aid)

Indigenous Digital Archive (IDA)
Museum of Indigenous Arts & Culture, New Mexico Holds over 500,000 archival documents about Santa Fe Indian School, boarding school records, yearbooks, and letters.

D'Arcy McNickel Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies. Newberry Library, Chicago, IL

Native American Spaces: Cartographic Resources at the Library of Congress

Plateau Peoples' Web Portal
This Portal is a collaborative gateway to Plateau peoples' cultural materials held in multiple repositories including WSU's Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections, the Northwest Museum of Art and Culture, the National Anthropological Archives, the Library of Congress, the American Philosophical Society, and the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institution.

University of Miami Library Archival Resources

Special Collectons / Kislak Center 
Home to a wide array of rare books, manuscripts, archival collections, photographs and audio-visual items, maps, architectural drawings, artists’ books, zines, photographic collections, and other research materials that document the history of Florida, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and beyond.


Jamie Okuma. Boots. (DET) 2013-14.

Exhibition Spotlights

In Our Hands: Native Photography, 1890 to Now
October 22, 2023-January 14, 2024
Target Gallery, Minneapolis Institute of Art
Native photography, as framed by generations of First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and Native American photographers themselves. Check out the audio/visual guide online.

Organizations

American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers 
The AICAE is a non-profit corporation established in 1976. Its membership is comprised of American Indian architecture, engineering, and design professionals through out the United States of America.

Association on American Indian Affairs


First Nations Development Institute

Institute of American Indian Art (IAIA)
Through the concept of art as a traditional path of creativity, IAIA excels at skill building, provoking thought and providing exceptional educational opportunities. IAIA is a place to embrace the past, enrich the present, and create the future, moving ahead to paths yet unexplored and undiscovered.

Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA)

Native American Graves Protection Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) 

Print Materials & Archives

Don't forget about books! 

Lake-Thom, Bobby. Spirits of the Earth: A Guide to Native American Nature Symbols, Stories, and Ceremonies . New York: Plume, 1997. E98.F6 L25  

Milanich, Jerald T. Florida's Indians from Ancient times to the Present /. Gainesville: U of Florida, 1998. 

Subject Specialist

  • Gilda Santana

    Director, Architecture Research Center / Art & Art History Librarian

    gsantana@miami.edu

    305-284-5282

Contact Information

Architecture Research Center 
1223 Dickinson Drive
University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL 33146
Phone: 305.284.5282
E-mail: um.arc@miami.edu
            Follow us on

Collections Online

British Museum Andean Collection

Gold Museum Colombia
Extraordinary Precolumbian artifacts from the Tairona; Zenú; Urabá y Chocó; Quimbaya; Muisca; Tolima; Calima; Cauca; Tierradentro; San Agustín; Nariño and Tumaco cultures.

Lowe Art Museum Central and South American Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art
 
Lowe Art Museum Art of the Ancient Americas

Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú (MNAAHP)
Holding over 40,000 pieces MNAAHP is considered the most comprehensive collection of arqueological textiles of the Americas from the Archaic and Pre ceramic era (2500 BCE) through the Inca period. (1400-1532 d. C.). 

University of Miami Libraries Land Acknowledgement

The University of Miami acknowledges the ancestral and traditional territories of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Council of the Original Miccosukee Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida who are the original owners and custodians of the land upon which we stand and learn.

 
Nazca Hummingbird Embroidery. 100-600 BCE
British Museum

UM Libraries Finding Aids

Stephen Stein Retablos Collection
This collection contains research notes, reports, documents, pamphlets, and 3D objects from Stephen Stein, a history professor at the University of Miami. Most of his research captures the history, traditional, and political climate of South America in the 20th century with a focus on Peru as a center of study. 

E-Resources

Anawalt, Patricia Rieff, and NetLibrary, Inc. Indian Clothing before Cortés: Mesoamerican Costumes from the Codices. First ed. Norman:U of Oklahoma, 1981. Civilization of the American Indian Ser.; v. 156. Web.

Stoddard, Richard Henry, and Bayard Taylor. The life, travels and books of Alexander von Humboldt. Rudd & Carleton, 1859. Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500-1926.

Print Resources

Mauldin, Barbara, and Blair Clark. Folk Art of the Andes. Museum of New Mexico Press, 2011.

Thompson, Angela. Textiles of Central and South America. Wiltshire {Eng.]:Crowood, 2006. Print.
 

Mesoamerican Civilizations

Preclassic or Early Formative Period: 1000 BCE to 500 CE
  • Olmec
Classic Period: 500-1200 CE
  • Maya
  • Toltec
Post-Classic Period: 1200 CE - European colonization
  • Maya
  • Aztec

Bonampak Mural of Procession of Musicians.
Maya Civilzation, Chiapas, MX

University of Miami Libraries Land Acknowledgement

The University of Miami acknowledges the ancestral and traditional territories of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Council of the Original Miccosukee Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida who are the original owners and custodians of the land upon which we stand and learn.
 

UML Digital Collections & Resources

Art of the Ancient Americas Lowe Art Museum

Beaker. Nasca (Southcoast Peru). 

Mesoamerican Artifacts from the Jay I. Kislak Collection 
Available through the Library of Congress

Detail of Maya Vessel. 7th-8th century.
Attributed to the Metropolitan Painter
Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

Article Indexes & Databases

Archives & E-Resource Portals

Exploring the Maya World
British Museum and Google Arts & Culture collaboration

FAMSI Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. 

The Pre-Columbian Photograph and Fieldwork Archives at Dumbarton Oaks comprise images of objects, archaeological sites, architecture, monuments, maps, major codices, and illustrations. The holdings document places and objects from Mesoamerica, the Intermediate Area, and the Andes, and cover around 2,000 years of history.

eHRAF Archaeology (Human Relations Area Files)
Focuses on in-depth descriptive documents of archaeological traditions from around the world. 

Cultures and History of the Americas: The Jay I. Kislak Collection at the Library of Congress

Eyre, Chris, Bc Smith, Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Irene Bedard, Gary Farmer, Tantoo Cardinal, Sherman Alexie, Smith, BC, Miramax Films, Shadowcatcher Entertainment, and Miramax Home Entertainment. Smoke Signals. United States]: Miramax Home Entertainment, 1998. Print. Miramax Classics.

Luther, Billy, Crystal Frazier, David Benjamin Steinberg, Independent Television Service, World of Wonder, and Cinema Guild. Miss Navajo. Standard Format. ed. New York, NY: Cinema Guild, 2007. Print.

Wacks, Jonathan, A. Martinez, Gary Farmer, Amanda Wyss, David Seals, Barry Goldberg, James Austin Stewart, Toyomichi Kurita, Handmade Films, StarMaker Entertainment Inc, and Paragon Entertainment Corporation. Powwow Highway. Widescreen. ed. Place of Publication Not Identified]: StarMaker : Paragon Entertainment, 2004.

University of Miami Libraries Land Acknowledgement

The University of Miami acknowledges the ancestral and traditional territories of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Council of the Original Miccosukee Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida who are the original owners and custodians of the land upon which we stand and learn.