Learn more about Native Americans During November

The Robert R. Muntz Library has a book display in observance of National Native American Heritage Month. In the course of putting together that display, I found various links to website and free online resources that may be of interest. Here is the list:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• The Indian Health Service, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has a page honoring National Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. Some of the posters I used on the display come from this page. They have various resources of interest and links to other agencies with relevant information.
• Want some more posters? The U.S. Air Force has a few here.
• This is the federal website for Native American Heritage Month. It is an information portal created by various federal agencies.
• President Obama hosted a Tribal Nations Conference this month. President Obama delivered remarks, and you can view them via the White House blog here. You can view more of the conference and get some transcripts via C-SPAN here.
• Federal agencies often have their own proclamations and statements to go along with a federal observance. For example, from the Administration on Aging, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,  here is the statement from Kathy Greenlee, Assistant Secretary for Aging, for National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month.
• Jefferson Keel, President of the National Congress of American Indians, has released a statement for the month. The NCAI is a tribal governments association.
• U.S. embassies around the world often highlight federal observances like this as part of their mission to showcase the U.S. around the world. For example, here is page on American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month created at the U.S. Embassy in Japan. These pages are meant for local people, but they make a good way for us here in the U.S. to see how the U.S. presents itself around the world.
• You may want to visit the website for the National Museum of the American Indian, part of the Smithsonian. From the website, “The National Museum of the American Indian is the sixteenth museum of the Smithsonian Institution. It is the first national museum dedicated to the preservation, study, and exhibition of the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of Native Americans. Established by an act of Congress in 1989, the museum works in collaboration with the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere to protect and foster their cultures by reaffirming traditions and beliefs, encouraging contemporary artistic expression, and empowering the Indian voice.”
  
• The National Park Service has a feature for National American Indian Heritage Month. One of the things the NPS does is highlight places in the National Park System listed for American Indian Heritage.
  
• The U.S. Census Bureau has published a Facts for Features article with facts and figures about Native Americans. I particularly like the Facts for Features series because it compiles in a convenient place all sorts of statistics on any given topic. For example, did you know that there are 160,471 American Indian and Alaska Native veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces in the U.S.?
• The Centers for Disease Control have a page for health issues related to American Indian and Native Alaskans. You can find demographic data, leading causes of death, various informative brochures, and a many other resources.
• Another organization with medical interest for Native Americans is the Association of American Indian Physicians. Here is some of the work they do, from their website: “A major goal of AAIP is to motivate American Indian and Alaskan Native students to remain in the academic pipeline and to pursue a career in the health professions and/or biomedical research, thereby increasing the number of American Indian and Alaskan Native medical professionals in the workforce.”
• This is the official website of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Here is a bit of what they do, from the BIA website: “The United States has a unique legal and political relationship with Indian tribes and Alaska Native entities as provided by the Constitution of the United States, treaties, court decisions and Federal statutes. Within the government-to-government relationship, Indian Affairs provides services directly or through contracts, grants, or compacts to 564 Federally recognized tribes with a service population of about 1.9 million American Indian and Alaska Natives.”
• The Office for Victims of Crime, part of the U.S. Department of Justice, has a listing with resources of interest here. The list is not too prominent, but if you search the website, you can find more information.
• The U.S. Geological Survey has been creating some very nice posters for the observance. You can view and download them here. If you visit the link, you can also learn about the work of the USGS Native American Tribal Liaison Team.
• Various libraries around the nation create websites and resource lists for these observances. For example, the Madison (WI) Public Library has a page with reading lists and links to other resources of interest. If you are looking for some reading ideas, you can look over their lists. You can then check our library’s catalog via our website to see if we have the title or not. This is in addition to the books we have placed on our display case this month. As always, if you wish to find books on this or other topics, you can stop by or contact our Reference Desk.
• The Programming Librarian, a resource from the American Library Association Public Programs Office, offers a post on “Native American Heritage Month” with links to reading lists, other resources, and examples of how other libraries are celebrating.
• Want more reading ideas? Want to learn about perspectives of indigenous peoples in children’s books? There is a blog for that. You can visit American Indians in Children’s Literature, a blog maintained by Debbie Reese, former teacher and now professor in the American Indian Studies Program at UIUC. She has an extensive list of books, but she also writes on other topics related to indigenous peoples.
• And finally, find more resources for teachers and librarians related to native theme from YA author Cynthia Leitich Smith.

 

Muntz Library Features Book Display for Hispanic Heritage Month

The Robert R. Muntz Library is featuring a book display in observance of National Hispanic Heritage Month.  National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15 annually. This month celebrates “the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. The day of September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September18, respectively. Also, Columbus Day or Día de la Raza, which is October 12, falls within this 30 day period” (from the site linked above).

We are displaying some books and material that may be of interest. The display is located in the library’s third floor. Like other displays, books  on display are available to be checked out. If you look them up in the catalog, and they show as checked out, they are “checked out” to our display case. Just let us know at the reference desk, and we will be happy to open the case so you can take the book and read it. We really want people to read our books, which is why we display them. Books, unless otherwise noted, are usually in the library’s general collection in the third floor. The books are listed, in no particular order, with their call numbers:

• Andrew Garrod, Mi Voz, Mi Vida: Latino College Students Tell their Lives. LC2670.6 .M58 2007.
• Elizabeth Sutherland Martínez, 500 Years of Chicana Women’s History. E184 .M5 M375 2008.
• David T. Abalos, Latinos in the United States: the Sacred and the Political. E184 .S75 A63 2007.
• Gregory Rodríguez, Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans, and Vagabonds: Mexican Immigration and the Future of Race in America. E184 .M5 R587 2008. We have a copy in the Bestseller Collection and a second copy in the third floor General Collection. We placed the General Collection copy in the display.
• Anna Marie Ortiz, Addressing the Unique Needs of Latino Students. LC2670.6 .A35 2004.
• Rosario Díaz-Greenberg, The Emergence of Voice in Latino/a High School Students. LC2670.4 .D53 2003.
• Carlos Fuentes, The Eagle’s Throne: A Novel. PQ7297 .F793 S5513 2006.
• Roberto Bolaño, 2666. PQ 8098.12 .O38 A12213 2008 (Bestseller Collection; this is an English translation).
• Angeles Mastretta, Mujeres de Ojos Grandes. PQ7298.23.A795 M85 2003.
• Alberto Fuguet, Por Favor, Rebobinar. PQ8098.16.U48 P6 1999.
• Mario Vargas Llosa, Death in the Andes. PQ8498.32.A65 L5813 1997 (English translation of Lituma en los Andes).
• Edwin Williamson, Borges, A Life. PQ7797 .B635 Z953 2004.
• Alfredo Bryce Echenique, El Huerto de mi Amada. PQ8498.12 .R94 H84 2002.
• Miguel Angel Asturias, Leyendas de Guatemala. PQ7499.A75 L4 1999.
• Gabriel García Márquez, El Amor en los Tiempos del Cólera. PQ8180.17.A73 A8 1996.
• Gabriel García Márquez. Love in the Time of Cholera. PQ8180.17 .A73 A813 2003 (This is the English translation).

Annenberg Classroom

Want to learn more about our Constitution? While this resource is designed for teachers and includes lesson plans and other neat resources, I think this would be a great place for any of us who want a “refresher”.  http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/