Thanks to Kathy Kelly, MSLS, C.A. for this guest post: E-Gov Resources on Native Americans and Tribal Issues.
Read on...
Numerous government agencies at all levels and citizens need information to handle issues related to the rights and needs of Native Americans and tribes. Below are some federal government web sites which can serve as starting points for research on these issues.
USA.gov
USA.gov is a portal to official information and services of the U.S. government. Perhaps lesser known is the fact that this site serves as a great index to subjects of interest via topic or audience type, as well as pointers to state and local government resources on subjects of interest. In terms of Native American and tribal resources, USA.gov's option to browse by audience type (http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Audiences.shtml) allows you to access this information tailored for specific audience groups: for Citizens; for Businesses and Nonprofits; and for Governments.
The "Citizens" audience group page is enhanced by two major sections: 1. Get It Done Online (for job applications, tracing Indian ancestry, etc.); and 2. a thematic cluster to explore issues such as Cultural Resources, Legal Resources, Tribal Lands and the Environment, and more. The "Businesses and Nonprofits" audience group page goes straight to the Small Business Administration's Office of Native American Affairs web site, which hosts a variety of information on business development and expansion tools for American Indians, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians.
DOI Library's Native Americans Site
The Department of the Interior (DOI) Library offers a comprehensive page of Native American information, organized by a number of helpful frameworks. First, it offers E-Books from the Gale Virtual Reference Library, broken down by American Indian Biographies, Culture, History, Tribes, and relevant special encyclopedias. While these E-Books are accessible from DOI locations only, the Native Americans site goes on to offer links to web sites accessible to all, organized by categories of News, Tribal Governments, Non-Federal Organizations, U.S. Government Organizations, Guides to Federal Records, Legal Resources, Bibliographies, Digital Libraries, and Directories of Internet Sites on Native Americans.
Check out the USA.gov Native American audience group pages, and the DOI Library's Native Americans site for excellent gateways to Native American and tribal info for many audiences, subjects, and services.
***Kathy Kelly is a librarian and certified archivist with environmental expertise and project management experience in the federal contracting sector.