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=American Indian Art, Music, Dance, and Spirituality: A Pathfinder=

Are you a North Carolina high-schooler enrolled in an American Indian Studies class? Then this website is for you! It was created to provide you with resources that will help you meet the North Carolina Standard Course of Study Objective 4.03: "Demonstrate a general knowledge of American Indian art, music and spirituality, including the modern day pow wow."

As you might already have guessed, this topic is HUGE. (To get an idea of how big it is, think about how much you have to study in order to gain a general knowledge of European art, music, and religious practices.) It also requires us to define a lot of terms. For instance, what do we mean by "American Indian"? When does an object count as "art"? And what exactly is "spirituality"?

You will find more discussion of these questions in the sources listed in other parts of this site. But in general, this pathfinder focuses on the cultures of Native American tribes living in the area now known as the continental United States. It use the following definitions:


 * American Indian art** - Includes anything that a Native American (or Native Americans) created to be visually appealing and to have meaning beyond its everyday use.


 * American Indian music** - Includes not only specific songs created by Native Americans and traditional Native American musical styles, but also music created by contemporary Native Americans in genres like hip-hop and country. Some Native American music is meant to be performed with specific dances, so a study of that music should also include information about dance.


 * American Indian spirituality** - Includes Native American tribes' beliefs about supernatural beings, the creation of the natural world, and humanity's origins; also includes the religious rituals and ceremonies used by Native Americans to express those beliefs.

Many Native American spiritual ceremonies involve music, dance, and art. Thus, Native American art, music, and spirituality can sometimes be closely intertwined. When doing research, keep in mind that resources about one topic - such as music - will usually also contain some information about other topics - such as spirituality. (This is true about all cultures. Gregorian chants and Eastern Orthodox icons are examples of European musical and artistic forms that were created for spiritual purposes.) This pathfinder describes books, newspapers, magazines, DVDs, and online resources (databases, websites, images, streaming audio and video) that will help you begin researching Native American culture. You might want to start by looking at some of the sources listed on the General Resources page. But no pathfinder can include every interesting or relevant source on a broad topic like this one. You can (and should!) use the search strategies provided below to help you locate more materials in your local library's catalog and in online databases. You should also check out the page on evaluating information. It offers tips to help you decide how reliable a particular book, website, or other source might be.
 * Okay - so where do I start?**

If you are browsing in a library's stacks, you will probably find the most relevant sources by looking for these call numbers:
 * Search strategies - Dewey Decimal numbers**


 * 299.7** - Books about religions of Native North American origin are classified under this number
 * 704.0397** - Books about the art of Native North Americans receive this classification number.
 * 780.89** - This number is used for books about music created by various ethnic and national groups
 * 970.00497** - This number is used for books about the history of Native North Americans. You may also find material nearby in **970.1**-**970.4**.

If you are searching a library catalog or online database, you may want to start by looking up materials using these subject headings: Indians of North America--Art Indians of North America--Music Indians of North America--Songs and music Indians of North America--Dance Indians of North America--Religious life Indians of North America--Rites and ceremonies
 * Search strategies - Subject headings**

You can narrow your search by specifying a particular state or geographic area, like this: Indians of North America--Great Plains--Rites and ceremonies Indians of North America--Southern States--Music Indians of North America--North Carolina--Art

You can also search under the name of a particular tribe or individual. For example: Cherokee Indians Lumbee Indians Martinez, Maria Keep in mind that smaller libraries (and smaller databases) will have fewer books on specific Native American tribes and individuals. If your local library is small, you may have to use chapters from books on Native Americans in general, or start looking in other places.


 * Search Strategies - Keyword searches**
 * General** - If you can't find anything under "Indians of North America" or "American Indians", try searching for "Native Americans" or "First Nations". (Native American tribes are referred to as the First Nations in Canada.) The names of specific tribes or artists/musicians/spiritual leaders make great keywords.


 * Art** - Try specifying the art form by typing in "Native Americans beadwork", "weaving", "painting", "photography", etc.


 * Music and Dance** - Again, trying narrowing down the results for "Native American" by adding something specific like the name of a particular dance, or "flute", "drum", "pow wow", "rap music" ... you get the idea.


 * Spirituality** - In some sources, you may find information about Native American spirituality under "mythology", "folklore", or "folk beliefs". In others, a search for "religion" or "ceremonies" might produce better results.

When all else fails, browsing something from the general resources page should give you ideas for keyword searches - and maybe some leads on specific sources to look for, too! But don't forget to look closely at your sources so that you can be sure that you are getting reliable information.