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About
The Sequoyah Research Center supports the activities of the American Native Press Archives by providing physical space, technology and web site management, grant writing and other public and private funding efforts, administrative functions, and related activities. The Center is named in honor of the Sequoyah, the great Cherokee linguist, who completed his syllabary for the Cherokee language while living on Cherokee lands within the boundaries of Arkansas Territory.
Long-range plans include the construction of a facility to house the Center and the Archives, currently housed in two areas on the University of Arkansas at Little Rock campus. This facility will bring collections, staff, and patrons together in what will be a more efficient operation.
The American Native Press Archives began in 1983 as a clearinghouse for information on American Indian and Alaska Native newspapers and periodicals. In the ensuing years, it has evolved from a joint effort of the Department of English and the Ottenheimer Library to a freestanding unit in the University. Its mission has changed from an information exchange to a research facility that collects and archives the products of the Native press and materials related to Native press history, collects and documents the works of Native writers, constructs bibliographic guides to Native writing and publishing, creates digital editions of writers' works, and conducts and publishes original research on topics of importance to Indian communities. It stands today as one of the world’s largest repositories of Native thought.
Native Press History Resources
Newspaper and periodical resources
Although the newspaper and periodical collections contain many older titles, the emphasis is the post-World War II period. To supplement these collections, the Archives maintains an ongoing policy of purchasing microform copies of titles that are unavailable in hard copy.
Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr., and James W. Parins established the base file during the 1980-1985 American Indian and Alaska Native Newspapers and Periodicals Project. This project culminated in the publication of a three-volume reference guide to Native newspapers and periodicals (Greenwood Press, 1982-1985). Today, the estimated number of serial titles maintained by the Archives in both hard copy and microform is about 2200, covering the period 1828 to the present.
Papers of the Native American Journalists Association
This massive collection of archival material, covering the period 1984 to the present, contains the official records of the largest and most significant press organization in Native publishing. Because the Archives is the official repository for the organization, this collection grows as the Native American Journalists Association continues to make press history.
Other press history resources
The Archives maintains a number of smaller manuscripts collections, including the Leslie Newell Collection, which contains Newell’s research files for her thesis on First Amendment and Native newspapers, the first significant study on that subject. Other collections include the papers of individual journalists, publishers, and free-lance writers.
Additionally, the Archives maintains records on Alaska Native and Indian publications from 1826 to the present, including content, editors and publishers, dates and places of publication, and other data.
Native American Literature Resources
Native writers files
The Archives maintains files on an estimated 4000 Native writers, most for the periodical press, with emphasis on the century preceding 1925. This collection, which includes bibliographic and biographical information and copies of the writers’ works, is based on Littlefield and Parins, A Bibliography of Native American Writers, 1772-1924 (Scarecrow Press, 1981) and its supplement (Scarecrow Press, 1985), which have been the standard bibliographies for the study of Native writers for that period. The Archives has sought to acquire copies of all serials cited in these bibliographies in whatever form available. Because periodical publication accounted for perhaps 95% of published writings by Natives before 1925, the Archives is the world’s most comprehensive resource center for the study of Native literature during that era.
The Archives also maintains extensive files on native periodical literature since 1925 and has supplemented its Native periodical literature resources through the systematic and extensive acquisition of nonperiodical publications by Native writers in all eras.
Bibliographic files
The Archives has continued to update its bibliographic record of Native writers before 1925 and is continuously engaged in the construction of bibliographies covering the period 1925 to the present. The result of this work is available on line through the comprehensive "Bibliography of Native Writers, 1772-present."
Additional Resources
The Native press and literature collections of the American Native Press Archives are supported by collections of historical materials in the form of manuscripts, ephemera, books, pamphlets, and microfilm. The latter is extensive, relating in large measure to tribes and nations in the region, especially the Quapaws, Osages, Caddoes, Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles, and Muscogees (Creeks), as well as other groups such as the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, Pawnees, Kiowas, and Comanches. In addition, the collection contains material as widely diverse as the records of agencies, such as the Dawes Commission and the federal courts of the Indian Territory, and transcripts of WPA interviews in Oklahoma. The Archives maintains an extensive file on organizations of Indian peoples from all over North America, including social, professional, political, and special interest groups.
Ongoing and Future Activities
Acquisitions
The objectives of the American Native Press Archives are to create and maintain as comprehensive collection of Native newspapers and periodicals as possible, to expand and develop existing special collections, and to acquire others related to Native press history and literature.
Serials
The Archives will continue to collect serials currently received and acquire files of newly established serials as well as backfiles of serials currently published but not presently received. When possible, it is the desire of the Archives to acquire files of titles no longer published and to establish microform files of titles unavailable in hard copy.
Nonserials
Native publications such as tribal directories, resource guides, books by Native writers, and pamphlets are a few of the nonserials now collected and sought by the Archives. Other materials include audio files of Native radio broadcasting and video files of Native television productions and broadcasts.
Special Collections
The Archives will continue to serve in its capacity as the archives for the Native American Journalists Association and the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers & Storytellers. The Archives also seeks other private collections pertinent to the Native media industry and to Native literary activity.
Cataloging and indexing
The objectives of the Archives are to provide better community access to the collections and to develop resources for providing access to their content by expanding the existing bibliographies of the Native press and literature, by creating additional indexes, and by updating its website on a regular basis.
Public Access
ANPA will continue to make available its materials to patrons engaged in serious research into Indian life and history. Efforts in filming and digitizing fragile materials will continue as will as developing useful finding aids. ANPA will seek to make more of its resources available on line to serve patrons across North America and overseas.
Facilities
The collections of the American Native Press Archives are maintained in the 301A Ottenheimer Library.
Services
The collections of the American Native Press Archives are archival. They do not circulate; neither are they available on interlibrary loan. They are made available for in-facility use by the University Archives staff during regular operating hours: 8:00-5:00 Monday through Thursday and 8-4:45 Friday. Materials in process in Stabler Hall are available for use by appointment. The Archives will continue to make available on line resources for those unable to travel to its facilities.
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