Books about Indigenous Peoples
The Gregory Javitch Collection comprises over 2,500 volumes related to Indigenous peoples and cultures in what is now North and South America. The University of Alberta Library acquired the Javitch Collection in 1980, as half donation and half purchase. It was the finest private collection of its kind in Canada at the time, and it is a cornerstone of the holdings in Bruce Peel Special Collections. Beginning in 1960, Gregory Javitch (1898–1980) became increasingly interested in the histories and cultures of Indigenous peoples. His interest was due, in part, to the parallels that he saw with his own experience as a Russian Jew who had fled from persecution in Europe. He started to collect books (including rare books), photographs, and pamphlets that offered multiple, in-depth perspectives on Indigenous culture. The Javitch Collection has many themes, including materials on Indigenous customs, dances, music, stories, and traditions, as well as treaties and removal grants, and includes Indigenous-language books. It also includes some European exploration narratives. Search "Gregory Javitch Collection" in the University of Alberta Library catalogue. More than 500 books from the Javitch Collection can be viewed through Gale's Indigenous Peoples of North America database, and a selection of these books can be viewed through the Internet Archive.
Collection Formats: Books, Photographs -- click to see other collections with this format
Volumes from The North American Indian series by Edward Curtis published between 1908 and 1930 (E 77 C97 1907 folio v.1-20).
Linderman, Frank B. Indian Why Stories: Sparks from War Eagle's Lodge-fire. Illustrated by Charles M. Russell (E 98 F6 L75 1915).
This is the third French edition of Abraham Ortelius’s pioneering atlas, Theatre de l’univers (1587), and contains an early map of America (G 1006 T37 F8 1587 folio).
This pop-up book, entitled The Day of the Bison Hunt, was illustrated by Czech artist Vojtech Kubašta and was printed in Czechoslovakia in 1962 (E77.4 D39 1962 folio).
Valentini, Phillipp JJ and Juan Pío Pérez Bermón. The Katunes of Maya History, A Chapter in the Early History of Central America was published with another title (Mexican Copper Tools) in 1880 (F 1219.3 M52 V162 1880).