Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 1: Introduction

The Handbook of North American Indians series—the most monumental summary of knowledge on indigenous peoples of the USA, Canada, and Northern Mexico—was designed by the staff of the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) Department of Anthropology in the 1960s and, in 2022, culminates with Volume 1, edited by Igor Krupnik. Involving more than 70 contributors from the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Germany, including indigenous contributors from across North America, with 35 chapters and more than 7,400 bibliography entries, Volume 1 presents new perspectives on the history of North America’s indigenous societies, issues facing North American indigenous communities in the 21st century, a thorough update of the studies of Native American indigenous peoples, and the first-ever history of the Handbook project. Volume 1 is an innovative collection of new contributions written in 2015–2017 and is organized in five sections that reflect the series’ three-pronged mission: to look forward, to update and assess developments in Native American research, and to account for the history of the Handbook initiative and its legacy. With Volume 1, the Handbook of North American Indians series concludes.

This open access digital monograph is made available at no charge by the publisher, Smithsonian Scholarly Press. To purchase print copies, check the Government Publishing Office bookstore.