Read and Experience: Native American Heritage Month : University of Dayton, Ohio

Dignity for All

The University of Dayton’s mission as a Catholic and Marianist institution is rooted in the belief that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God and has a fundamental dignity that transcends faith, nationality, race, social status and identity. As such, the University is committed to being a place of welcome, respect and intellectual inquiry. By shedding light on hidden and incomplete histories, this blog post validates the dignity, agency and authorship of people and cultures underrepresented in libraries and curricula. Read more about UD’s mission.

The University of Dayton Libraries celebrates Native American Heritage Month in November to honor Indigenous peoples in the United States, including Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and people from Island communities. Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and affiliated Island communities.To begin with, we acknowledge that we at the University of Dayton are on the traditional land of the Osage, Shawandasse Tula (Shawanwaki/Shawnee), Kaskaskia, Adena culture, Myaamia, and Hopewell culture.

In keeping with Catholic social teaching principles of solidarity and the dignity of all, we can honor these nations by becoming aware of their stories. This is not an easy investigation, however, because conducting this research presents unique challenges, as Euro-American historical accounts have frequently anglicized, distorted, or completely omitted Indigenous names, traditions, and legacies—demonstrated when early settlers substituted "Miami" for Myaamia or when archaeologists hypothesized the Mounder Builder civilization separate from the Shawnee.

On Display

A display including the following titles is on the first floor of Roesch Library.

Ancient Earthen Enclosures of the Eastern Woodlands, by Robert C. Mainfort and Lynne P. Sullivan (1998)
The Boundaries Between Us: Natives and Newcomers Along the Frontiers of the Old Northwest Territory, 1750-1850, by Daniel P. Barr (2006)
Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, by John E. Hancock (2026)
Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Ohio, by United States National Park Service (2015)
Indigenous Prosperity and American Conquest: Indian Women of the Ohio River Valley, 1690-1792, by Susan Sleeper-Smith
Lessons from Turtle Island: Native Curriculum in Early Childhood Classrooms, by Guy W. Jones and Sally Moomaw (2002)
Mysteries of the Hopewell: Astronomers, Geometers, and Magicians of the Eastern Woodlands, by William F. Romain (2000)
Old Chillicothe: Shawnee and Pioneer History; Conflicts and Romances in the Northwest Territory, by William Albert Galloway (1934)
Ohio & the World, 1753-2053: Essays Toward a New History of Ohio, by Geoffrey Parker, Richard Sisson, and William Russell Coil (2005)
Shamans of the Lost World: A Cognitive Approach to the Prehistoric Religion of the Ohio Hopewell, by William F. Romain (2009)
Shawnee! The Ceremonialism of a Native Indian Tribe and Its Cultural Background, by James H. Howard (1981)
The Shawnees and Their Neighbors, 1795-1870, by Stephen Warren (2005)
Sunwatch: Fort Ancient Development in the Mississippian World, by Robert A. Cook (2008)
That Dark and Bloody River: Chronicles of the Ohio River Valley, by Allan W. Eckert (1995)
Travelers Guide to Ancient Ohio, by John E. Hancock (2026)
View From the Medicine Lodge, by Jim Great Elk Waters (2002)

For additional titles, browse the Libraries’ Native American Heritage Month Collection Spotlight.

Suggested Destinations

In addition, if you'd like to engage with the knowledge in person, a short drive away from UD is SunWatch Village, which features a re-creation of the Fort Ancient culture. On Nov. 12, as part of SunWatch’s guest lecture series, scholar and researcher Joe Stahlman will present “Reclaiming the Feast: Why the Real History of Thanksgiving Matters for a Divided World.”

Other Ohio earthwork structures you can visit:

The newest gems to the Dayton area are the Great Council State Park and Museum, which celebrates thousands of years of Shawnee history and has guided tours as well as workshops and demonstrations. Caesar’s Ford Theatre is currently circulating the film Stomping Freedom. Watch the trailer.