By Cassandra Clark

Beginning in 2008, staff at the American West Center of the University of Utah, the Marriot Library, Utah?s Division of Indian Affairs, and the Department of Heritage and Arts worked together to create the Utah American Indian Digital Archive (UAIDA). This keyword searchable online digital archive contains primary and secondary sources pertaining to Utah?s American Indian Peoples. The archive offers tribal members, professional researchers, and patrons the opportunity to participate in Utah?s diverse and interesting history by viewing digital copies of documents, photographs, maps, and recordings and transcripts of oral histories. The collection contains sources relating to the Northwestern Shoshone, Goshute, Paiute, Utah Navajo, White Mesa, and Ute Indians to offer a wide selection of resources to educate patrons about Utah?s complex cultural past.

For the past two years, AWC staff worked with the Church History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints to research and digitize documents housed in their collection. These sources and many others are now available on the UAIDA website. Examples of resources include, selected papers from the Brigham Young Office files, specifically his interactions with Chief Walker, Arrowpeen, and letters from settlers discussing interactions with local Indians. One can read journals from LDS missionaries sent to work among Utah Indian tribes and court documents pertaining to the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Visitors will find images of tribal documents, maps, and photographs from St. Christopher?s mission to the Navajo, links to an extensive photograph collection from the Denver Public library, and recordings and transcripts of oral histories from the Marriott Library?s Doris Duke oral history collection. We invite interested patrons to visit UAIDA?s collection and learn about the rich history of Utah?s Indian Peoples.

This collection can be viewed by going to the following address:

http://utahindians.org/archives/