American Indigenous Music

This guide is a curated selection of resources for appreciating and researching Native American music of North America.

When navigating, please keep in mind that terms such as "Indigenous", "Native American", "First Nations", and "American Indian" are common descriptors of the communities we know to be native to North America and preference may vary by person and/or organization. We advise using all descriptors when using search bars in order to cast a broader net for more results.

Also, tribal names can vary greatly whether it be through different spellings, autonyms and exonyms, etc. If you are searching for a particular ethnic group's music, keep in mind the variety of keywords for the group and its subcommunities that can be used to search for the desired results. Some recordings are also categorized by state/province or region. Also, knowing linguistic families can help. For example, some music that is labeled "Iroquois" may also be found in other neighboring communities that are part of what is called the Iroquoian language family.

Disclaimer: Please keep in mind some terms that these sources use may be considered outdated or offensive by the communities those terms are referring to.

Joseph Sioui (Wendat) created this guide in 2023. Questions and comments may be addressed to the Loeb Music Library at Harvard University.