Included in this lot is "Vol. 1 Biographical Sketches and Anecdotes of Ninety-Five of 120 Principal Chiefs from the Indian Tribes of North America" by Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall, 1967, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs. "The History of the Indian Tribes of North America" from which these biographical sketches and anecdotes originate, is a three-volume collection of Native American biographies and accompanying lithograph portraits, originally published in the United States from 1836 to 1844. The majority of the portraits were first painted in oil by Charles Bird King. McKenney was working as the US Superintendent of Indian Trade and would head the Office of Indian Affairs, both within the War Department. Believing that Native Americans were threatened as a race, McKenney wanted to preserve a record of their leaders for government archives, as well as to share it with the American people. He commissioned Charles Bird King to paint portraits of leaders who came to Washington to negotiate treaties, and James Hall to write biographies of them. The volumes remain a record of prominent Native American leaders of the first half of the 19th century. Volume 1 represents a moment in time just after the beginning of the forced removal of Native Americans from their ancestral lands and their relocation to the west, and provides a glimpse into the struggle and heartbreak that was suffered as well as the resilience and dignity of the Native American people. By focusing on the humanity of the subjects rather than their "otherness", the book challenged some of the prevailing narratives around Native Americans at the time. It provides a unique, though not without its biases, view of history as it was seen by some of those who lived it and by government agents involved in the process. Volume 1 covers the tribes mostly east of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The orange coloured illustrated softcover is in fair to good condition overall, scuffing noted on covers. Intact pages exhibit slight age tanning, This is a school copy from Black Mesa Community School in northern Arizona on the Navajo Reservation. Measures 6.75"W x 9.75"L x 1"D, weight is 1lb, 6oz.