Scope and Content Note
This collection documents the research activity of G. Malcolm Lewis (1930-2022) between the years of 1972-2000. The collection, which was compiled, organized, and donated by Lewis in 2017-2018, contains numerous cartobibliographic summaries of extant Indigenous maps depicting areas of North America, accounts of Indigenous maps and mapping efforts, and reproductions of the extant maps when available.
The collection also contains all the (primarily textual) research materials generated in the course of his investigations of those maps, which generally includes correspondences between Lewis and librarians, scholars, and fellow academics; primary and secondary sources; manuscript notes; ephemera from libraries and museums.
The Red Series contains research materials relating to maps created by Native Americans, or based on information from Native Americans of North America, primarily the current-day territories of Canada and the United States from 1600-1948. The Green Series contains G. Malcolm Lewis' research regarding maps and accounts of maps created by Native Americans, and accounts of maps created using information provided by Native Americans; it is the most thoroughly researched and fully described of the 5 series, containing full cartobibliographies of historical accounts of Native American mapping. The Blue Series contains a mix of materials derived from the Red and Green Series divided into several subseries; contents of this series include research into accounts and mentions of maps, artifactual maps, and maps from several historic expeditions. The Yellow Series contains research materials about maps on petroglyphs, archaeoastronomy, cartography from cosmology, and maps on artifacts and animal tissue. The final series contains photocopies of maps mounted on cardstock.
The maps that form the basis of the collection depict a wide geographic range of North America, with exceptional coverage in the areas of what are now the Great Plains of the United States and Canada, the Northwest Territories, and the Arctic Circle. Maps and their associated research materials regarding the expeditions of Joseph B. Tyrrell, William Clark and Meriwether Lewis, Franz Boas, and the Hudson's Bay Company are well-represented in the collection.
Chronologically, the collection covers maps made from circa 1500-1978, and all reproductions of the maps were created between 1970-2000 on various media such as photocopies, photocopies mounted on card stock, transparencies, photonegatives, Kodak color slides, and photographic prints.
Lewis donated a manuscript inventory of the collection describing his cataloging system and the organization of the contents. Two series that are listed in the inventory, the Orange and Black series, were ultimately not included in the donation. Those two series contained secondary source materials about Indigenous maps and mapping in general. Secondary sources related to specific maps or accounts of maps are included in their respective research files.