Smithsonian Libraries and Archives: Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History External

Physical Address: National Museum of Natural History, 10th St. and Constitution Ave. NW, Washington DC, 20560

Mailing Address: MRC 154, P.O. Box 37012, Washington DC, 20013-7012

Telephone number: (202) 633-1184

Contact information External : and Contact Us External

Online catalog External

Digital Collections link External
Biodiversity Heritage Library External

Hours of service External

Open to the public External : Yes, by appointment only: phone or email.

Interlibrary loan: No

Reference policy: Reference requests are accepted by:  telephone, email, in person, via Ask-a-Librarian External

Background note External

Books and monographs
Building on the work of James C. Pilling, bibliographer of Native American languages, and the Bureau of American Ethnology at the Smithsonian, the Cullman Library holds approximately 400 volumes of religious texts in indigenous Native American languages, commonly Christian hymns, prayers, and individual books of the New Testament, published from the 17th to the early 20th centuries.  Most of them were compiled by missionaries of various denominations, as the first Europeans to encounter native peoples and attempt to formulate written alphabets of their languages.

Databases and/or electronic resources External

Digital Collections External
Biodiversity Heritage Library External

Subject heading related to biblical texts are too various to list. Please search our online catalog External: with these searches:

Keyword search: Bible + [language], hymns + [language], etc.