Search Help

How does this work?
There are many ways to search the collections of the Freedom Archives. Below is a brief guide that will help you conduct effective searches. Note, anytime you search for anything in the Freedom Archives, the first results that appear will be our digitized items. Information for items that have yet to be scanned or yet to be digitized can still be viewed, but only by clicking on the show link that will display the hidden (non-digitized) items. If you are interested in accessing these non-digitized materials, please email info@freedomarchives.org.
Exploring the Collections without the Search Bar
Under the heading Browse By Collection, you’ll notice most of the Freedom Archives’ major collections. These collections have an image as well as a short description of what you’ll find in that collection. Click on that image to instantly explore that specific collection.
Basic Searching
You can always type what you’re looking for into the search bar. Certain searches may generate hundreds of results, so sometimes it will help to use quotation marks to help narrow down your results. For instance, searching for the phrase Black Liberation will generate all of our holdings that contain the words Black and Liberation, while searching for “Black Liberation” (in quotation marks) will only generate our records that have those two words next to each other.
Advanced Searching
The Freedom Archives search site also understands Boolean search logic. Click on this link for a brief tutorial on how to use Boolean search logic. Our search function also understands “fuzzy searches.” Fuzzy searches utilize the (*) and will find matches even when users misspell words or enter in only partial words for the search. For example, searching for liber* will produce results for liberation/liberate/liberates/etc.
Keyword Searches
You’ll notice that under the heading KEYWORDS, there are a number of words, phrases or names that describe content. Sometimes these are also called “tags.” Clicking on these words is essentially the same as conducting a basic search.

Independent Collections

These collections were produced by independent journalists. Many of these recordings make up the bulk of the original collection of the Freedom Archives.

Subcollections

Documents

Ward Churchill - American Indian Movement of Pine Ridge: Siege by FBI and US Marshalls Ward Churchill - American Indian Movement of Pine Ridge: Siege by FBI and US Marshalls
Date: 3/23/1991Call Number: CE 484Format: Cass A & BProgram: Alternative RadioCollection: Colin Edwards Collection
Ward Churchill, author, activist, and former professor, speaks about the 71-day siege at Wounded Knee in which 200 or so Oglala Lakota and members of the AIM occupied Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation responding to the failure of impeaching the tribal president and to expose inhumane and corrupt conditions on Pine Ridge by the US Federal government through the tribal government. Churchill gives a succinct history of Lakota/US relations, including details of treaties, and discusses the role of COINTELPRO in neutralizing the AIM.
Winona LaDuke - From Genocide to Resistance: The Next 500 Years Winona LaDuke - From Genocide to Resistance: The Next 500 Years
Date: 4/21/1992Call Number: CE 485Format: Cass A & BProgram: Alternative RadioCollection: Colin Edwards Collection
Winona LaDuke, Native American activist, environmentalist juxtaposes two concepts of Native American life (time is cyclical and reciprocity) with two concepts in industrial thinking (time as timeline and capitalism). She speaks in response to the quincentennial celebration of Columbus' arrival to the "new world." LaDuke calls for recognition of the "holocaust" of the Native American people and cites statistics relating to the mistreatment of indigenous populations, such as using their land as toxic waste dumps.
Russell Means - For the World to Live, Columbus Must Die Russell Means - For the World to Live, Columbus Must Die
Date: 4/27/1992Call Number: CE 486Format: Cass A & BProducers: KALWProgram: Alternative RadioCollection: Colin Edwards Collection
Russell Means, Oglala Sioux activist, speaks in response to Andy Rooney's column on how it is "silly" for Native Americans to complain about professional sports team names. Means discusses the image of Native Americans, as opposed to Blacks in America. He combats the claim that Native Americans have no great culture and complicates the idea of Native American contribution. He discusses the effects of nuclear waste on Indian Reservations, or what he calls "concentration camps." He puts responsibility on the white citizens of America to see to it that the US government follows its own laws, and to curb the waste it produces. For things to change, people must "Kill Columbus - kill his legacy."
Colin Edwards: Report on Cellulose Ethanol Colin Edwards: Report on Cellulose Ethanol
Call Number: CE 639Format: 1/4 7 1/2 ipsCollection: Colin Edwards Collection
This report discusses alternative energy, specifically using cellulose waste materials. Enzymes produced by fungus breaks down cellulose to glucose (the hydrolysis effect). The glucose is then converted to ethyl alcohol through fermentation. There is also further exploration of topics including bio-conversion, alternative energy including solar power, comparing nuclear and solar energy and the effect of oil dependency on the development of alternative energy.