Jacob Hiltzheimer, farmer and assemblyman, emigrated from Germany to Philadelphia in 1748 and lead a moderately active political and social life. He was a successful farmer and raised select livestock in the city of Philadelphia. He also boarded horses including those of John Penn and George Washington. He served in the Pennsylvania Assembly for 11 consecutive years beginning in 1786. He was an active contributor in civil affairs and took a remarkable enthusiastic interest in events, in persons, and in every day life all of which he wrote down in his diary. As a result of his Revolutionary War and political acquaintances his contacts were numerous. Hiltzheimer's record of social affairs are for the most part routine daily events such as buying and trading horses, attending barbecues and funerals, and drinking punch. However it is his every day accounts that also records significant events such as the Revolutionary War, transactions of the Pennsylvania Assembly, and Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemics, as well as the dealings of significant people including George Washington, Thomas Mifflin, and John Hancock.

Primarily consists of autobiographical stories, creation stories, and medicine stories collected by Alfred W. Bowers in earlier decades. The stories are read in segments in Bowers' English translation to two native consultants, who then translate the material into both Mandan and Hidatsa, or occasionally into either Mandan or Hidatsa alone. A small number of stories are told in Mandan only. Also includes English discussions of the Mandan and Hidatsa domestic life, material culture, personal reminscences, and histories of the Crow-Flies-High Band and the Fort Buford and Fort Berthold settlements. Bowers' original table of contents also available. Recorded at Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, North Dakota, in 1969.

Audio recordings, photographs, and born-digital manuscripts documenting primarily Ojibwe and Cree communities and individuals in Manitoba, Ontario, and Saskatchewan.