"Officially Indian : Symbols That Define the United States explores the United States' habit throughout its history of using images of American Indians to distinguish itself from other countries and to define itself for its citizens. Its explorations provide a unique and revealing perspective into the United States as a nation engaged in a 'democratic experiment'"--Provided by publisher.

"Published in conjunction with the exhibition Americans, opening at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, in October 2017"--Title page verso.

Foreword / Colin G. Calloway -- Introduction: The world's oldest enduring republic -- Essays -- Tupinambas of coastal Brazil, 1505 -- Title page of America, 1592 -- Allegory of America, 1662 -- Amerique septentrionale divisee en ses principales parties, 1696 -- Novi Belgii Novaque Anglia nec non partis Virginia tabula in locis emendata, 1685 -- Rolls's best Virginia tobacco paper, 1700s -- A new map of the whole world with the trade winds according to ye latest and most exact observations, 1732 -- A view of the obelisk erected under liberty-tree in Boston on the rejoicings for the repeal of the Stamp Act, 1766 -- Liberty triumphant, or, The downfall of oppression, 1774 -- Vignette for Royal American magazine, 1774 -- Design proposal for the Great Seal of the United States, 1780 -- A new map of North America with the West India islands : divided according to the preliminary articles of peace, signed at Versailles, 20, Jan. 1783 -- Daniel Morgan U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, 1790 -- U.S. Diplomatic Medal for Peace and Commerce, 1792 -- George Washington Peace Medal, 1792 -- William Penn's Treaty with the Indians, 1682, 1827 -- Baptism of Pocahontas, 1839 -- Cover of historical and statistical information respecting the history, condition, and prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States, 1851-57 -- Three-dollar gold coin, 1854-89 -- Fourth Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, Company E, Powhatan Troop flag, 1860-61 -- Hiawatha Boat centerpiece, 1871 -- Improved order of Red Men membership certificate, ca. 1889 -- Monument to 42nd New York Volunteer Infantry, "Tammany" Regiment, 1891 -- Four-cent Indian Hunting buffalo stamp, 1898 -- The continents : America, 1903-07 -- Indian chiefs headed by Geronimo, passing in review before President Roosevelt, Inauguration Day, 1905 -- Half-eagle gold coin, 1909 -- Dumbarton bridge indian head sculpture, 1915 -- World War I French Air Service Lafayette Escadrille Indian head fuselage insignia, 1917 -- World War I U.S. Marine Corps Indian head and star shoulder insignia, 1917-19 -- 14-cent Hollow Horn bear stamp, 1923 -- President Calvin Coolidge wearing an eagle-feather headdress, 1927 -- President Franklin D. Roosevelt inducted into the Boy Scouts' Order of the Arrow, 1933 -- Indian head nickel, 1935 -- Pioneers in Kansas, 1935 -- Breaking camp during wartime, 1938 -- Golden Gate International Exposition poster, 1939 -- United States Marine Corps War memorial, 1954 -- MK 16 Zuni folding-fin aircraft rocket, 1957 -- Vice President Richard M. Nixon and former Tribal Chairman Carl Whitman Jr., 1960 -- Unity, 1966 -- AH-64 Apache helicopter, 1984 -- 32-cent Jim Thorpe stamp, 1998 -- Sacagawea golden dollar, 2000 -- Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2008 Congressional Gold Medals, 2013 -- Sequoyah, 2013 -- Afterword / Paul Chaat Smith.