The Handbook of North American Indians is a monographic series of edited scholarly and reference volumes in Americanist studies, published by the Smithsonian Institution beginning in 1978. Planning for the Handbook series began in the late 1960's, and work was initiated following a special congressional appropriation in fiscal year 1971.To date, 15 volumes have been published. Each volume addresses a sub-topic of Americanist research, and contains a number of articles or chapters by individual specialists in the field coordinated and edited by a volume editor. The overall series of twenty volumes is planned and coordinated by a general or series editor. Until the series was suspended, mainly owing to lack of funds, the series editor was William C. Sturtevant, who died in 2007.