Sources for historical worldbuilders

I used to be obsessed with pre-Columbian times and have been guilty of making my fantasy world entirely based on historical events that have happened in pre-Columbian America. I have Iroquois and Cherokee-inspired characters in my story, and I’m guilty of creating a fantasy political system entirely based on the Wabanaki League because I think it’s a great system. I’m not Native American and my guilty white woman alarm is going off like crazy.<br><br>I’m not Native American but I’m fascinated with their customs and histories and I want to keep using them but I’m aware that because I’m not a diverse voice, perhaps it’s not my place to do that.<br><br>How do we do it? <br><br>And:<br><br>Does anyone know where to get resources and primary sources for old worldbuilding?<br><br>]);<br>assistant<br><br>I've run into this before with my love of Japanese history and mythology. One thing that I did is read about how the Japanese were influenced by other Asian cultures. It's an interesting story and it helps you realize that no single culture exists in a vacuum.<br><br>Another thing you could do is take a broader look at history. World cultures are interwoven whether you realize it or not. Something that happened in Europe could affect what happens in Africa which could affect what happens in Asia. <br><br>For example, the fall of the Western Roman Empire caused the fall of the African empires which caused trade to shift because there was no more European trade. <br><br>This shift caused African trade to go more to Asia which caused a lot of African slaves to be taken by Asians. <br><br>African slaves in Asia caused Asian slavers to take more slaves and that led to the Mongol Empire setting the ground for the Russian Empire which eventually caused the Eastern Roman Empire to fall. <br><br>You get the idea. All history and all cultures are interconnected. And all cultures have borrowed from all cultures. So if you want to use a certain aspect of a culture you like, you should be aware that that culture has borrowed from other cultures. Often the beauty of these cultures come from their borrowing and synthesis.