First published in 1846, Notes on the Iroquois is the result of a census that Henry Rowe Schoolcraft began in July 1845, of Native Americans living on reservations in central New York. He also met with Indian leaders and chroniclers, local officials familiar with Indian history, and others who had information about other aspects of Indian life and culture. Schoolcraft was especially interested in music, pottery, language, petroglyphs, burial mounds, and the tribal clan system.

In addition to the documents relating to the senate's authorization for the census and a statistical report on the census returns, the 1846 edition of Notes on the Iroquois contained nearly three hundred pages of other information relating to the Iroquois.

In an 1847 edition, Schoolcraft revised several of the sections and expanded the appendix with a more detailed account of his journal, which described his visits to the various Iroquois reservations and his contacts with key Indian leaders and chroniclers. Additional illustrations were also included.

In 1953, Michigan State University Press commenced an ambitious project to republish Schoolcraft's major studies and make them readily available to the American public.