- Welcome
- Books
- Journal Articles
- Databases
- Journals
- Archives & Primary Sources
- Data & Statistics
- Government Information
- Laws & Legislation
- Maps & GIS
- Media
- Music
- Websites
- Writing & Citing
Welcome
Welcome, this guide is designed to help you with your research. You can use this guide to begin your research or book an appointment to work on your research with Martha Attridge Bufton, your subject specialist.
Martha can help you find the research materials you need to complete your assignments and papers. See the side menu for her contact information.
Doc Zone: Aboriginal Peoples, Canada and the Way Forward
When looking for information, beware of filter bubbles.
Use the CRAP test to find good information.
Instructional videos
- Find articles using CBCA Complete and CPIQ (Canadian content)
- Search faster, search smarter
Dictionaries, encyclopedias and handbooks are a good place to start because they provide short definitions and introductions to key concepts.
Dictionaries
- A dictionary of cultural and critical theory
- A basic Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara to English dictionary
- N¯ehiuyaw¯ewin : itw¯ewina = Cree : words: a Cree-English Dictionary
- Inuktitut Living Dictionary (website)
- Inuktitut dictionary: Tununiq dialect
- M'gmaw/Mi'kmaq Online. An online talking dictionary for the M'gmaw/Mi'kmaq language.
- Native Americans and the law: a dictionary
- Word dance: the language of native American culture
Encyclopedias
- The encyclopedia of native music: more than a century of recordings from wax cylinder to the Internet
- The Canadian encyclopedia
- The encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, society and culture
- The encyclopaedia of Canada's peoples
Handbooks
- Aboriginal peoples of Canada: a short introduction.
- Handbook of critical and indigenous methodologies
- Handbook of North American Indians
- Handbook of South American Indians
Books
Use keywords to find books, government and other documents as well as films in the library. For all relevant titles, click on the subject headings to continue your search
Here is a small sample of books found in the library's collection that are related to indigenous studies:
Aboriginal Self-Government in Canada: Current trends and issues
Canada and the Aboriginal peoples, 1867-1927
Handbook of the American frontier: Four centuries of Indian-White relationships
Response, responsibility and renewal: Canada's truth and reconciliation journey
Treaties with Canada. Aboriginal Land Claims, North
Save search alerts: save your favorite searches for easy reference so that you can run these searches on demand (note: this feature saves your search terms but not the materials that you find).
Journal Articles
The Saskatchewan Cultural Centre has links to a number of good sources including Our elders: interviews with Saskatchewan elders and selected articles from Saskatchewan Indian Magazine.
If your essay is historical, start with America History and Life which covers North American history. The Canadian Periodical Index (CPI.Q) has Canadian content and the Bibliography of Native North American covers a range of topics and includes a variety of materials. In addition, the Indigenous Studies Portal has a lot of Canadian content.
Plus, search the National Aboriginal Document Database which can be used for research projects such as documenting land claims, or for studying independent statutes and acts as well as treaties and court decisions.
For human rights publications, search HuriSearch.
Click on the Databases tab to view the list of other sources for finding journal articles in Aboriginal studies.
Databases
In addition, search the National Aboriginal Document Database which can be used for research projects such as documenting land claims, or for studying independent statutes and acts as well as treaties and court decisions.
Journals
The following journals and magazines are related to indigenous studies. Some of these publications are available only in print while others are available online or in print and electronic format.
Peer-reviewed
- American Indian Culture and Research Journal
- American Indian Quarterly
- Canadian Journal of Native Education
- Canadian Journal of Native Studies
- Ethnohistory
- Etudes Inuit. Inuit Studies
- First Peoples Child & Family Review
- Journal of Aboriginal Health
- Journal of American Indian Education
- Native Social Work Journal
- Native South
- Native Studies Review
- Pimatisiwin: A journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health
- Studies in American Indian Literatures
- Wicazo Sa Review
Non peer-reviewed
Archives & Primary Sources
Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada is committed to its role in the acquisition and preservation of Aborginal heritage and offers:
Carleton University Archives and Research Collections
The Carleton University Archives and Research Collections (ARC) has some rare books related to Aboriginal Studies. Here is a sample:
Eskimos and Indians, and the English language. [Sound recording]
Transitions 2: contemporary Indian and Inuit art of Canada
The visions and revelations of St. Louis the Métis
Schwatka's search: sledging in the Arctic in quest of the Franklin records
Visit the ARC website for further information about the collections.
Databases
Early Canadiana Online. A digital library featuring works published from the time of the first European settlers to the 1920s.
Newspapers
Native Newspapers Currently Received by Library and Archives Canada. See the journals tab for links to Aboriginal newspapers and publications such as Windspeaker.
Voices, stories, histories
Elders' Voices provides information on the history and culture of Canada's Northwest Aboriginal peoples through the voices and stories of Aborginal elders.
See also the Websites tab, under the "Elders" subheading.
Data & Statistics
The Data Centre acquires, manages, and preserves quantitative computer-readable data files from the various disciplines of the humanities and social sciences and provides data-related services as needed to support research and instruction at Carleton.
Federal
- Aboriginal Peoples Survey 2001
- Community Information Database (based on census data, provides socio-economic and demographic data and information for all Canadian communities)
Federal
- Aboriginal Canada Portal
- Aboriginal Canada Portal (research, statistics, maps)
- Statistics Canada Aboriginal Community Profiles
- Statistics Canada 2006 Profile of Aboriginal Children, Youth and Adults
- Statistics Canada Projections for Aboriginal Populations (Federal, Provinces and Territories, 2001 to 2017
Provincial
- 2006 Census highlights: Aboriginal Peoples of Ontario
- Alberta Official Statistics
- Aboriginal Peoples of British Columbia
- Institute de la statistique Québec
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland and Labrador Statistics Agency
- Northwest Territories Bureau of Statistics
- Nunavut Bureau of Statistics
- Government of Ontario
- Saskatchewan Bureau of Statistics
- Yukon Bureau of Statistics
Note: statistics on provincial Aboriginal populations is often drawn from the 2006 national census.
United States
Government Information
In addition to the following websites, find government information online.
Canadian Human Rights Commission
Indian & Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) including:
- Government Program information
- Estimates (program expenditure reports)
- Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission
- List of reserves
- Acts, Agreements and Land Claims
- Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (Volumes 1-5)
- Treaty Policy Directorate: historic treaties
Indian Specific Claims Commission
Justice, Department of, Aboriginal Justice Strategy
Justice, Department of, Aboriginal Courtroom Program
Non-governmental organizations
- Aboriginal Healing Foundation
- Assembly of First Nations
- Avataq Cultural Institute (The Inuit cultural organization of Nunavik)
- Centre for Aboriginal Health Research
- Center for Indigenous Environmental Resources
- Congress of Aboriginal Peoples
- Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied Research
- Indian Residential School Survivors Society
- National Aboriginal Health Organization
- National Residential School Survivor's Society
- Native Women's Assocation of Canada
Inuit
- Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
- Nuatsiaq News
- Nunavut Economic Forum
- Pauktuutit (an organization that leads and supports Canadian Inuit women)
- Tungasuvingit Inuit Centre
Métis
Alberta Aboriginal Relations
Aboriginal Peoples of British Columbia British Columbia
Manitoba Aboriginal and Northern Affairs
New Brunswick Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat
Newfoundland and Labrador Dept. of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs
Northwest Territories Dept. of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations
Nova Scotia Office of Aboriginal Affairs
Nunavut Government
Ontario Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs
Prince Edward Island Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat
Quebec Secretariat aux affaires autochtones
Saskatchewan First Nations and Metis Relations
Yukon Government
Other
Local Aboriginal organizations
Carleton University Aboriginal CKCU
Minwaashin Lodge
Nunavut Sivuniksavut
Odawa Native Friendship Centre
Urban Aboriginal Alternative High School
Ottawa Local Metis Council
Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health
Local Aboriginal communities
Akwesasne Reserve (Cornwall, Ontario)
Algonquins of Pikwakanagan (Golden Lake First Nation,Golden Lake, Ontario)
Kahnawake First Nation (Kahnawake, Quebec)
Kitigan Zibi Community (Kitigan Zibi Indian Reserve, Quebec)
Arctic
- Arctic Circle (from the University of Connecticut) covers countries with Arctic lands and includes maps and GIS data.
- Arctic Council. The Member States of the Arctic Council are Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden and the United States of America.
- Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples Secretariat
- International Polar Year
- Inuit Circumpolar Council (Canada) covering Canada, Alaska, Russia and Greenland
Australia and New Zealand
- Australia's culture portal (archive July 10, 2010 and is available as a static site)
- Australia Parliamentary Library's Indigenous Affairs resources portal
- The Origin of Commonwealth Involvement in Indigenous Affairs and the 1967 Referendum New Zealand Maori Affairs (Parliamentary Library of Australia background paper
- New Zealand Government Maori Affairs
United States
- Bureau of Indian Affairs
- Department of Health and Human Services (Administration for Children and Families) Administration for Native Americans
- Links for Tribal Governments and Native Americans (via FirstGov)
- Census Bureau data on American Indian and Alaska Native populations
- Indian Land Cessions in the United States, 1784-1894
- Caribbean Amerindian Centrelink
- Centre for World Indigenous Studies
- Indigenous Peoples of South America
- Latin America Network Information Centre
- L'auravetl'an Information and Education Network of Indigenous Peoples of the Russian Federation
- Organization of American States (draft of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples)
- United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
- United Nations International Decade of the World's Indigenous People, 1995-2004
- United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (search using the term "indigenous peoples" to find reports) and Working Group on Indigenous Populations
Laws & Legislation
- The Indian Act (Department of Justice website)
- The Annotated Indian Act and Aboriginal constitutional provisions
- Consolidated native law statutes, regulations and treaties
- The Indian Act. A discussion paper prepared by Mary Hurley, Library of Parliament.
- A Matter of Rights. Special Report of the Canadian Human Rights Commission on the Repeal of Section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. October 2005
- Canadian native law reporter
Other federal legislation
Land Claims and Treaties
- Atlas of Historical Indian Treaties (Natural Resources Canada)
- Canada Treaty Policy Directorate
- Canadian Encyclopedia (entry on land claims)
- Declaration of Métis and Indian Rights: 1979
- Government of Saskatchewan (First Nations and Métis Relations) FAQ about Treaty Land Entitlement
- Métis Land Rights in Canada (a report by Joseph Eliot Manget, a Canadian law professor for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples)
- Native American Treaties and Information (University of Colorado at Boulder)
- Settling Land Claims. A discussion paper by Mary Hurley, Library of Parliament.
- Treaties with Canada. Native
- Treaty 8 (Library and Archives Canada)
Useful websites
Native Law Centre of Canada. The website includes a link to Canadian Native Law Cases from 1763 - 1978 complied and indexed by researchers at the Native Law Centre at the University of Saskatchewan.
Ontario E-Laws
Quebec Laws & Regulations
Canadian Legal Information Institute (CANLII): for all provinces
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (read online at the International Work Group for Indigenous Peoples website)
Maps & GIS
The library's Maps, Data and Government Information Centre has an extensive collection of sheet maps and atlases as well as wall maps, globes, air photos and cartographic reference works that support research and teaching in almost every discipline.
Resources specifically related to Aboriginal studies include:
- Aboriginal Communities and Friendship Centres on Google Earth (requires installation)
- Arctic Bay Atlas. The atlas includes an interactive map of Inuktitut place names in the Arctic Bay region, with voicing from local Inuktitut speakers.
- The Atlas of Canada: Aboriginal Peoples. Topics include Aboriginal languages and population today as well as at different time periods, the territory of Nunavut and Indian treaties.
- Cree-Innu LInguistic Atlas. This is an online, multimedia linguistic atlas of the Cree dialects of Canada.
- Atlas of the North American Indian
- University of Texas map collection including maps of Russia and the former Soviet Union
GeoConnections: Aboriginal communities
GeoConnections provides information, such as maps and satellite images, related to issues such as public health, public safety and security, the environment and sustainable development, Aboriginal matters, and geomatics technology development.
GeoGratis is a portal provided by the Earth Sciences Sector of Natural Resources Canada which provides free geospatial data and without restrictions via your Web browser.
Media
CBC
A Lost Heritage: Canada's Residential Schools (CBC Digital Archives)
Library and Archives Canada (LAC)
- Aboriginal documentary heritage
- Photograhs database
- Luminace: Aboriginal photographic portraits
- Canada's Digital Collections (operated from 1996 to 2004 by Industry Canada and archived at LAC
- Virtual Museum of Canada (see image gallery)
Canadian film festivals
The Dreamspeakers Festival Society supports and educates the public about Aboriginal culture, art and heritage. It is a resource for Aboriginal filmmakers, for directors, scriptwriters, cameramen, technicians, actors, musicians, storytellers, artists and craftspeople.
First Nations Film creates and distributes award-winning television documentary films for, by and about Indigenous people
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is an international festival that celebrates the latest works by Indigenous peoples on the forefront of innovation in film, video, radio, and new media.
Skábmagovat is an indigenous peoples’ film festival that focuses on the indians of Bolivia, Canada and the Sámi.
United States
- Edward S. Curtis' "The North American Indian" (via American Memory). A collection of 2226 images from one of the most extensive and controversial representation of traditional American Indian culture.
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada's online screening room allows you to watch hundreds of films free online documentaries, animated and alternatiave drama films.
Youtube
- Indian Residential Schools in Canada the painful legacy
- Phil Fontaine: Negotiation or Confrontation
- Phil Fontaine: First Nations poverty, Attawapiskat school, suicides, water
Carleton University film collection
Our collection contains many films related to Aboriginal studies including:
The experimental eskimos. This film documents an extraordinary attempt at social engineering and follows Peter Ittinuar, Zebedee Nungak and Eric Tagoona, who, as 12-year-old boys, were shipped south in the early 1960s from their homes in the Canadian Arctic to attend public schools in Ottawa.
Fish out of water (Season 1 and 2). This TV series is an outdoor, television series that features host Don Kelly who is on a demanding new adventure every week to his traditional native land. Through a series of misadventures,he pushes his limited limits to re-connect with his roots and spiritual values.
I'm not the Indian you had in mind. I'm not the Indian you had in mind explores the stereotypical portrayal of our First Nations peoples in the media.
The long walk. Ken Ward was the first Native Canadian to go public with his HIV diagnosis. Seven years later, he has developed AIDS and remains a passionate advocate for HIV prevention and treatment.
What I learned in class today: Aboriginal issues in the classroom. A project in which students, instructors, and administrators at the University of British Columbia, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, share in videotaped interviews their most memorable classroom experiences where the discussion of Aboriginal issues became difficult and their reflections on the dynamics underpinning these situations.
CBC Radio
CBC Radio's Revision Quest. First Nations comic Darrell Dennis challenges misconceptions of what it means to be an Aboriginal person in Canada today.
Music
Here is a sample of recordings in our collection related to indigenous studies:
- Indian music of the Pacific Northwest
- Rattle and drum
- Songs for the northern heart
- The soundtrack of a people
- War whoops & medicine songs
Also check out the following websites
Websites
Aboriginal publications
Canadian organizations
Canadian Race Relations Foundation
Links to Aboriginal organizations around the world
- Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact
- Centre for World Indigenous Studies (promotes indigenous peoples traditional knowledge and ideas and publishes The Fourth World Journal.)
- International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs
- NativeWeb: Native news from around the world
Special Topics
Art and Culture
- Aboriginal Multi-Media Society (an independent Aboriginal communications organization which facilitates the exchange of information reflecting Aboriginal culture.)
- Inuit Art Foundation
Elders
- A Circle of All Nations (website of Elder William Commanda)
- B.C. Elders Communication Centre Society (with links to the B.C. Elders newsletter
- Elders – Traditional Knowledge – Aboriginal Canada Portal
- Elders' Voices. Through the voices and stories of Aborginal elders, this website provides information on the history and culture of Canada's Northwest Aboriginal peoples.
- Old Crow Elders: Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation shares the wisdom and stories of its elders
- Our Elders: Iinterviews with Saskatchewan Elders
- Path of the Elders. This site tells the story of the signing of Treaty No. Nine (James Bay Treaty) in the indigenous territory known as Nishnawbe Aski Nation (People’s Land) from the aboriginal peoples’ and the government’s point of view.
Health
- First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada
- Inuit Knowledge Centre
- National Indian & Inuit Community Health Representatives Organization
- Unicef Canada. Aboriginal Children's Health: Leaving No Child Behind. Canadian supplement to The State of the World's Children 2009.
Highway of Tears
- Is a trucker responsible for missing women on Highway of Tears? Canwest News Service August 9, 2009
- Highway of Tears
- Highway of Tears Symposium Recommendation Report
- Missing/Murdered Native Women in Canada
- Union of BC Indian Chiefs news release on disappearances and murders on the Highway of Tears.
Métis
- Fulfilling Canada's Promise. Métis Rights. Recognized and Affirmed.
- Métis Act
- Métis Land Claim before the Supreme Court 2011
- Metis National Council Historical Online Database
- R. v. Powley
Residential Schools
- A Lost Heritage: Canada's Residential Schools (CBC Digital Archives)
- Asssembly of First Nations Indian Residential Schools Unit
- CBC report on the apology to former students of Indian residential schools
- Indian Residential Schools Statement by Clement Chartier, President, Métis National Council
- Library and Archives Canada: Native Residential Schools in Canada Bibliography
- Prime Minister Stephen Harper's statement of apology to former students of Indian residential schools
- Residential School Settlement (official court website)
Traditional Knowledge
- Circle of All Nations. ( Website for the work of Elder William Commanda)
- Native Drums
- Native Dance
- Native Languages of the Americas: Preserving and promoting American Indian languages
Writing & Citing
Some departments at Carleton put together their own guides for students so check with your professor to see if he/she wants you to use the departmental style.
Copies of the most recent versions of the major academic style manuals (e.g., APA, Chicago, MLA, Turabian) are available at the Research Help Desk (2nd floor, MacOdrum Library).
In addition, click on "Cite your Sources" -- a related "help" link on this subject guide.
613-520-2600 x2985