If you're looking specifically for journal articles, start by using one of the indexes listed. Enter some keywords to find out what's been published on your topic. Then use to link from the citations to the articles, when possible. There is no "best" database for Indigneous Studies, but Scholars Portal offers several databases that could be of interest. You should also find results in some of the general ones, such as Academic OneFile or Academic Search Elite. More Canadian content is found in CBCA or CPI.Q. If you don't find the results you hoped for, try altering your search terms or look in a different database. The Bibliography of Native North Americans is on-topic and covers all of North America, but the list of journals included is not extensive and you should expand your search beyond it. It also covers non-journal material such as book chapters, government reports, etc.

Under "Other Online Resources" find links to some of our more unique databases that might apply to your topic. These include primary documents, images, statistics, and specialized encyclopedias.

To find general books in the library, use TOPCAT (the library catalogue). Find help using TOPCAT in our tutorials. Of special note to Indigenous Studies students:

• There are numerous terms used to represent indigenous people, and they also vary by country. Keep some of these terms in mind:
  • In Canada: native, natives, first nations, indigenous, aboriginals, first people.
  • In the United Staties, "indians" is the common term - this is also the term used by LC Subject Headings in TOPCAT.
  • Remember that often nations are named individually, such as Metis, Inuit, Anishnabe, Navajo, Iroquois, Algonquin, etc.
  • Sometimes nations have various spelling: Ojibwa, Ojibwe, Ojibway.

There are some excellent websites available to find background information and alternate points of view on aboriginal issues. (Please let us know of any good ones we've missed.)

Links below have the proxy connection built into them. Click on the red button if you experience a connection problem. It will route you through the proxy server and back to this page.
Title	Access	Description	Type
Academic OneFile a general index with many full text articles	Trent	description	C & FT
Academic Search Elite (EBSCOhost) a general index with many full-text articles	Trent	description	C & FT
America: History & Life on the EBSCO (new) interface	Trent	description	C
Anthropological Index Online	Trent	description	C
ASTIS (Arctic Science and Technology Information System) a database of publications about northern Canada.	Public		C
Bibliography of Native North Americans (from EBSCO) (also included in Indigenous Studies @ Scholars Portal)	Trent	description	C
Bibliography of the History of Art	Public	description	C
Caninuit	Public	description	C
CBCA (Canadian Business and Current Affairs)	Trent	description	some FT
CPI-Q (Canadian Periodical Index)	Trent	description	some FT
ERIC @ Scholars Portal Search  an education database	Trent	description	C
First Nations Periodical Index  search 20 journals with mainly Canadian content	Public		C
iportal: Indigenous Studies Portal Research Tool (University of Saskatchewan)	Public	description	C & FT
JSTOR (online journal storage for 1100+ journals in a variety of subjects)	Trent	description	FT
Libris Canadiana	Trent	description	C
Native Health Database (University of New Mexico - Health Sciences Library & Informatics Centre	Public		C
National Museum of the American Indian - Collections Search (a database of a representative sample of NMAI's object and historic photo collections)	Public		Primary
Metis Health Literature & Statistical databases (Metis Centre of NAH0)	Public	description	C & FT
Scholars Portal Journals - search the majority of Trent e-journals at once	Trent	description	FT
Other Online Resources
An Annotated Bibliography of Material Related to the Polar and Arctic Regions in the Special Collections of the Trent University Library (.pdf document)	Public	description	Bibliography
Canada's Heritage from 1844: The Globe and Mail	Trent	description	Primary, News
Champlain Society Digital Collection (primary historical documents)	Public	description	Primary
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online	Public	description	Reference
Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford)	Trent	description	Reference
Documents Relating to the Negotiation of Ratified and Unratified Treaties With Various Indian Tribes, 1801-1869 (University of Wisonconsin)	Public		Primary
Early Canadiana Online (primary historical documents)	Trent	description	Primary
Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures, and the Environment (primary historical documents)	Trent	description	Primary
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (primary historical documents)	Trent	description	Primary
Eighteenth Century Journals Online I & II (British)	Trent	description	Primary, FT
Empire Online	Trent	description	Primary, Images
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers [British] (primary historical documents)	Trent	description	Primary
National Film Board (NFB) Online Screening Room	Trent	description	Videos
North American Indian Biographical Database (primary historical documents)	Trent	description	Primary
OurOntario.ca (primary documents)	Public	description	Primary
SourceOECD - reports, books, periodicals, statistics	Trent	description	FT
The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985 (London Times newspaper)	Trent	description	Primary, News

Aboriginal Canada Portal (ACP)

Aims to provide a single window to Canadian Aboriginal on-line resources, contacts, information, and government programs and services. The portal offers access to listings of Aboriginal associations, businesses, organizations, bands, communities, groups, news and peoples. The ACP is a partnership between the Government of Canada and the Métis National Council, Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, Assembly of First Nations, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, Native Women's Association of Canada, and Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers (CANDO).

Aboriginal Connections - An Indigenous Peoples Web Directory

A comprehensive Web directory presenting categorized information about Canadian Aboriginal, Native American Indian, and International Indigenous sites (from Lakehead University). Over 1,900 native sites are currently listed.

Aboriginal Documentary History from Library and Archives Canada

This Web exhibition recounts first-hand information illustrating the complex and often contentious relationship between the Canadian government and Canada's Aboriginal people from the late 1700s to the mid-20th century.

The Aboriginal Mapping Network

"A collection of resource pages for First Nation mappers who are looking for answers to common questions regarding mapping, information management and GIS."

Arctic Circle

Hosted at the University of Connecticut, this site seeks to expand knowledge of the Circumpolar North. Headings include natural resources, history & culture, social equity & environmental justice, museum, virtual classroom, and an Arctice Forum.

Assembly of First Nations

Current events and information under such headings as economic development, education, housing, land rights, residential school issues, treaties, etc. Also links to other web resources.

Banff Centre
           A showcase of Aboriginal artists — writers, musicians, dancers and choreographers, visual and new media artists, and            others — to research, conceive, and produce Aboriginal work with cultural integrity and artistic merit.

Center For World Indigenous Studies (CWIS)

Access to fourth world resources for indigenous Peoples including the Fourth World Journal, the Fourth World Institute, the Fourth World Documentation Project and the Center for Traditional Medicine.

Chiefs of Ontario

The coordinating body for 134 first nation communities, with information on political interests, fiscal relations, and community profiles.

First Nation Information project

Information is Canadian focused under such headings as culture, organizations, native businesses, news stories etc. Very useful links to other First Nations sites.

First Nations Periodical Index

Search 20 journals of mainly Canadian content.

First Nations on SchoolNet

From Canada's SchoolNet, this site has information under such headings as cultural resources, organizations, nations, as well as many educational resources.

 Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Poltics
            A consortium of institutions, artists, scholars, and activists dedicated to exploring the relationship between expressive             behavior (broadly construed as performance) and social and political life in the Americas.

Hubert Wenger Eskimo Database

Searchable database of 200 books and journal articles written by explorers, missionaries, ethnographers, and others who were among the first Euroamericans to travel among and write about Inuit/Eskimo peoples. It includes out-of-print and hard to find material, basic works descriptive of each Inuit/Eskimo and Aleut group, drawings, photographs, and maps.

iPortal - Indigenous Studies Portal from the University of Saskatchewan

The Indigenous Studies Portal (iPortal) connects faculty, students, researchers and members of the community with electronic resources: books, articles, theses, documents, photographs, archival resources, maps, etc. The vision of the Indigenous Studies Portal is to provide one place to look to find resources for Indigenous studies. Developed by the University of Saskatchewan Library, as of January 31, 2007, there are 5,400 entries and we plan to add 5,000 more records in 2007. The iPortal also links to Indigenous programs and events at the University of Saskatchewan. It offers specialized tools for teaching and scholarship.

Index of Native American Resources on the Internet

Comprehensive subject index, under such headings as art, culture, electronic texts, history, museums, etc. (part of the WWW Virtual Library).

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Annual Reports 1864-1990

Can search the full text, or browse by year. A cooperative effort between the National Library of Canada and the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada

Information on aboriginal peoples and their heritage in Canada, with links to other aboriginal and native sites. Click here for access to the full text of the historic treaties.

Kappler's indian affairs: laws and treaties

Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler from Oklahoma State University Library.

Métis National Council Historical Database

A web-interfaced database that contains textual information extracted from archival documents relevant to the historical Métis Nation. The website also contains high-resolution digital photography and scans of many of the original documents represented in the database.

National Aboriginal Document Database

Search the full text of specific statutes/acts, court decisions, treaties, etc.

National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO)

Information of health issues and health research for aboriginal peoples.

Native American Sites

Home pages of individual First Nations, Native Organizations, Native Journals and Newsletters, Native Education sites, and general Native resources.

NativeWeb

Information here is broken down by cultural groups, subjects, geographic areas, languages, literatures, historical material, etc.

Red and Black Series from Library and Archives Canada.

The original central registry system for Indian Affairs headquarters records was established in 1872. At that time, a straight numeric file list (Red Series), typical of 19th-century registry systems, was set up. In 1882 a separate series (Black Series) was set up for Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, British Columbia and the Maritime provinces. The records of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs' Red and Black Series are an incredible historical resource. They contain information pertaining to all aspects of human history, culture and language, exploration and land settlement, and resource development. They also provide documentation of the vast changes that took place in the Canadian federal government between 1872 and 1923.

Treaties, Surrenders and Agreements from Library and Archives Canada.

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) holds an extensive, but not a complete, collection of historic Canadian Indian treaties, land surrenders, and related agreements (ITS).

VMC: Virtual Museum Canada

The innovative multimedia within this web site is impressive. Among its dozens of exhibits are Inuit 3D, Haida,Bone Snow Knives and Tin Oil Lamps, and Our World-Our Way of Life.

Windspeaker

Selected access to some full text of the journal, published by AMMSA (The Aboriginal Multi-Media Society).

Indigenous Studies Reference Books

E-Books
	xreferplus An online collection of 100 reference books
General Reference Books
	A to Z of Native American women  E 98 .W8 S65 1998 REF
	The ABC-CLIO companion to the Native American rights movement   KF 8203.36 .G76 1996 REF
	Anishinaubae thesaurus PM 852 .J59 2007 REF
	The biographical directory of Native American painters  E 54.5 .L47 1995 REF
	The British Museum encyclopedia of native North America  E 76.2 .G74 1999 REF
	Chronology of American Indian history : the trail of the wind  E 77 .S72 2001 REF
	Encyclopedia of American Indian contributions to the world : 15,000 years of inventions and innovations  E 54.5 .K46 2002 REF
	Encyclopedia of American Indian costume  E 98 .C8 P37 1994 REF
	Encyclopedia of American Indian wars, 1492-1890  E 81 .K44 1997 REF
	Encyclopedia of Native American healing  E 98 .M4 L96 1996 REF
	Encyclopedia of Native American religions : an introduction  E 98 .R3 H73 2000 REF
	Encyclopedia of Native American shamanism : sacred ceremonies of North America  E 98 .M4 L98 1998 REF
	Encyclopedia of Native American tribes   E 76.2 .W35 1999 REF
	Historical dictionary of the Inuit  E 99 .E7 S825 2004
	Macmillan encyclopedia of Native American tribes   E 76.2 .J63 1999 REF
	A Native American encyclopedia : history, culture, and peoples  E 76.2 .P77 2000 REF
	Native American literatures : an encyclopedia of works, characters, authors, and themes  PS 153 .I52 W47 1999 REF
	Native Americans : an encyclopedia of history, culture, and peoples  E 77 .P89 1998 REF
	Native Americans and the law : a dictionary  KF 8203.6 .S66 2000 REF
	Native North American literature : biographical and critical information on native writers and orators from the United States and Canada from historical times to the present  PS 508 .I5 N38 1994 REF
	Sharing the cultural experience : a comprehensive guide of First Nations film and video  PN 1998 .S43 1996 REF
	Statistical record of Native North Americans  E 98 .P76 S73 1995 REF
	Treaties with American Indians  KF 8203 .T74 2008 v.1-3 REF
	U·X·L encyclopedia of Native American tribes  E 76.2 .U85 1999 REF
	Who was who in Native American history : Indians and non-Indians from early contacts through 1900  E 89 .W35 1990 REF
Subject Specific Reference Books : Languages

	American Indian languages : the historical linguistics of Native America  PM 108 .C36 1997 REF
	Blackfoot dictionary of stems, roots, and affixes  PM 2343 .F73 1995 REF
	Ojibway language dictionary   PM 853 .S63 2005 REF
	Michif/Cree dictionary  PM 7895 .M53 A45 1998 REF
	The student's dictionary of literary Plains Cree : based on contemporary texts  PM 988 .W65 1998 REF
	Word dance : the language of native American culture  E 76.2 .W36 1994 REF

Bibliographies

	An Annotated Bibliography of Material Related to the Polar and Arctic Regions in the Special Collections of the Trent University Library (.pdf document)
	Empowering Northern and native communities for social and economic control : an annotated bibliography of relevant literature  Z 1392 .N7 S83 1995 REF
	First Nations self-government of social services : an annotated bibliography  E 98 .S67 D87 1996 REF
	The future of aboriginal urbanization in prairie cities : select annotated bibliography and literature review on urban aboriginal issues in the Prairie Provinces  Z 1209.2 .C2 P735 1993 REF
	Imagine native : aboriginally produced film & video  Z 5784 .M9 I43 1998 REF
	Indian slavery, labor, evangelization, and captivity in the Americas : an annotated bibliography  Z 1209 .M25 1998 REF
	Inuit art and artists  Z 1210 .E8 M55 1996 REF
	Metis legacy : a Metis historiography and annotated bibliography   Z 1209.2 .C3 M47 2001 REF
	The Native American in long fiction : an annotated bibliography  Z 1231 .F4 B42 1996 REF
	Native North American shamanism : an annotated bibliography  Z 1209.2 .N67 O77 1998 REF
	Nunavut, an annotated bibliography FC 4173.3 .Z9 S613 1994 REF
	Répertoire bibliographique--auteurs Amérindiens du Québec  Z 1376 .I52 G54 1993 REF
	Resource reading list : an annotated bibliography of recommended works by and about native people  Z 1209.2 .C2 V35 1996 REF
	Resources for Métis researchers  Z 1209.2 .C3 B35 1999 REF

 

Top of page.
Last modified: March 12, 2012
Maintained by Information Services, Trent University Library.