Indigenous Resources For Sociology/Anthropology

Research about Canada's indigenous peoples spans several academic disciplines, including sociology/anthropology, Canadian history and politics, health, and religious studies, as well as PEI local research tools.

Fall 2022 update: we now have a proper separate Indigenous Studies guide in support of the new Faculty and courses in that field. In addition to the advice below, please check that out for the latest updates and new research tools in this area.

Many of these resources can also be used to research indigenous peoples in other countries, by removing "canada" from the searches.

OneSearch - articles, ebooks, print books

OneSearch is not a single database, but a collection of separately produced databases. So the official "subject" term for indigenous Canadians may vary considerably. While some of these terms are now considered not the appropriate term to use, they linger in the subject indexes and thus still need to be included even for finding recent articles and books. Once you're in OneSearch, use the other search boxes to add keywords specific to your own topic (e.g. education, residential schools, etc.)

Click on this link to begin a OneSearch search, and then add your specific topical words in the search boxes available below these terms:

SU canad* AND (SU "first nations" OR SU "native peoples" OR SU aboriginal* OR SU indigenous OR SU "indians of north america" OR SU metis OR SU inuit OR SU eskimos)

Note: if you want to include specific indigenous peoples of the US as well as Canada, you can use this list:

(Abenaki* OR Pima OR Pimas OR Navajo* OR Inuit* OR Innuit* OR Cherokee* OR Shawnee* OR Lakota OR Coushatta OR Tlingit* OR Arapaho* OR Assiniboine OR Beothuk OR Blackfeet OR Blackfoot OR Cabazon* 
OR Caddo* OR Chickasaw OR Chippewa OR Chitimacha* OR Choctaw* OR Cocopah* OR "Coeur D'alene" OR Comanche* OR Muscogee* OR Duwamish OR Elwha* OR Flathead* OR Goshute* OR Ho-Chunk* 
OR Hopi OR Hopis OR Hoopa* OR S'klallam OR Jatibonicu OR Jumano* OR Kalapuya* OR Kiowa* OR Kootenai* OR Lemhi* OR Shoshone* OR Makah* OR Pequot* OR Mechoopda* OR Metis OR 
Menominee* OR Miccosukee* OR Mi'kmaq OR Mohegan* OR Muscogee* OR Navajo* OR "Nez Perce" OR "Nez Pierce" OR Oneida* OR Osage* OR Passamaquoddy OR Pawnee* OR "Pend D'oreille" OR Pomo 
OR Pomos OR Potawatomi* OR Pueblo* OR Quinault* OR Salish OR Saponi OR Saponis OR Seminole* OR Shawnee* OR Shoshone* OR Siletz OR Nakota OR S'klallam OR Suquamish OR Taino OR Tainos 
OR Tohono OR "O'Odham" OR Tunica-Biloxi OR Tunicas OR Umatilla* OR Umpqua* OR Waccamaw* OR Wampanoag* OR Washoe* OR Wiyot* OR Yakama* OR Ute OR Utes OR Apache* OR Cheyenne* OR Spokane 
OR Tuscarora OR Sioux OR Wendat* or Huron* or Mohawk* or "AI/AN" or Apache or Cree) 

 

DesLibris - ebooks and documents

A full-text book and document database focused on Canada.

Start with this link and then add your specific topic using the green + sign:

Advanced search, any of these: indigenous aboriginal native indians metis inuit mi'kmaq

 

CBCA Complete - articles, scholarly, popular, news

A mostly-full-text article database about all things Canadian, including both scholarly journals and non-scholarly serials (magazines, newspapers).

Start with this link and then use the "Modify search" link to add your topical search terms:

LOC(canad*) AND SU("first nations" OR "native peoples" OR "native americans" OR aboriginal* OR indigenous OR "indians of north america" OR metis OR inuit OR eskimos)

 

Canadian government documents

Find official documents on Canadian government web sites - federal, provincial, and municipal

  • This link is to a Google "custom search engine" so add your own keywords in front of 'first nations" in the search box
  • Also specifically check out the Government of Canada's website, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.  
    Tip: use Google to search this site by adding this keyword to your search:  
    site:aadnc-aandc.gc.ca

Statistics Canada Indigenous Statistics Portal (Statistics Canada)

Eureka - newspapers, other media sources

  • defaults to searching only PEI sources, so change the second pull-down to whatever range of sources you want, e.g. "Canada (ENG) Eureka" for English language Canadian sources
  • here is a starting search you can put into the search box and then add AND and your keywords after it:  
    LEAD= (indigenous | "first nations" | inuit | aboriginal* | metis)

Other Resources

NFB Campus Documentaries - 40+ streaming films produced by the National Film Board of Canada (appropriate for academic papers) on various subjects relating to "aboriginal peoples in Canada" - there's probably at least one on your topic!

Early Canadiana Online - historical documents, so be prepared to use historical versions of names, e.g. "micmac" when searching; especially note the "Aboriginal Studies" collection within the site - 980 documents

Aboriginal Heritage - Libraries and Archives Canada's site containing thousands of digitized documents and images. Almost all of the content is full text/image/video, but ask library staff if you find a reference to something that is not available on the site.  Includes the full text database, Indian Affairs Annual Reports, 1864-1990.

iPortal - University of Saskatchewan's free indigenous studies research tool. Not all free full text - you'll need to use Robertson Library resources to get the full text in many cases, but the indexing may be helpful. [Note:this link is proxied to provide UPEI users with direct links to Library full text and interlibrary loan.]

Indigenous Cloud - Indigenous Cloud is a family-run online media management portal for music distribution. The online platform offers North American Indigenous artists, musicians, craftspeople, and performers a way to showcase their talent and productions while simultaneously educating listeners and preserving Indigenous culture, languages, and traditions.

Theses Canada - Libraries and Archives Canada's index to theses and dissertations done at Canadian universities. Most recent ones are full text online. There are many about Native Canadians, and the bibliographies on theses tend to be very detailed. The search engine is not very good, so keep searches very simple, or ask a librarian for help. "Indians of north america" is a good subject keyword to use.
You may find searching the Global Electronic Theses and Dissertations easier although it includes non-Canadian material, but it does link back to the Canadian theses.

 

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