Throughout this guide, a variety of words are used to describe resources available for student research in relation to the St. Paul's course, Current Topics in Indigenous, Métis, and Inuit Studies. The guide includes materials written by, about, and for people of Aboriginal, Métis, Inuit and non-Aboriginal backgrounds and cultures.
The ongoing legal use of the word "Indian" by the Government of Canada (ie. The Indian Act) necessitates its inclusion in our guide, despite our awareness of any offense it may cause. Also, American and international resources tend to use the terms "Native American" or "American Indian" rather than Aboriginal, First Nations, or Indigenous. This is important to keep in mind when doing research, as word choice greatly impacts catalogue and database search results.
For further information see the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada page on terminology.
This citation guide is based on the LibGuide developed at Brandon University. The content is used with permission. Thank you to Heather Coulter & Marian Ramage at Brandon University for the use of material in their LibGuide Aboriginal Resources – Background, Policy, Analysis.
This guide serves as an introduction to some of the library resources, governmental and public information sources available to students and researchers looking for information on Indigenous topics.
One of the issues you will find is the number of subject headings materials are filed under. "Indians of North America" is the primary term used in catalogues. You will, however, find that a number of other terms are also used including:
indigenous people, indigenous rights, aboriginal people, native people, first nations, tribal, aboriginal title, land, land rights, land exploitation, land grabbing, land management, land resources, land law, ancestral land, privatization, natural resources, conservation, conservation law, environment, exploration, first nations, dispossession of lands, forced displacement, forest rights, right to life, self-determination, sovereignty, sustained development.
Doing research is a time-consuming process. We are happy to help you with this process, please ask!
1. Break your search down into important keywords or concepts.
ie. If your topic is: "How are Indigenous women portrayed in movies?"
You might try these keywords:
| Aboriginal | Film | Girls |
| First Nations | Cinema | Portrayal |
| Indigenous | Media | Representation |
| Native | Women | Stereotype |
| Movies | Female | Depiction |
***** There are currently many different words used to indicate and describe Indigenous peoples, so it is important to use a variety of words for your search. Instead of just using "Native" or "Aboriginal", try to include most of the commonly used terms into one search. Use the following five key terms to ensure that you are finding the widest variety of resources.
You can also substitute or add additional specific keywords such as
Métis OR Cree
So for the above example, you could use:
(Aboriginal* OR Native* OR Indian* OR "First Nation*" OR Indigenous) AND Women AND (Film* OR Cinema OR Movie*)
This will search for any of the words in the first set of brackets, plus women, plus any of the words in the second set of brackets.
These are samples of the types of searches you can do, words may be added or subtracted to the search to suit YOUR research needs.