Introduction
This page attempts to collocate various resources that may be relevant to Indigenous materials and research, but are located outside of RBSC. These may be located within the larger UBC Library system, within non-library departments of UBC, or outside of UBC.
Xwi7xwa Library is a centre for academic and community Indigenous scholarship. Its collections and services reflect Aboriginal approaches to teaching, learning, and research. Everyone is welcome to visit Xwi7xwa Library and can access their website here.
Image Source: [Xwi7xwa Library, University of British Columbia P] Retrieved from: https://collections.irshdc.ubc.ca/index.php/Detail/entities/1135
Related UBC Library Research Guides
Below are related research guides which have been created by various branches of the UBC Library.
Related UBC Sites
- First Nations and Indigenous Studies
- First Nations House of Learning
- Indian Residential School History & Dialogue Centre
- Indigenous Foundations
- Indigitization: Toolkit for the Digitization of First Nations Knowledge
- The Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies
- Museum of Anthropology at UBC
- Reconciliation Pole
- Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education MOOC
- The Power of a Name
- Time and Place at UBC: Our Histories and Relations
- UBC Press - Indigenous Studies
- UBC Press - Women and Indigenous Studies
- University Archives - First Nations Historical Resources
- Xwi7xwa Library
Resources on Conducting Archival Research
- Association of Canadian Archivists - Aboriginal Archives GuideThis booklet was developed in order to promote the role of archives in meeting the administrative, educational, and cultural needs of Aboriginal communities, and to foster the establishment of archives in those communities. To that end, the booklet has been designed to introduce archival concepts and terminology; to outline the basic requirements for an archival programme; to provide general advice on establishing an archival programme; and to identify where additional information, advice and assistance can be found.
- BC Archives First Nations Research GuideThis guide is intended to help researchers locate material on British Columbia First Nations at the BC Archives as well as to provide referrals to related resources available elsewhere.
- CFLA and NIKLA Release First Nations, Métis, and Inuit – Indigenous Ontology (FNMIIO)The National Indigenous Knowledge and Language Alliance (NIKLA) and the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA) have created the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit – Indigenous Ontology (FNMIIO), a working list of Indigenous Names to better reflect how Indigenous people currently prefer to refer to themselves. The FNMI Ontology is intended to be a living document that will be updated and revised based on information gathered through research or consultations.
- Every Child Matters: Honouring the Missing Children -- University of Victoria Library GuideThis library guide lists educational and scholarly resources related to the remembrance of the many children missing from Canada's residential schools.
- First Nations in and outside the Metro Vancouver areaThis resource provides a list of and information about First Nations within and outside the Metro Vancouver region, as well as a listing of the Tribal Councils that represent those First Nations.
- The First Nations Principles of OCAP®The First Nations principles of OCAP® are a set of standards that establish how First Nations data should be collected, protected, used, or shared. They are the de facto standard for how to conduct research with First Nations.
Standing for ownership, control, access and possession, OCAP® asserts that First Nations have control over data collection processes in their communities, and that they own and control how this information can be used. - First Nations TerminologySimon Fraser University Library has put together a guide to First Nations terminology, which includes names of groups as well as possible subject headings that researchers may use to find materials related to Indigenous peoples in library catalogues.
- First Peoples: A Guide for NewcomersFirst Peoples: A Guide for Newcomers aims to fill the need for clear information in simple language about the First Peoples in Vancouver. It introduces newcomers to three important topics: who are Aboriginal people (or First Peoples) in Vancouver and Canada; a brief overview of the relationship between the Government of Canada and First Peoples; and current initiatives and ways for newcomers to learn more about Aboriginal people in the community.
- Getting Started in Oral Traditions ResearchA guide to oral traditions research for adults and students in the Northwest Territories by Elisa Hart.
- Indigenous Foundations TerminologyTerminology can be critical for Indigenous populations, as the term for a group may not have been selected by the population themselves but instead imposed on them by colonizers. With this in mind, Indigenous Foundations has compiled a guide to help inform researchers of the most accurate and respectful terminology to use for various peoples and contexts.
- Indigenous Peoples and Records: A Guide to Research at the City of Winnipeg ArchivesThis research guide was created in response to Call to Action #77 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
of Canada. It seeks to support awareness of the long history of Indigenous peoples in Winnipeg and assist
research in this area by identifying records and contextual information related to seven topics: the urban
Indigenous population, settler colonialism, building relationships, Indian Residential Schools, the aqueduct,
family history, and Indigenous achievement. - University of Alberta’s Faculty of Native Studies’ free MOOC on Indigenous CanadaAbout this course: Indigenous Canada is a 12-lesson Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) that explores Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada. From an Indigenous perspective, this course explores key issues facing Indigenous peoples today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations. Topics for the 12 lessons include the fur trade and other exchange relationships, land claims and environmental impacts, legal systems and rights, political conflicts and alliances, Indigenous political activism, and contemporary Indigenous life, art and its expressions.
- University of New Brunswick - First Nations' Materials in Archives & Special Collections GuideIn identifying relevant books and archival materials this online guide "is designed to acquaint the researcher with the range of information available and draw attention to specific items which might otherwise remain undetected because of their location within other bodies of material."
- Whose LandWhose Land is a web-based app that uses GIS technology to assist users in identifying Indigenous Nations, territories, and Indigenous communities across Canada. The app can be used for learning about the territory your home or business is situated on, finding information for a land acknowledgement, and learning about the treaties and agreements signed across Canada. Educational videos are available to watch that will give you a better understanding of why land acknowledgements are important, and the way Indigenous peoples view their relationship to land.
Other Archival Institutions
- City of Vancouver ArchivesThe City of Vancouver Archives is located in Vanier Park in downtown Vancouver. This repository acquires a variety of records that document the city's history, including records relevant to the Indigenous populations of the area that western society knows as Vancouver.
- Library and Archives Canada - Indigenous HeritageLibrary and Archives Canada (LAC) is located in Canada's capital city, Ottawa, Ontario. LAC acquires, preserves, and provides access to published and archival heritage material that represents First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation experiences and contributions to Canada. This includes text, photographs, maps, and audio-visual material.
- National Centre for Truth and ReconciliationThe National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) is located at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg and acts as the permanent repository for all statements, documents, and other materials collected by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The NCTR now cares for thousands of Survivor statements and millions of records.
- Simon Fraser University Special Collections and Rare BooksSimon Fraser University is located in Burnaby, British Columbia. Their Special Collections and Rare Books provides researchers with access to a vast array of unique primary and published materials, including rare books, archival materials and manuscripts. Part of their collecting mandate is related to local history, which encompasses records relevant to the Indigenous populations of Canada.
- Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs Library & ArchivesThe Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) Library is located in downtown Vancouver. The UBCIC Library is a specialized research library and archives focusing on BC land rights research which serves all researchers who have a Band Council Resolution (BCR) to conduct research on behalf of a First Nation.
- University of Winnipeg Special CollectionsThe University of Winnipeg Special Collections holds materials relevant to the university as well as private records. Information about the collections at this institution that are relevant to Indigenous peoples, as well as information about Truth and Reconciliation efforts that the archives are making, can be found here: https://archives.uwinnipeg.ca/our-collections/indigenous-collections.html
Finding Books: Subject Headings
Try following one of these links or build your own subject search. These subject headings are used throughout the UBC libraries, not only for RBSC.
Note: Xwi7xwa Library at UBC uses Aboriginal Canadians as a subject heading, but materials at other libraries may be found under the Library of Congress subject heading, Indians of North America. In this research guide, we have presented subject headings which use both terms, in order to enable researchers to find all available materials.
For more information about Indigenous Knowledge Organization and the X̱wi7x̱wa Library, please visit their website.
For a list of subject headings related to Indigenous peoples, please see this list compiled by Simon Fraser University Library.
Listen & Watch
- Healing Journey: Project Naming at 15Over the past fifteen years, Project Naming has provided a virtual space enabling First Nations, the Métis Nation and Inuit communities to access Canada's historic photo collections and engage in the identification of people and locations, thereby reconnecting with their history to share memories and stories rekindled by the photographs.
- Hiding in Plain Sight: The Métis NationIn this episode, we feature a discussion between Library and Archives Canada’s Métis researcher William Benoit and Janet La France of the Saint-Boniface Historical Society. They discuss the roles their respective institutions play in providing individuals with a means of unraveling their ancestry, their identity.
- UnreservedIntelligent, Insightful, Indigenous. Stories, music, culture. Unreserved is the true voice of Indigenous Canada. Hosted by Rosanna Deerchild.
- Library HoldingsCheck out DVD and VHS recordings of Indigenous-related films from UBC Library.
- Indigenous New MediaIndigenous new media is an evolving, multidisciplinary area of art and scholarly work that broadly encompasses born-digital and interactive story-telling mediums. This can include video games, podcasts, comics, video art, and web art.
Journals
Below we have listed some of the journals that were kept by colonial explorers and settlers in their first encounters with Indigenous peoples. Although the journals are written from a western, colonial perspective, they provide documentary evidence of the early interactions between colonizers and Indigenous peoples.
- Expedición Malaspina, 1789-1794. English The Malaspina Expedition, 1789-1794 : journal of the voyage byISBN: 9780904180725Publication Date: 2001-2004
- Voyages from Montreal, on the river St. Laurence, through the continent of North America, to the frozen and Pacific oceans, in the years 1789 and 1793 : with a preliminary account of the rise, progress, and present state of the fur trade of that country : byCall Number: CIHM 36609ISBN: 0665366094Publication Date: 1802This journal includes information about first contact between European settlers and Indigenous peoples, including vocabularies of the Knisteneaux, Algonquin, and Chepewyan languages.
- A voyage to the Pacific Ocean : undertaken by command of His Majesty, for making discoveries in the northern hemisphere : performed under the direction of Captains Cook, Clerke, and Gore, in the years 1777, 1778, 1779, 1780. byCall Number: CIHM 17753ISBN: 0665177534Publication Date: 1790The narrative is written partly in the 1st person, following Cook's journal, and partly in the 3rd person, paraphrased from the official account. Includes Cook's third voyage, Phipps's voyage to the North Pole, and Governor Phillip's voyage to Botany Bay.