Xwi7xwa Library Guide
Geographical Place Names
Locating Indigenous histories in territories mapped by Western means can be difficult. One of the ways to do this is to research the history of a city and the areas around it from contact and work forward.
Canadian Geographical Names (Natural Resources Canada) is a good source for discovering the names.
- Search for a known place
- From this result, you can search for nearby place names
- Use: Search for nearby names by radius (1, 5, 10, or 20km)
- Pick a distance and then click submit
Contemporary
- The Map Room (Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada)Includes maps relating to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities, economic development, education, environment (mining), Indian Residential Schools Agreement, the North, and treaties, claims and agreements.
- Native LandProject displays a collection of traced maps of Indigenous territories, languages, and treaties. Related websites and links to language resources are included.
- Coming Home to Indigenous Place Names in CanadaDeveloped by the University of Maine, this map recognizes Indigenous names for places and landscape features. These names are shared with the permission of local First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
- Ta’n Weji-sqalia’tiek: Mi’kmaw Place Names Digital Atlas (Mi’kmaq-Nova Scotia-Canada Tripartite Forum)An interactive digital atlas of Mi'kmaw place names, documenting approximately 13,000 years of Mi’kmaw presence within Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia).
- AANDC - First Nation Profiles Interactive MapAboriginal Affairs and Northern Development's interactive map of First Nation profiles. Note: inconsistencies are occasionally overlooked.
Historic
- Indian Reserves - Western Canada (Library and Archives Canada)Approximately 1,500 maps and plans that relate to Aboriginal reserves and settlements in western and northern Canada, including British Columbia.
- Gabriel Dumont Institute Maps (The Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture)Educational collection of simple illustrated maps which include community maps, First Nations maps, fur trade maps, political maps, and resource maps of the historic Métis communities.
Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada holds materials relevant to Indigenous maps and mapping, including reserves: Indian Reserves - Western Canada.
(Image: Plan of Muskoday Indian Reserve 1884. Courtesy of LAC.)