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Indigenous New Media

Featured Books

Read, Listen, Tell: Indigenous Stories from Turtle Island
Sophie McCall, Deanna Reder, David Gaertner and Gabrielle L'Hirondelle Hill (2017).

The goal of Read, Listen, Tell is not only to share with readers an incredibly diverse collection of Indigenous stories, but also to transform methods of reading by bringing into the forefront practices in interpreting texts that are grounded in Indigenous knowledge and scholarship. Each of the chapters offers particular strategies for reading the stories in multiple ways, encouraging readers to expand the scope of the "short story" by including a broad range of story forms. The chapters consist of five to seven stories, accompanied by a critical essay that helps contextualize some of the questions and issues the stories raise.

Coded Territories: Tracing Indigenous Pathways in New Media Arts
Steve Loft and Kerry Swanson (2014).
With Archer Pechawis, Jackson 2Bears, Jason Edward Lewis, Steven Foster, Candice Hopkins, and Cheryl L'Hirondelle.

This collection of essays provides a historical and contemporary context for Indigenous new media arts practice in Canada. The writers are established artists, scholars, and curators who cover thematic concepts and underlying approaches to new media from a distinctly Indigenous perspective.

The New Smoke Signals: Communicating in a Digital World
Rachel Mishenene (2014).

The Internet and social media are a huge part of the day-to-day lives of many First Nation, Inuit and Métis people. Our ancestors used storytelling to pass on history, lessons learned and teachings. Now, we often share stories online. Author Rachel Mishenene, has combined social media explanations and tips with fun and engaging short stories, serving up reminders of when and how to communicate properly and effectively in a digital world.

Transference, Tradition, Technology: Native New Media Exploring Visual & Digital Culture 
Co-produced with the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton; and Indigenous Media Arts Group, Vancouver (2005).

Transference, Tradition, Technology explores Canadian Aboriginal new media and references the work of artists within a political, cultural and aesthetic milieu. The book constructs a Native art history relating to these disciplines, one that is grounded in the philosophical and cosmological foundations of Aboriginal concepts of community and identity within the rigour of contemporary arts discourse. 

Finding Materials in the UBC Catalogue

Try these basic strategies to begin your research in the UBC Library Catalogue.

Keyword Searches

Combine keywords relating to the concept of Indigenous identity AND keywords for different forms of new media. For example:

  • "First Nations"
  • Indigenous
  • Aboriginal
  • Indian
  • Native
  • Inuit

AND

  • "Interactive multimedia"
  • "Interactive multimedia"
  • "Digital storytelling"
  • "Digital artists"
  • "Comic books"
  • "New media"
  • "Graphic novels"
  • "Video games"
  • "Computer art"

Helpful Hints for Keyword Searches

  • Use quotation marks to search for a phrase.
    Example: "First Nations"
  • Use a question mark to truncate a term to search for words with the same stem.
    Example: Art? retrieves Art, Artist, Artwork, Artificial, Artifact, etc.

Try these basic strategies to begin your research in the UBC Library Catalogue.

Subject Headings

Subject headings are a tool designed to help researchers find similar materials. These are only some examples of the many subject headings that X̱wi7x̱wa Library uses. Spend a few minutes exploring them when you find a book in the catalogue that supports your research.

Browse Catalogue > Subject begins with:

Try these basic strategies to begin your research in the UBC Library Catalogue.

Browse Call Numbers

X̱wi7x̱wa Library uses a unique Classification Scheme. See call numbers beginning with PC, WK, or YM for materials related to Indigenous new media. Come by X̱wi7x̱wa to browse the shelves or search our online catalogue:

  • PC - Communications and Media
  • WK - Contemporary Indigenous Art
  • WKA - Contemporary Indigenous Art (History and Criticism)
  • YM - Film, Television, and Radio

Try these basic strategies to begin your research in the UBC Library Catalogue.

Refer to Reference Sources