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Indigenous Studies - Home
Indigenous Programs at Laurentian
Native Studies was first established as an undergraduate program by the University of Sudbury and was recently renamed Indigenous Studies. It publishes the Undergraduate Journal of Indigenous Studies : Dbaajmowin.
At Laurentian itself, the School of Native Human Services, which offered an undergraduate degree in social work, was renamed The School of Indigenous Relations. This School has two programs: The Honours Bachelor of Indigenous Social Work program and the Master of Indigenous Relations program. The School is a proud sponsor of the Indigenous Social Work Journal previously called the Native Social Work Journal.
Courses are also taught from an Indigenous perspective in such disciplines as Architecture, Education, English, Nursing, and Sociology.
Faculty Consultants
This research guide has been prepared in consultation with Taima Moeke-Pickering, from the School of Indigenous Relations as well as Sheila Cote-Meek, former Associate Vice-President Academic and Indigenous Programs, now at York University.
Welcome
The purpose of this guide is to recommend print and electronic resources for conducting research in Indigenous Studies in the libraries on Laurentian University's campus. Click on the tabs on the left for suggestions about starting your research, getting books and articles, and finding other useful tools for research in Indigenous Studies.
Connect from Off Campus
Most of the Library's online resources are available to you from anywhere off campus. See: LU Proxy Accounts.
Library Instruction
To learn more about the library and its resources and how you can exploit them to your advantage, register in the Research Skills Tutorial on D2L. There are several sections in the tutorial with a short quiz at the end of each; at the end you will receive a Certificate of Completion. Many professors require you to take this tutorial--and once you finish it, you can save your certificate to reprint as often as necessary.
We can hold special classes at the request of at least 5 students. If you would like to arrange a special class, or you think your course would benefit from some in-class library instruction, please ask your professor to contact the librarian responsible for your faculty to set up some sessions.
More Help
In the library: The Library User Assistance Desk to your immediate left as you enter the library is a good place to start.
By email: Email the librarian responsible for your faculty for a reply during regular working hours.
Research consultations: Book a research consultation with the librarian responsible for your faculty by Zoom or phone.
By chat: With our "Ask the Library" service. For more information, see About Ask a Librarian.
For Distance Education students: Telephone: 1-800-661-1058, ext. 2 or email: bibdesmaraislib@laurentian.ca
Get Started
Quick Tips on Preparing For Research
Before you start:
- understand the key terms you may be using as well as the general area that interests you;
- think about ways to narrow your topic, making it as specific as possible (unless you have been given a specific topic to research!);
- create a thesis statement;
- list the main concepts (key words) included in your thesis statement (research question), then based on your readings;
- find as many synonyms as you can for each main concept. You are now ready to start searching in the library's catalogue and databases.
When you are looking for definitions or if you don’t know much about a specific subject, reference works such as dictionaries and encyclopedias become invaluable because they contain relatively short—and understandable—articles. These articles often lay out the parameters of a subject and can assist you in trying to narrow your topic. Often such articles are accompanied by lists of readings (bibliographies) which allow you to explore your topic further.
A good general reference work is: Native Peoples A to Z : A Reference Guide to Native Peoples of the Western Hemisphere, which the publisher describes as " A current reference work that reflects the changing times and attitudes of, and towards the indigenous peoples of all the regions of the Americas."
Terminology
Over the years the terminology used to describe Indigenous peoples has changed, especially by non-indigenous peoples when referring to Indigenous peoples. For example, Indian was used for the longest time, but it is no longer viewed as an appropriate term to describe Canada's Indigenous populations. This page provides links to resources that deal with terminology and Indigenous studies:
- Terminology: Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
- Terminology: United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Atlases, Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Atlas
Dictionaries
- Oxford English Dictionary
- Nishnaabemwin. Online. Publilshed by the University of Sudbury.
- Ojibwe People's Dictionary. Online. Published by the University of Minnesota.
Encyclopedias
- American Indian Religious Traditions: An Encyclopedia (full-text ebook)
- Encyclopedia of American Indian History (In Print: U. of S. Ref. E 77 E48 2008)
- Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes (In Print: U. of S. Ref. E 76.2 W35 1999)
- Encyclopedia of North American Indians (full-text ebook)
- The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes (REF E77 G15 1998)
- Handbook of North American Indians (REF E 77 H26)
Get Books and Theses
Why Use Books?
- Books are extremely valuable resources when doing in-depth research on a topic! Authors have hundreds of pages to give detailed explanations and background information surrounding the various facets of your research interest.
- Using this kind of in-depth information will make it easier to form a research question or thesis statement (or even spark your inspiration)
- The bibliographies found in books are extensive, and will point you to other resources to add to your own resource list.
- Remember: scholars write journal articles under the assumption that you already have a relatively thorough understanding of the topic – this means that you will likely not find the foundational information needed for your topic in the beginning stages of your research process. In this sense, books become indispensable
Searching the Catalogue
The catalogue is your primary tool for finding books in the J.N. Desmarais Library. You can also use the catalogue to find other materials, including government publications and journals (including individual articles).
You can search the catalogue by:
- Title
- Author/Creator
- Subject
- Call Number
When you know the book you are searching for, pick Title or Author; when you are searching for a topic, start with Keyword unless you know the exact Subject heading describing your topic.
More on searching the Catalogue is available in Module 5 of the Research Skills Tutorial in D2L.
E-Books
E-books are located in two different places:
- Some may be located by using the library’s catalogue and selecting "Books & eBooks" as the "Material Type" and then further filtering your results by "Available online".
- E-books can also be located by searching in e-book collections. Searching in these collections is the same as searching in a database.
Recommended E-Book Collections
- Early Canadiana Online
- Ebook Central (close to 40,000 e-books in multiple subject areas)
- EbscoHost eBook Collection
- Scholars Portal E-Books (over 250,000 e-books in multiple subject areas. Select Full Text Only to find only those e-books with full text)
WorldCat
Theses
In addition to books, you may wish to search for book-length Master's theses or Ph.D dissertations.
Best bet: Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest).
If you are also looking for recent theses or dissertations produced by Laurentian graduates, check out our Research Repository - LUZONE. Note that since 2013, before graduation all Master's and Doctoral candidates MUST deposit their theses or dissertations in this repository.
Get Articles
Articles: Quick Tips
The databases to the right provide references to many scholarly journal articles and papers.
- Start off with keyword searches expressing your topic. Keyword searching crosses all fields.
- Use Search Operators such as "OR" and "AND" to expand or reduce your results.
- Review those items that look relevant, then, exploit the details within those entries to help lead you to other relevant articles.
- Pay attention to the subject headings (often called "descriptors") to see how the database describes your topic and use them to find related articles.
- Find other papers written by the same author; these will typically be on similar subjects.
- Follow citation trails: other articles that have cited this article will probably be on a related subject and will include citations to other articles of interest.
- For more Secrets of Searching a Database, review that section in How to Research Like a Librarian.
Peer Review
Peer Review is the evaluation of creative work by scholars in the same field in order to maintain or enhance the quality of the work in that field.
In the case of peer reviewed journals, which are usually academic, peer review generally refers to the evaluation of the articles in them prior to publication. For more, check out this definition of peer review.
- To ascertain whether a journal is peer reviewed, consult Ulrichsweb.
Recommended Starting Databases
- Bibliography of Native North Americans
- Portal: Indigenous Studies Portal Research Tool From the University of Saskatchewan, the Indigenous Studies Portal (iPortal) connects researchers with electronic resources: books, articles, theses, documents, photographs, archival resources, maps, etc. The vision of iPortal is to provide one place to look to find resources for Indigenous Studies.
Specialized Subject Databases
- Autochtonia (Indigenous peoples living in Quebec. For full cite, cick +Référence)
- Caninuit (An annotated source of information about the magazines, journals, newspapers and newsletters of Canada's Inuit peoples and communities. This web site was created in 2008 and the annotations are being updated and augmented regularly by the editor. Caninuit can be browsed by title or category, or searched in anyword (Find) mode.
- Hubert Wenger Eskimo Database (University of Alaska, Fairbanks. A collection of historical images, maps and written sources concerning Inuit/Eskimo peoples. Covers 19th and 20th century, but is not meant as a source of current information.)
- Metis Centre of HAHO Databases (Material on Metis health and well-being and social determinants of health)
Newspapers
- Anishinabek News The voice of the Anishinabek nation (Union of Ontario Indians).
- First Nations Drum Canada's largest First Nations Newspaper.
- Turtle Island News "Canada's only national native weekly newspaper, published every week at the Grand River Territory of the Six Nations in southern Ontario. It is a politically independent newspaper that is wholly owned and operated by Aboriginal people."
- Wataway News Online Northern Ontario's First Nations Voice Since 1974.
Some Related Databases
- Academic OneFile ?
- America: History and Life ?
- Anthropology Plus ?
- ASTIS Arctic Science and Technology Information System (ASTIS) database ?
- Canadian Business & Current Affairs™ (CBCA) Complete ?
- Canadian Periodicals Index Quarterly (CPI.Q) ?
- CINAHL ?
- European Views of the Americas: 1493 to 1750 ?
- ERIC (ProQuest) ?
- Google Scholar ?
- ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Premium ?
- Social Services Abstracts ?
- Social Work Abstracts ?
Some Open Access Journals
- Canadian Journal of Native Studies: 1981- Brandon University
- Cultural Survival Quarterly: 1982- Cultural Survival, Cambridge MA
- Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society: 2012- Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
- First Nations Perspectives: 2008- Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre
- First Peoples Child & Family Review: 2004- First Nations Caring Society of Canada
- IK: Other Ways of Knowing: 2015- Penn State. Publishes original research articles as well as review articles in all areas of indigenous knowledge from a global perspective
- International Indigenous Policy Journal: 2010- University of Western Ontario
- International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies: 2008-Indigenous Studies Research Network, Australia
- International Journal of Indigenous Health: 2014- (Formerly, 2004-2014, Journal of Aboriginal Health)
- Journal of Indigenous Social Development (JISD): 2012- University of Manitoba. Committed to advancing education, practice, research and policymaking relevant to indigenous peoples’ social and economic wellbeing.
- Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health: 2003-2013. Native Counselling Services of Alberta
Getting Articles @ Laurentian
In any database, when you see an article that interests you, click on it and, unless the article is available within the database itself, within the record you will see an image that says "Get it @ Laurentian":
When you click on that, you will arrive at a menu which will lead to an electronic copy of the article you want, or, if not available electronically, to Laurentian's catalogue which will allow you to check if the article is available in print in the library, and if not, to a final link which allows you to order the item through Interlibrary loan.
Get Films
Need a Film Not in Laurentian's Online Film Collections?
Consult: Watmedia (Provincial Multi-media Catalogue). Material held by Laurentian may be signed out in the library. To order a film not available at Laurentian, please email LUFilmLibrary@laurentian.ca and specify the date(s) you require the item.
Questions: Please contact Ginette Gervais, coordinator of interlibrary loan.
The Best Internet Portals
General
- Aboriginal Links (Canada and the U.S.)
- First Nations Profile (Canada. Indigenous Services Canada)
- Index of Native American Resources on the Internet
- Yearbook: Indigenous World
Archival Sources
- Indigenous Heritage (Library and Archives Canada)
Business and Commerce
Children
Cultural Awareness (for non-Indigenous)
Doctrine of Discovery
Education
- Aboriginal Bursaries Search Tool
- First Nations, Métis & Inuit Education Association of Ontario
- Ontario College of Teachers: Aboriginal Teaching and Teacher Education
- Ontario First Nations, Metis and Inuit Education Policy Framework
- The Ontario curriculum, Native Studies, Grades 9 and 10, 1999.
- The Ontario curriculum, Native Studies, Grades 11 and 12, 2000.
Health
- Native Health Database (Sponsored by the University of New Mexico, encompasses Indigenous peoples throughout North America)
History
- Annual Reports of the [U.S.] Commissioner of Indian Affairs
- National Museum of the American Indian - Collections Search (Includes a representative sample of NMAI's object and historic photo collections. Some Canadian coverage)
- Our Voices - Stories of Canadian People and Culture
- Our Voices, Our Stories: First Nations, Métis and Inuit Stories
Images
- Glenbow Archives Photographs related to the history of western Canada, with a strong Blackfoot collection.
- Images Canada 75,000+ images from Library and Archives Canada and other Canadian cultural institutions.
- Mi'kmaq Portrait Collection 700+ Portraits and illustrations at the Nova Scotia Museum.
Literature
- Native American Authors (Internet Public Library) Brief biographies and contextual information about Aboriginal authors from Canada and the US. Search by author, title, or tribal or band affiliation (not updated)
Law
Methodologies
National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
Policies
Public Opinion
Canadian Public Opinion on Aboriginal Peoples (An Environics Survey)
Political Organizations
- Anishnabek Nation (Union of Ontario Indians)
- Assembly of First Nations
- Association of Iroquois & Allied Indians
- Congress of Aboriginal Peoples
- Grand Council of Treaty # 3
- Inuit Tapirisat of Canada
- Metis Nation of Ontario
- Nishnawbe Aski Nation - NAN
- Native Women's Association of Canada
Residential Schools
- Aboriginal Healing Foundation
- Anglican Church of Canada - Residential Schools
- Assembly of First Nations - Indian Residential Schools Unit
- Four Worlds Residential School Healing Program
- Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program
- Indian Residential School Survivors Society
- Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada
- Legacy of Hope Foundation
- Native Residential Schools in Canada: A Selective Bibliography
- Presbyterian Church
- The Residential School System
- Shingwauk Project
- Turtle Island Native Network
- United Church of Canada
- US Government Indian Boarding Schools
- Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy of Residential Schools
Royal Commissions
Sociology
Statistics
- Aboriginal Peoples (Statistics Canada)
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Citing Sources and Zotero
Why Cite?
We cite sources to acknowledge the work of others, as well as to avoid academic dishonesty or plagiarism.
The University of Toronto has made available a comprehensive set of guidelines on How NOT to Plagiarize which deserves to be read by every student.
Citation Style in Laurentian's indigenous Programs
At Laurentian, professors will specify the citation style to be used. To learn more about individual citation styles, consult Laurentian's guide to citation styles.
Zotero
is a free, web-based citation manager that allows you to:
- Directly import references from article databases, the library catalogue, e-book collections, etc.
- Manage and organize your references.
- Create a bibliography.
- Share your references with others
- Add in-text citation and a bibliography directly into your assignment
Connect to Zotero
Getting started with Zotero:
- Follow
this Guide specially prepared for Laurentian Users by Ashley Thomson (Sept. 2020)
- Contact the librarian supporting your faculty.
- Sign up for library workshops when available.
- View Quick Start Guide (video) or Tutorials (videos)
- Consult one of Zotero's own User Guides or McMaster University's Quick Start Guide or the Zotero Guide by Ontario Tech University