Indigenous Studies Guide Ask Us

Epjila’si, Kulahsihkulpa, Welcome!

We respectfully acknowledge that UNB is on the unsurrendered and unceded traditional lands of the Wolastoqiyik peoples. Beginning in 1725, the Peace and Friendship Treaties established Mi'kmaq and Wolastoqiyik title over these lands, and provided rules for ongoing relations between nations. We are all treaty people.

This subject guide is intended to be a portal into First Nations collections available onsite and online through UNB Libraries while also providing a curated list of local, regional, and national resources that contribute to the study and understanding of issues that have been identified by First Nations as important. We are grateful for the guidance of UNB's Mi'kmaq-Wolatoqey Centre in the ongoing development of services, spaces, and collections.

Featured

• UNB Libraries Guide to Indigenous Research Data Management
• Integration of Indigenous Culture, Knowledge, and Traditions — A guide for understanding New Brunswick Archives and Indigenous History in New Brunswick, Canada / Leanne Hudson (Provincial Archives of New Brunswick)
• Antistasis Vol 9, No 1 (2019): Ntokehkikem, Ntokihkims - I Teach, I Learn: Transformative Indigenous Practice in Education (UNB Faculty of Education e-journal)
• Applying indigenous research methods : storying with peoples and communities (eBook)
• Canada's residential schools : the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (5 volumes, available in print at various locations)
• Indigenous peoples atlas of Canada (4 volumes, available in print at various locations)
• Reclaiming power and place : executive summary of the final report / National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.(Privy Council Office, Government of Canada)

Notable on the Web

• Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC)
• Aboriginal Heritage (Library & Archives Canada)
• ASK-ECDEV: Atlantic Aboriginal Economic Development Integrated Research Program
• Contested Terrain: Aboriginal Land Petitions in New Brunswick, 1786-1878
• Indigenous Studies Portal
• Mi'kmaq Resource Centre at Cape Breton University
• Native Council of Nova Scotia
• New Brunswick Aboriginal Affairs
• New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
• Unama'ki Institute of Natural Resources
• Union of New Brunswick Indians
• Wabanaki collection
• Wolastoqey Nation of New Brunswick

When searching for journal articles, an Article/Research database is usually the best place to begin. Below are some recommended databases for research in Native Studies. For other databases, check the Article & Research Databases page of the library website.

Key Resources

See Additional Resources Hide Additional Resources

Academic Journals

UNB Libraries subscribe to a wide variety of academic journals/papers, both in print and online. Some journal titles in your subject area include:

• American Indian Quarterly
• Canadian Journal of Native Studies
• American Indian Culture and Research Journal
• Ethnohistory
• Études Inuit = Inuit studies
• Papers of the Algonquian Conference
• American Anthropologist
• American Ethnologist
• Arctic Anthropology
• Native Studies Review
• Wicazo Sa Review
• Windspeaker
• Micmac-Maliseet Nation News (HIL-SPECAR E99 .M6 M5233)
• First Perspective (free online resource)
• First Nations Periodical Index (to 2006) (free online resource)

UNB WorldCat is our catalogue for searching UNB Libraries' collections.  It is even useful when you do not have a particular title in mind and are instead searching by topic or keyword(s) to see what is available.  Note that UNB WorldCat also includes links to selected article records by default.  After an initial search you can limit results to books, if desired.

How to locate, access, and view eBooks in the UNB Libraries collection; includes downloading and installing the Adobe Digital Editions eBook reader:
https://youtu.be/DpjH4ZkDh98

When searching our catalogue and databases, you will discover that there are a variety of terms used to describe First Nations topics, e.g.

You may also find other terms used such as Aboriginal Peoples, Indigenous Peoples, Native Peoples, First Nations, or Indians of North America (the Library of Congress Subject Heading used in our catalogue).

To include all possibilities, try using OR when searching for synonyms in the catalogue:

aboriginal OR indigenous OR native OR "first nations"

The * symbol is a truncation element, meaning that adding it to the stem of a word will retrieve all possible word variations. Phrase searching in UNB WorldCat requires quotation marks around phrases e.g., "first nations".

To add concepts to your search; simply use AND.

To discover materials pertinent to specific First Nations peoples or communities, try a keyword search using the specific name e.g., Kingsclear, "Eel Ground," Tobique, Elsipogtog, Metepenagiag (formerly known as "Red Bank"), Esgenoopetitj (formerly known as "Burnt Church").  Older material will most often be identified in the catalogue by the names in common use at the time of publication or library acquisition.

Likewise when searching the UNB WorldCat catalogue, please note variations in subject headings related to the time of publication and acquisition - e.g., Micmac may be the subject heading used rather than Mi'kmaq; Malecite rather than Maliseet or Wolastoqey; Abenaki rather than Wabanaki.

To browse the shelves for books in Native Studies, try the following Call Number ranges:

Bibliographies

Bibliographies list publications that have been written about a particular subject, including books, journals, government publications, etc. Annotated bibliographies provide concise summaries of what has been published in a given area. Here are a few examples:

• Mi'kmaq Bibliography: A Guide to Secondary Sources
  HIL-REF E99 .M6 A44 2000
• Guide to Micmac-Maliseet Holdings in Archives & Special Collections, Harriet Irving Library
  HIL-REF E99 .M6 C59 1996
• Native Canadian Anthropology and History: A Selected Bibliography
  HIL-REF E78 .C2 K85 1994

Additional bibliographies can be found using UNB WorldCat. 

When researching a new topic it is often necessary to get an overview, explanations of unfamiliar terms, or brief factual information.

The print and electronic resources listed below include selected reference materials (dictionaries, encyclopaedias, handbooks and guides) for the field of Native Studies.  To find additional reference materials, check our Reference Materials database.

Key Resources

See Additional Resources Hide Additional Resources

Citing Your Sources

Accurate, properly formatted footnotes, reading lists, and bibliographies are hallmarks of good academic research. Through citing, you acknowledge the source of any ideas you mention in your writing, document your research, and provide the information your readers need to track down your sources.

Numerous citation styles exist, and each specifies what elements are required (title, author, journal name, etc.) and how the citation should be formatted.  

Consult your course syllabus or check with your instructor to be sure you are using the correct citation style for your assignment.

Here are some examples:

• Purdue Online Writing Lab (detailed guidance to citing various types of documents in APA, Chicago, MLA, etc.)
• Publication guide of the American Psychological Association
  HIL-REFDSK BF 76.7 .P83
• MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
  HIL-REFDSK LB 2369 .G53
• The Chicago Manual of Style
  HIL-REFDSK Z253 .U69
• UNB Libraries' Guide to Citaton and Plagiarism
• RefWorks

Referencing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers

Norquest College Library provides guidance for acknowledging Indigenous Elders and Knowledge keepers in your research. Please see https://libguides.norquest.ca/IndigenousEducation/cite.

More information is available here:
MacLeod, Lorisia. 2021. “More Than Personal Communication: Templates For Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers”. KULA: Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies 5 (1). https://doi.org/10.18357/kula.135.

Zotero for citation management

A software program that collects, manages, and cites research sources, Zotero is easy to use, works with your web browser where you do your work, and best of all it's free. With one click, Zotero will save web pages, books, PDFs, abstracts, and almost anything else with all its citation information. Learn more here:
https://lib.unb.ca/guides/view/index.php/683

Lamsoq Polam, which means Room of Salmon in the Wolastoqey language, is the name given to this space on the first floor of the Harriet Irving Library by our former UNB Elder-in-residence Opolahsomuwehs (Imelda Perley), who explained that the salmon, as a symbol of longing for home, is also a symbol for residential school survivors.

This space is open to everyone for study, reading, respite, and contemplation.  Indigenous persons and groups are invited to book the space for classes and events by contacting Mattia Fonzo (mfonzo@unb.ca).

Mawi'Art: Wabanaki Artist Collective, in partnership, with UNB Libraries, have come together to celebrate and showcase indigenous art of the Atlantic Region.  Indigenous artists were invited to create one of a kind pieces that reflect on their Wolastoqey and Mi'kmaq heritage in a traditional and/or contemporary way.  This permanent installation represent a much larger knowledge of indigenous customs, values, and beliefs that are important to understand and share with non-indigenous people.

The mural running along top of the four walls represents the fours seasons and was created by Katie Augustine, an indigenous visual artists from Neqtokuk First Nation.

Indigenous Book Collection

In Lamsoq Polam you will find a growing collection of First Nations books with special emphasis on children's and young adult literature, as well as various titles to do with land claims, culture, and Truth and Reconciliation.  These books are available to be read onsite and borrowed, and are identified in UNB WorldCat by the location "HIL-ROOM".

Additional Library Resources

First Nations' Materials in UNB Archives & Special Collections Guide

Learn about the books, manuscripts, and special collections by and about regional First Nations persons, cultures, and histories:
https://guides.lib.unb.ca/guide/117

Microforms (5th floor - Harriet Irving Library)

Our Microforms Department contains a diverse range of materials: books, pamphlets, periodicals, manuscripts, dissertations, dramatic works, government documents, and much more.

Two areas that may be of particular use to Native Studies students are a complete collection of materials prepared by the Canadian Institute of Historical Micro-reproductions (CIHM) and the Loyalist Collection (a special collection of British, North American Colonial and early Canadian primary sources from approx. 1760-1867).

Archives & Special Collections (5th floor - Harriet Irving Library)

The Archives & Special Collections Department contains UNB's institutional records and private papers (historical and literary) relevant to New Brunswick.  The archives also contains special collections of books and periodicals which, for a variety of reasons, are held apart from the main library areas. One example of a finding aid available via the archives website is a digital collection of Indian Affairs Documents. 

Researchers may also wish to consult the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick which is located at 23 Dineen Drive on the UNB campus.

Gerard V. La Forest Law Library (2nd floor - Ludlow Hall, 41 Dineen Drive, UNB)

The Law Library serves the faculty, students and staff of UNB's Faculty of Law as well as the broader UNB/STU community.  The library contains a wealth of law-related materials in a variety of formats.