First Nations Research - Law

This guide lists just a few selected print and electronic information sources available to SFU faculty, students, and staff.  To find additional materials, check the SFU Library catalogue, look at the subject guides for your discipline, or return to First Nations Research Resources. If you do not find what you need, ask for help at the Reference Desk, send an email to AskALibrarian, or contact Moninder Bubber (bubber@sfu.ca).

How to find:

Resources in the SFU library

Use these subject headings to locate additional materials in the SFU Library Catalogue.

These subject headings can be further broken down geographically or by nation, e.g. "Indians of North America -- British Columbia -- Fishing -- Law and legislation" or "Stalo Indians -- Government relations"

• Indians of North America -- Civil rights
• Indians of North America -- Fishing -- Law and legislation
• Indians of North America -- Government relations
• Indians of North America -- Legal status, laws, etc.
• Indians of North America -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Canada -- Cases
• Indians of North America -- Treaties

Guides to research

• First Nations Law Research Guide (University of Toronto Law Library)
• 
  Descriptive, instructive, and detailed outline for researching First Nations Law in Canada.  Includes bibliographies, suggested databases, and links to online legislation and government documents.

Journal articles

Use these indexes to locate journal articles on your topic.

• Canadian Politics (UBC Bibliographies database)
• Criminal Justice Abstracts
• Index to Canadian Legal Literature
• Northern Justice Society Native Crime Bibliography
• PAIS: Public Affairs Information Service

Associations and organizations

• Canadian Bar Association - National Aboriginal Law section
• Indigenous Bar Association (Canada)

Directories of web sites

• Aboriginal Law
• 
  Links to the full text of legislation, treaties, and major decisions, plus a small section on taxation cases.  Focus is Canadian, but major American legislation and treaties are included.
   
• Aboriginal Law and Legislation
• 
  Put together by Canadian lawyer Bill Henderson.  Extensive links to the full text of aboriginal law and legislation in Canada, The United States, New Zealand, and Australia -- including constitutions, federal laws, court decisions with commentary, treaty commissions, and tribunals -- plus an extensive list of international conventions, working groups, and studies.
  
   
• A Brief Introduction to Aboriginal Law in Canada
• 
  Commentary, prepared by Ontario lawyer Bill Henderson, on key legislation, case law, and legal issues of concern to Canadian First Nations, such as: The Royal Proclamation of 1763, Treaties, the Calder Case, Harvesting Rights, Self-government, and Taxation.  Includes links to additional commentary, references, and full text of documents discussed, where available.
   
• Canadian Legal Decisions in Aboriginal Cases
• 
  A resource put together by SFU librarian Jack Corse.  Covers a number of Canadian Supreme Court decisions connected with Aboriginal Law from R. v. Horseman (1990) to R. v. Marshall (1999).  Listings include head notes, which summarize key issues and individuals/ organizations involved in a case and cite relevant law and/or sections.
   
• Canadian Native Law Cases
• 
  Searchable, full-text database of Canadian native law cases, covering the period 1763-1978.  Cases can be searched by case name, subject, or keywords.
   
• CataLaw: Aboriginal Law
• 
  Links to law, legislation, and legal resources on the Internet for Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as multinational sites.
   
• Electronic Law Library - Aboriginal Law Links
• 
  Selective, annotated links to native law resources on the web, including government, organizations, legislation and case law, and legal services.
   
• Tribal Court Clearinghouse (United States)
• 
  Links to fulltext of law reports, supreme court decisions (historical and current), pending legislation, tribal court decisions, and more.