Indigenous Studies research resources: Background information

"The eagle flies the highest in the sky, and in a Coast Salish legend people would seek guidance from the eagle to gain knowledge of faraway places. This representational eagle wing relief was created to bring the knowledge to students as they seek guidance in their studies." By Marissa Nahanee - Maykw Cha7em Squamish & Nisga’a Nations, Eagle Clan.

Dictionaries and terminology

Under revision

Encyclopedias

Under revision

  • British Museum Encyclopedia of Native North America [print]
  • Canadian Encyclopedia: Indigenous Peoples. Examples of entries include: Idle No More, Indigenous Women's Issues in Canada, and The White Paper, 1969
  • Continuum encyclopedia of native art [print]
  • Encyclopedia of British Columbia -- under subjects look for articles titled: "First Nations of BC", "Art, Northwest Coast Aboriginal"; under index look for articles on " aboriginal demography", "aboriginal rights", "First Nations Languages", or names of individual groups, e.g. Bella Coola First Nation, Haida, etc. [online or print]
  • Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples
  • Encyclopedia of Minorities in American Politics: Hispanic Americans and Native Americans (vol. 2) [online or print]
  • Encyclopedia of Native American healing [print]
  • Encyclopedia of Native American Legal Tradition [online or print]
  • Encyclopedia of Native Music: more than a century of recordings from wax cylinder to the Internet [print]
  • Encyclopedia of Native American religions: an introduction [print]
  • Encyclopedia of Native American shamanism: sacred ceremonies of North America [online and print]
  • Encyclopedia of North American Indians [print]
  • Encyclopedia of World Cultures - Vol. 1- North America [print]
  • Encyclopedia Smithsonian
  • Encyclopedia of American Indian contributions to the world: 15,000 years of inventions and innovations [print]
  • Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes [print]
  • A guide to the Indian tribes of the Pacific Northwest [print]
  • Handbook of North American Indians, 17 volume set [print]
  • Macmillan encyclopedia of Native American tribes, 2nd ed. [print]
  • Native American literatures: an encyclopedia of works, characters, authors, and themes [print]
  • Reference Encyclopedia of the American Indian, 10th ed. [print]
  • Other general sources:
    • Gale Virtual Reference Library -- connect, then select "Social Sciences." TIP: Either search all encyclopedias as part of this database or to search a particular title, check the box on left side "search within this publication".
    • International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences: IESBS [online or print]
    • Oxford Reference Online -- 100 general reference works plus material in language, science and medicine, humanities and social sciences, business, and professional areas.
    • Sage eReference -- over 40 encyclopedias
    • Sage Research Methods Online -- access to research methods online from books and numerous reference sources. E.g. search for "oral history"

Biographical

Under revision

  • A to Z of Native American women [print]
  • American National Biography -- select "American Indian Heritage" in search box
  • Biographical Dictionary of American Indian History to 1900 [print]
  • Encyclopedia of Native American Biography [print]
  • Native American Women: A Biographical Dictionary [online and print]
  • North American Indian Biographical Database - from 17th century to present day, with nearly 500 nations represented. Includes biographies of significant leaders, depictions of historically important events and more

Chronologies

Under revision

Guides to Indigenous research

Under revision