If you need help, please contact Jenna Walsh, Indigenous Initiatives Librarian & Librarian for Indigenous Studies, Archaeology, Environmental Science, and Resource & Environmental Management at or jmwalsh@sfu.ca or Ask a librarian

Resources in the Library

Locate materials in the Library Catalogue.

Journal article databases

Use these indexes and bibliographies to locate journal articles on your topic.

• Academic Search Premier - multi-disciplinary
• Canadian Newsstream - fulltext of major Canadian daily newspapers
• Contemporary Women's Issues - select "Native American" from the Subject Area drop-down menu, and select an area / country from the "Geographic" menu, and press "search" button.
• CBCA Complete- Canadian newspapers, popular and scholarly journals
• Humanities and Social Sciences Index
• Law Source - indexes Canadian legal journal and provides access to Canadian legal cases and decisions.
• Women's Studies International - indexes WS journals, and articles from other disciplines with a focus on women's issues.

Background information

• Canadian Encyclopedia - Articles under "Native People" in the subject index. See also "Native Tribes" for names of tribes and the variations in spelling, language groups, map, culture change, historical background, links to other sites, and suggested readings. Examples of articles:
  • Native People - 6 general articles (e.g. Northwest Coast)
  • Subjects, such as Land Claims, Native Women's Issues
• Native American Women: A Biographical Dictionary

Biographical

• A to Z of Native American women [print]
• Native American Women: A Biographical Dictionary [online or print]
• North American Indian Biographical Database -- includes more than 100,000 pages of personal stories, dating from 17th century to present day, and including all regions of North America, with nearly 500 nations represented in all. Also includes biographies of significant leaders, depictions of historically important events, and biographies of "Indians pursuing their everyday lives and reflecting on what was happening to them." as well as speeches by chiefs, accounts of religious and spiritual life, and biographies from contemporary Indian newspapers, among other sources.

Associations and organizations

• Canadian Women's Internet Directory: Aboriginal Women

Websites

Aboriginal Canada Portal
A portal to government resources, contacts, information, programs and services.  You can search by keyword, or look at their site map (contains all topics). For example:

• Policy, Research and Statistics
• Look up individual communities from a "pull down" menu.
• Women
  • Women - National Aboriginal Organizations
  • Women - Professional Development and Employment
  • Women - Health and Social Services
  • Justice and Women's Rights
  • Women - Language, Heritage and Culture
  • Women - Outstanding Women
  • Women - Policy, Research and Statistics

First Nations Women Links (Xwi7xwa Library at UBC)
Links, with brief annotations, to resources on the Internet.  Topics include: Bill C-31, Law, Family, Health, Policy Making, Associations, Articles, and Biography.  Also includes a link to the "Role of Aboriginal Women in Canada" bibliography.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada
Provides access to full text of statistical reports concerned with Canadian First Nations, from 1971 to the present, including Census data, Indian and Northern Affairs Basic Departmental Data, socioeconomic indicators, time series, and projections.

Status of Women Canada
- enter "aboriginal" in the search box. You will find reports such as:

• A Holistic Framework for Aboriginal Policy Research
• Aboriginal Women: An Issues Backgrounder - highlights some of the main issues currently faced by Aboriginal women
• Aboriginal Women in Canada: Strategic Research Directions for Policy Development
• Aboriginal Women and Jobs: Challenges and Issues for Employability Programs in Quebec
• Aboriginal Women's Roundtable on Gender Equality
• From the Fur Trade to Free Trade: Forestry and First Nations Women in Canada
• Human Security and Aboriginal Women in Canada
• If Gender Mattered: A Case Study of Inuit Women, Land Claims and the Voisey's Bay Nickel Project
• Indian Registration: Unrecognized and Unstated Paternity - about Bill C-31 - Membership and Status - Unrecognized and Unstated Paternity
• North American Indian, Métis and Inuit Women Speak about Culture, Education and Work

Turtle Island Native Network Spotlight on First Nation, Aboriginal and Métis Women
Links to news and information about native women, as well as aboriginal women's organizations, businesses, resources, newsletters, interest groups, biographies, and more.

Women's Human Rights Resources - Indigenous Women's Issues
Provides annotated links to relevant web resources, and access to full text of articles and documents concerned with both women's rights and indigenous rights.

Special Reports

• Anisinapewihkwew : iskwawach anima masinayikan ka ki masinayikatek Anikik okik ka ki nuchitachik omeniw ka kitimayit ihkwewak = Nato anisininiihkwewak : o-oma onchi kaki kisasiniikatik Kakana wapantamowach kekunin kaonchi kakwatakiinta ihkwewak = Aboriginal women : from the Final report of the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women = Femmes autochtones : extrait du Rapport final du Comité canadien sur la violence faite aux femmes [print]
• Human security and aboriginal women in Canada/ by Connie Deiter and Darlene Rude [online or print]
• Report of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba/ A.C. Hamilton, commissioner, C.M. Sinclair, commissioner [online or print]
  • Chapter 13 - Aboriginal Women
• Stolen sisters: discrimination and violence against Indigenous women in Canada by Amnesty International