Indigenous Research Portal

Research the history of your region in order to illuminate the Indigenous presence-both historical and contemporary - as well as any challenges or successes that may be experienced in the contemporary sense.

Research Tips

• Know the name of the city, town, county, region you are researching
• You have to find out about the overall 'history' of the geographic area you are studying and incorporate Indigenous history and culture into the discussion
• Treaties and treaty rights are just 'part' of the paper, so don't get pre-occupied on trying to become a treaty expert

The assignment asks you to consider several things, including:

• Which Indigenous people(s) dwell in your region
• Indigenous place names in your community
• Demographics of the Indigenous group(s)
• Significant aspects of the lives of the Indigenous group(s)
• History of colonization
• Contemporary presence of Indigenous/non-Indigenous peoples in your region
• Other groups that inhabit the region

Websites and Books

Significant Legal Cases

You need to know the name and history of the Indigenous peoples in your geographic area. These resources will help.

The same search tips for books apply to articles. You will need to try various terms ranging from the Indigenous peoples names of your community, specific place names (city, county, township), and terms like claims, land tenure, treaty rights.

Finding Books

Find books using Omni. For help using Omni go to the Omni Guide.

• the library's catalogue
• catalogues of other libraries by using RACER

Locating General Material on Specific Area of Indigenous Peoples

• search using names of Indigenous peoples in your community, ie. Mississaugas, Chippewas, Ojibwe, Cree, Anishinaabe,etc.
• when searching geographical areas do not just search the name of the town/city, but also the county or township in which the city/town is located, see Ontario Municipalities
• if you need more help with catalogue and keyword search techniques visit our online tutorials
• look at the catalogue record, not just the item information, because you want to see what subject headings the Library has assigned material so you can then search for other items with the same subjects

Locating Treaty, Treaty Rights and Land Claims Information

• try searching by specific treaty, ie. Williams Treaty or Williams Treaties
• search using broader terms like land claims, land tenure, treaties, treaty rights

Books at Other Libraries

You can get books from other libraries via Interlibrary Loan (RACER). You can search the RACER database and request material directly from other libraries.

You can also search the WorldCat database of library holdings from across North America.