31 Indigenous Studies
Bloomfield’s Texts
Licence: Public Domain
This website presents the texts collected by Leonard Bloomfield in 1930. The website contains links to over eighty stories that are written in both Cree and English. Since these texts were part of the public domain, the Internet Archive made them available, but this new presentation represents another strategy to further collect, preserve, and make available these stories which is an endeavor that began nearly a hundred years ago. Leonard Bloomfield was a linguist who was commissioned by the National Museum of Canada to record stories from master speakers and storytellers which became the book that was published in the 1930s called Sacred Stories of the Sweet Grass Cree. Aaron Fay [who programmed and presented this website] is skilled at programming and at presenting information which has allowed these stories to be archived in this user-friendly fashion. Information pertaining to Aaron was difficult to locate, but Aaron is likely Indigenous and the Cree Literacy Network states that Aaron is heavily committed to learning the Cree language.
Formats: Online
Suggested for: INST 111
Building a Competitive First Nation Investment Climate
Licence: CC BY-NC
This textbook has been designed for those interested in First Nation and tribal governments building an investment climate that is strong and competitive. Topics within the textbook include introducing institutional and Indigenous economies. It covers the investment climate and transaction costs as well as how to establish property rights systems to facilitate investment and the legal framework that is necessary to support investment. Finally, it covers three elements of a competitive First Nation investment climate which are a fiscal framework, a building infrastructure framework, and an administration framework.
Formats: PDF
Suggested for: INST 440
Cree Dictionary of Mathematical Terms with Visual Examples
Licence: CC BY
This dictionary is the continuation of prior work by the authors on composing Cree equivalents of mathematics terms. The glossary of mathematics terms was developed considering the topics of school curriculums of Canadian provinces. The dictionary provides Cree equivalents of 176 mathematics terms and their definitions in English. The visual examples mainly contain Indigenous elements. The dictionary was reviewed by Elders, Indigenous Knowledge Keepers, and Cree-speaking educators.
Formats: Online, EPUB
Suggested for: INST 111
Economic Aspects of the Indigenous Experience in Canada
Anya Hageman and Pauline Galoustian
2020
Licence: CC BY
This text explores the economic history and economic potential of Indigenous peoples in Canada. It discusses which institutional arrangements hold them back economically and which institutions assist them going forward, and considers which norms Indigenous communities hold that inform their priorities and economic behaviour.
Formats: Online, PDF, EPUB, and more
Histories of Indigenous Peoples and Canada
Licence: CC BY
Since the 18th century, the historical study of “Indians,” “Natives,” and “Aboriginals” in universities and colleges was contextualized within the story of colonization and growing European influence. Whatever justification might be mustered for that practice, it had real and dire effects: Canadians — including many Indigenous people — came to understand Indigenous histories as tangential, small, unimportant, and even a blind alley. This kind of thinking enabled Canadian authorities and citizens to regard Indigenous communities as being “without history,” as in, outside of history, which we can agree in modern times is simply untrue, as this book strives to show.
Formats: Online, PDF, EPUB and more
Suggested for: INST 368 / INST 369
Knowing Home: Braiding Indigenous Science with Western Science, Book 1
Gloria Snively and Wanosts’a7 Lorna Williams
2016
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
From the description, this book 1 of 2 is “far more than a set of research papers or curriculum studies. The project outputs include both, but they are incorporated into a theoretical structure that can provide the methodological basis for future efforts that attempt to develop culturally responsive Indigenous Science curricula in home places.” There is a focus on Northwestern North America.
Formats: Online, PDF, EPUB and more
Suggested for: INST 301
Knowing Home: Braiding Indigenous Science with Western Science, Book 2
Gloria Snively and Wanosts’a7 Lorna Williams
2018
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
From the description, this book 2 of 2 is “far more than a set of research papers or curriculum studies. The project outputs include both, but they are incorporated into a theoretical structure that can provide the methodological basis for future efforts that attempt to develop culturally responsive Indigenous Science curricula in home places.” There is a focus on Northwestern North America.
Formats: Online, PDF, EPUB and more
Suggested for: INST 301
Northern and Indigenous Health and Healthcare
Heather Exner-Pirot, Bente Norbye, and Lorna Butler (University of Saskatchewan)
2020
Licence: CC BY-NC
The provision of northern health care entails many unique challenges and circumstances that are rarely represented in mainstream health sciences education. This OpenEd Resource provides accessible content on health and health care from a northern perspective for the growing number of health professionals being educated in northern communities.
Formats: Online, EPUB, PDF, MOBI, and more
Suggested for: INST 357
Ojibwe People’s Dictionary
University of Minnesota
2016
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
This online dictionary can be browsed or searched, and currently contains 17,000 word entries.
Format: Online
Restoring Indigenous Self-Determination: Theoretical and Practical Approaches
Marc Woons
2019
Licence: CC BY-NC
Indigenous peoples around the world find themselves locked in power struggles with dominant states and transnational actors who resist their claims to land, culture, political recognition and other key factors associated with the idea of national self-determination. In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – suggesting that an important attitudinal shift might now be taking place internationally. Yet, as this volume’s contributors suggest, much more work is needed in terms of understanding what Indigenous self-determination means in theory and how it is to be achieved in practice.
Formats: PDF
Suggested for: INST 430
Shingwauk Narratives: Sharing Residential School History
Jenna Lemay (Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre)
Licence: CC BY-NC
The Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre (SRSC) holds 10 letter books of the first principal of the Shingwauk Residential School, Rev. Edward F. Wilson, and the fourth principal Rev. George L. King. These letters range in date from 1875-1904, and include a wealth of information about the early history of Shingwauk and Wawanosh. This resource shares stories compiled from the information in the letter books. Shingwauk Narratives discusses the in depth history of residential school, colonialism, and the establishment of the Shingwauk Residential School.
Formats: Online