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  1. Dartmouth Libraries
  2. Research Guides
  3. Dartmouth Libraries Guides
  4. Native American Studies - Law & Government
  5. Canadian First Nations - Law & Gov't

Native American Studies - Law & Government: Canadian First Nations - Law & Gov't

A work in progress!Primary coverage: US communities; See additional tabs for Canadian First Nations as well as Indigenous communities in other parts of the world
  • Overviews
  • Tribal Governments & Law
  • US Federal Relations & Law
  • Books
  • Articles
  • NAS Legal news
  • Important Web Sites
  • Canadian First Nations - Law & Gov't
    • Of Note
    • Documents of Note
    • First Nations & Self-Determination
    • Canadian Constitution, Legislation, & Regulations
    • Canadian Federal Cases
    • Canadian Periodicals & Indexes
    • Background/Overviews
    • Books in the catalog
  • Australia & New Zealand
  • Indigenous peoples worldwide
  • Legal Citation Style
  • Return to main NAS guide

Of Note

  • Cover Art Aboriginal Peoples and the Law : a critical introduction
    Call Number: Baker-Berry KE7709 .R4 2018
  • Aboriginal Peoples and the Law : a critical introduction
    ebook access through June 2025 as part of publisher database trial
  • Indigenous Legal Traditions by Law Commission of Canada
    Call Number: Baker-Berry KE7735 .I53 2007
  • First Nations governance law (2nd ed.)
    Call Number: Baker-Berry KE7742 .C73 2008
  • Aboriginal legal issues : cases, materials & commentary (4th ed.)
    Call Number: Baker-Berry KE7709 .B67 2012
  • Call number section: KE7700's
    Browse the KE7700's, the Canadian First Nations law section, on Berry Level 4. (Click on above call number to browse section in the catalog)

Documents of Note

  • White Paper of 1969
    Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian policy, 1969 presented to the first session of the twenty-eighth Parliament by the Honourable Jean Chrétien, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
  • Calder et al. v. Attorney-General of British Columbia
    Calder et al. v. Attorney-General of British Columbia , ; [1973] S.C.R. 313 (January 31, 1973)
  • Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples - Final Report
  • Delgamuukw v. British Columbia, [1997] 3 S.C.R. 1010
  • Indian Act ( R.S., 1985, c. I-5 )
  • Indian Lands Agreement (1986) Act ( 1988, c. 39 )

First Nations & Self-Determination

  • Aboriginal Canada Portal
    profiles and links to Aboriginal communities
  • Assembly of First Nations
    A national advocacy organization representing First Nation citizens in Canada,
  • Centre for First Nations Governance
    a non-profit organization that supports First Nations as they develop effective self- governance
  • Self-government process (@ Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)
    with links to federal policies as well as agreements/acts for specific communities
  • Status of specific claims (@ Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)

Canadian Constitution, Legislation, & Regulations

  • Canadian Consitution
  • Consolidated Acts and Regulations of Canada (Dept. of Justice)
  • Proposed legislation (Parliament of Canada)
  • Proposed Regulations (Canada Gazette)
  • Provincial governments

Canadian Federal Cases

  • Canadian Native Law Cases (U. Saskatchewan)
    compiled and indexed by researchers at the Native Law Centre, University of Saskatchewan between 1980 and 1991. The 9 volume set contains all reported Canadian court decisions as well as those that went to the Privy Council on appeal from Canada. There is also a selection of previously unreported cases. The period covered is 1763-1978.
  • National Aboriginal Document Database (@ Library & Archives Canada)
    Note: this site is no longer maintained (completed 1999?), and first displays a "warning" page before passing through to the document database. But -- one of the better organized collections of documents.
  • Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII)
    One of the more up-to-date resources, but few options to limit the size of the result sets. Try a full-text search, but take advantage of the date limit & sort features. Same goes for the search tips!
  • Native Law Centre of Canada - Legal Pleadings Database [University of Saskatchewan]
    A searchable database of the Centre's collection of legal briefs, pleadings, and opinions on Native Cases.
  • Canadian Court System With links to provincial courts

Canadian Periodicals & Indexes

Here are some of the key journal sources (or finding tools), but also consider broader coverage databases, e.g., those listed in the Articles section of the main NAS guide

  • Indigenous Law Journal (U. Toronto)
  • Canadian Law Review Collection @ Hein Online
  • CPI.Q (Canadian Periodicals Index)
  • America, history and life This link opens in a new window
    A comprehensive bibliography of articles on the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. The database comprises almost 400,000 bibliographic entries with abstracts. The database content is drawn from over 2,000 journals published worldwide in history, related humanities, and the social sciences. The coverage of America: History and Life also includes citations to book reviews from over 100 major journals of American history and culture and relevant dissertations from Dissertation Abstracts International.
  • Geobase
    Interdisciplinary database covering physical and human geography, geology, ecology, and Third World studies.
  • Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

Background/Overviews

  • Handbook of North American Indians
    Large set covering traditional cultures. Most volumes have regional focus (e.g., Arctic, Northwest Coast), but volume 4 (pub. 1988) covers history of government relations.
  • Oxford Companion to Canadian History (2004)
  • Our Inherent Right of Self-Governance: a Timeline
    Useful overview at the National Centre for First Nations Governance (non-profit based in Vancouver, BC)

Books in the catalog

  • subject search Indians of North America -- Canada
  • subject search Indians of North America -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Canada.
    also try searching individual communities, e.g., Inuit - Legal status, laws, etc. or regions, e.g., Indians of North America -- Fishing -- Law and legislation -- British Columbia
  • search subject Customary law -- Canada
    also try Customary law -- Nunavut
  • << Previous: Important Web Sites
  • Next: Australia & New Zealand >>
  • Last Updated: Jul 2, 2025 9:05 PM
  • URL: https://researchguides.dartmouth.edu/naslaw
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