Of Note
Indigenous legal traditions by
Call Number: Baker-Berry KE7735 .I53 2007Preview available at Google Books
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)
First Nations governance lawCall Number: Baker-Berry KE7742 .C73 2008Description/Table of Contents at publisher's site
Aboriginal legal issues : cases, materials & commentaryCall Number: Baker-Berry KE7708.5 .B67 2007Description/Table of Contents at publisher's site
Documents of Note
- White Paper of 1969Statement 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 ColumbiaCalder et al. v. Attorney-General of British Columbia , ; [1973] S.C.R. 313 (January 31, 1973)
- Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples - Final ReportNote that this is an archived version of the original report site.
First Nations & Self-Determination
- Aboriginal Canada Portalprofiles and links to Aboriginal communities
- Assembly of First NationsA national advocacy organization representing First Nation citizens in Canada,
- Centre for First Nations Governancea 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
Canadian Constitution, Legislation, & Regulations
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- National Aboriginal Document Database (@ Library & Archives Canada)Note: this site is no longer maintained (completed 1999?), and first displays a "warning" page before passing through to the document database.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.
Tracking the influence of a case on subsequent decisions
- Lexis-Nexis Academic
- Select "Legal" from top-left menu
- Select "Canadian Court Cases" from left menu
- To keep results manageable when searching specific cases, use the "Case Name" field rather than the main search box.
- Within the full record for a case, look for a text link "View citator document" just above the tan "title bar". That links to cases that cite the one you're viewing. indicating whether it's "Followed" or "Dissenting"
- Select "Legal" from top-left menu
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
- America, history and life This link opens in a new windowA 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.
- Bibliography of Native North AmericansBibliography of Native North Americans (BNNA) is a bibliographic database covering all aspects of native North American culture, history, and life. This resource covers a wide range of topics including archaeology, multicultural relations, gaming, governance, legend, and literacy. BNNA contains more than 80,000 citations for books, essays, journal articles, and government documents of the United States and Canada. Dates of coverage for included content range from the sixteenth century to the present.
- GeobaseInterdisciplinary database covering physical and human geography, geology, ecology, and Third World studies.
Background/Overviews
- Handbook of North American IndiansLarge set covering traditional cultures. Most volumes have regional focus (e.g., Arctic, Northwest Coast), but volume 4 (pub. 1988) covers history of government relations.
- Our Inherent Right of Self-Governance: a TimelineUseful 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 -- 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 -- Canadaalso try Customary law -- Nunavut