Teaching Indigenous Education

Welcome!
This section is designed to help you find books by and about Indigenous Peoples in the University of Alberta Library database. This page includes tips for searching the library catalogue, recommended keywords, and curated reading lists featuring Indigenous authors, scholars, and knowledge keepers.

Why Indigenous Books?

This guide highlights respectful approaches to searching for materials created by, for, and about Indigenous communities.

Getting Started

• Use the University of Alberta Library homepage to search for books.

• Explore recommended keywords and subject headings under the "Search Tips" section.

• Browse our recommended book lists for curated recommendations.

• Contact the library help chat, we’re happy to support you further!

How to search:

Think of your search terms!

• If you want just a few good results, use one or two terms
• If you want to make your search wider, use more related terms.

Try, for example: "first nation*'" or aboriginal* or native* or Indigenous

Remember, the names or spelling of Indigenous nations or communities may vary, and names may change over time. The names communities use for themselves may be different from how they are referred to in English.

In many databases: 

• "quotation marks" keep your search terms together (e.g. "first nations" will search for instances where those two words appear next to each other). 
• *asterisks can help you search for words that have the same root (e.g. indigen* searches indigenous, indigenize, indigeneity etc. BUT will also search indigent).

Language matters. Search using multiple terms such as "Indigenous," "First Nations," "Métis," "Inuit," or "Native American" to capture different perspectives and materials. When possible, also search using nation-specific names (e.g., Haudenosaunee, Cree, Anishinaabe).

When searching for books, it helps to understand the different formats and how they appear in the library system:

• Single-author books focus on one person's research or perspective.

• Edited books or collections bring together chapters by different authors on a shared topic.

• Book chapters may not appear in search results unless they're part of an e-book collection or indexed separately.

Search Tips:

• If you're looking for a specific chapter or contributor, try searching the chapter title in quotation marks or search the full book title and browse the table of contents.

• Use filters such as Format: Book and Availability: Online to narrow results to e-books.

• Look for Indigenous authors or editors by adding terms like "Indigenous" or specific Nations in your keyword search.

If you are looking for:

• books & e-books
• databases
• audio/visual materials
• maps
• government information
• journals & e-journals

Use the main search on the library homepage. This search also includes a range of databases of journal articles and other research resources.