Skip to Main Content

Identifying Unheard Voices: Indigenous Voices

The following guide provides an overview for identifying underrepresented voices and communities within research.

Infographic: The Global Chasm In Indigenous Life Expectancy | Statista

 

You will find more infographics at Statista

The following page will introduce students and researchers to the following themes and resources:

Resources Available at the Gordon Library

Research Resources

Indigenous Voices

The voices of Indigenous peoples and other marginalized communities are underrepresented in academia, government, healthcare, and other industries. Even when the lived experiences of Indigenous peoples are the focus of the work, research is too often about Indigenous peoples for non-Indigenous audience.

By intentionally seeking out and citing work created by and for individuals from marginalized communities, we help to advocate for the creators, their communities, and the perspectives they present.  At the same time, we broaden our own understanding of the topic. 

Indigenous scholars, researchers, Knowledge Keepers, and Elders respected within their communities are considered citable experts regardless of whether they are associated with an academic institution or hold academic credentials. Work of this kind may come from outside established academic/industry authorities, like social media campaigns, blogs, and direct teachings from Elders or Knowledge Keepers.

Where to Find Indigenous Scholarship

How to Evaluate Indigenous Scholarship

Use Browzine to search for and explore journals by title or to browse journals by topic. The Gordon Library recommends broadly searching using the keyword 'indigenous' or 'Native American' (if you're searching for information about American Indigenous communities specifically), and then clicking into some of the more narrowly focused topical materials.

National Parks Service Traditional Ecological Knowledge Fact Sheet

University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Sequoyah National Research Center  

Inuit Broadcasting Corporation (IBC)  

Aboriginal Studies Press  

NorQuest College Library Indigenous Education 

Indigenous Language Apps Repository

Research guides from WPI and other libraries, such as:

UAlberta First Nations, Métis, Inuit Subject Guides

USask Indigenous Studies iPortal

University of British Columbia Indigenous Guide Xwi7xwa Library

SFU Finding Indigenous Voices

KPU Indigenous Studies Research Guides

Haskell Indian Nations University Research Guide

WPI's Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month: books, journals, podcasts, and more

 

 

For access to the full documentary, please click on or cut and paste the following link into your browser,https://video.alexanderstreet.com/p/57WN193qq and then login to Academic Video Online with your WPI credentials

Census Bureau Sources for American Indian and Alaska Native Research 

Census Bureau records are a valuable resource for those interested in researching American Indian and Alaska Native history and genealogy. In this webinar, we explore the information available from the decennial censuses and the censuses of American Indians conducted by the Census Bureau.