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Researching Aboriginal Ancestry
at the Library and Archives of Canada
by E.B. Lapointe
In February of this year, the Canadian Genealogy Centre <http://www.genealogy.gc.ca> published a guide for researching aboriginal ancestors in the Library and Archives of Canada.
Their goal was to make sure that there were
even more ways that people of Aboriginal ancestry could find
genealogical sources at the Library and Archives of Canada. In the
Constitution Act of 1982, Aboriginal is defined as Status Indians,
Métis (those people of First Nations and European ancestry), and
Inuit, the Aboriginal people who live in Canada's Far North.
Richard Collins—author of the guide,
Researching Your Aboriginal Ancestry in Archival Records at Library and
Archives Canada, and one of the aboriginal genealogy specialists at the
Library and Archives of Canada—said that "the best part of this new
tool is that it allows everyone to acquire the proper methodology to do
effective genealogical research while avoiding numerous pitfalls."
To access this guide on the Canadian
Genealogy Centre website, click onto the "How To" link at the top, and
then go to "Guides" on the next page. It will bring you the guide in
either PDF or HTML format. The link for this guide is <http://www.genealogy.gc.ca/02/020501a_e.html>.
As stated, the purpose of the guide is to
give the researcher a set of tools they can use to search Aboriginal
sources. "It is with pride that more and more Canadians are doing
research to trace their Aboriginal roots in records found in various
archives across Canada."
Part I of the guide is background information
on how to conduct the research. References are given for sources of
information, suggested reading is supplied, and links are given to
various sources.
Part II of the guide is a "step-by-step" of
ArchiviaNet, on which can be searched by various themes or type of
documents one would wish to find.
The main holdings are records in the British
Colonial Period (1760-1867), which cover Lower Canada and Upper Canada
Land Records; British Military Records; and the Hudson's Bay Company
Records.
After Canada became a country in 1876, there
were a number of new registers and lists kept, and they are now
available on an online Indian Register (from 1951 to 1984) which helps
in finding the Aboriginal ancestor. Other available information
includes Membership Registers and Lists; Census Returns; Registers and
Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths; School Records; Land Records;
Memberships; and Commutation Files.
There are also records of employees in the Canadian Military and of those who worked in the Federal Public Service from 1918.
One can also look at the Aboriginal Canada Portal at <http://www.aboriginalcanada.gc.ca>. The Hudson's Bay Company Archives, which was founded in 1690, has a guide and an inter-loan library on its website at <http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca>.
There is also the Federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs at <http://www.inac.gc.ca> and the Archives nationales du Quebec, a French-only website at <http://www.anq.gouv.qc.ca>.
Canada recognizes the International Day of the World's Indigenous
Peoples, and celebrates Aboriginal Day on June 21st of every year.
Return to the Canadian Connections home page.
Additional Articles
Black Loyalists to Nova Scotia
Winnipeg's Heritage Goes Virtual
Home Children
"A former newspaper reporter in Canada's capital, Ottawa, I
became interested in writing about genealogy when researching my own
ancestor, Andrew Barclay, an American Loyalist from Boston, Massachusetts,
early in 1990. Quickly, my interest spread beyond my own family, and by 1994,
I was editing a genealogy newsletter and by 1997, I was editing the Sourcing
Canada series of books. Since then, I have gone on to write "My Ancestor Was
French Canadian" and a series of booklets on Canadian genealogy. I love to
travel the Canadian and American countryside looking for interesting people
and places to photograph and to write about." - E.B. Lapointe
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© Copyright 2004 by E.B. Lapointe -- All Rights Reserved. This article may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written permission from the author.
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