ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 16 / C&RL News ■ January 2004 IN T E R N E T R E S O U R C E S Sites of interest by Gina Matesic T his year marks the conclusion of the International Decade of the W orld’s In­ digenous People. The decade was launched by a proclam ation of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Under the them e “Part­ nership in Action,” the intention was to es­ tablish ways and means for cooperation b e ­ tw een indigenous peoples and governments, states, and other bodies. Research in the area of indigenous na­ tions is inherently multidisciplinary, and any researcher soon discovers the layers of his­ torical, legal, political, environm ental, and cultural contexts throughout the information­ gathering process. Digitized historical docu­ ments, maps, government reports (both his­ torical and contemporary), legal cases, and specialized educational curriculum are acces­ sible to researchers. Librarians in the field must perceive library resources in the broadest m anner to be m ost effective to these research­ ers. Luckily, these efforts are facilitated through the hypertext and visual nature of the Internet. There are num erous quality Internet re­ sources about indigenous peoples, individual communities, organizations, and particular topics. In ad d itio n to n o n in d ig e n o u s re ­ sources, strong effort has been m ade to in­ clude Internet resources created and m ain­ tained by indigenous peoples or nations. In­ creasingly, th e s e g ro u p s h a v e u s e d th e Internet to com m unicate and dissem inate inform ation abo u t their com m unities and issues that affect their lives. This colum n contains a selective list of resources that cover international a n d regional resources. The term indigenous peoples is used inclusively, and is intended to respectfully encom pass First Nations, Aboriginal, Indian, Inuit, and other people throughout the world. M u ltin a tio n a l and g e n e ra l W eb site s • The Arctic Council. Six international indigenous peoples organizations w ork with re p re s e n ta tiv e s fro m C an ad a, D e n m a rk (Greenland, Faeroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sw eden, a n d the United States to preserve the Arctic environm ent and w ay of life. This site provides information about members, projects, key issues, new s­ letters, a n d events. Access: h ttp ://w w w . arcticpeoples.org/. • Center for World Indigenous Stud­ ies. This site represents one aspect of the c e n te r’s m andate to foster understan d in g “through the publication and distribution of literature written and voiced by leading con­ tributors from Fourth W orld Nations.” The site contains information about educational programs and courses, a bookstore, archives, a n d an e le c tro n ic library o f d o c u m e n ts searchable by geographical region with ad­ ditional international d o cum ents. Access: http ://www. cwis. org. About the author Gina Matesic isa librarian a tth e University o f Guelph-Humber in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, e-mail: gina.matesic@humber.ca © 2004 Gina Matesic Indigenous nations arcticpeoples.org/ mailto:gina.matesic@humber.ca C&RL News ■ January 2004 / 77 • Cultural Survival. This n o n g o v ern ­ mental organization has a goal of “promoting the rights, voices, and visions of indigenous peoples.” Information is organized according to region or by topic; each subsection fea­ tures related articles from its ow n two publi­ cations, profiles of specific NGOs in that re­ gion, news briefs, links, and other documents. Access: http://w w w . culturalsuivival.org. • Native American Resources. This Web site, created by librarian Lisa Mitten, is an essential site for any researcher of Native American issues. This site provides access to Web sites of native organizations, business, media, music and culture, tribal colleges, and native studies programs. The site also links to quality resources about native communities. Access: h ttp ://w w w .n a ti v e c u lt u r e .c o m / lisamitten/indians. html. • Researching Indigenous Peoples Rights under International Law. Steven Perkins updates his original docum ent pre­ pared for presentation at the 1992 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries. It is both a guide to researching international law and indigenous peoples, a n d a springboard to other online materials. I n fo r m a tio n is o r g a n iz e d b y r e s e a r c h sources, specific geographic areas, and top­ ics. Access: http ://in tellig en t-in tern et.in fo / law/ipr2.html. N orth A m e rica • Aboriginal Canada Portal. The Ab­ original Canada Portal is a single gateway to online resources, contacts, and information for and about aboriginal peoples. The site provides links to national aboriginal organi­ zations, federal government departments with aboriginal mandates, and all provincial gov­ ernments and organizations with aboriginal r e s p o n s i ­ bilities. It is o r g a n i z e d b y b r o a d s u b j e c t are a , such as e c o ­ n o m ic d e ­ velopment, claims and treaties, health, policy, research, and statistics. Access to aboriginal associations and communities is arranged by province, and there are more than 7,500 links to aboriginal businesses, organizations, bands, groups, news and people. Well-organized and easy to use, it is an essential site for anyone beginning research on Canadian aboriginal people. Access: http://www.aboriginalcanada. gc.ca. • The Bureau o f In d ian A ffairs. Based within the U.S. Departm ent of the In­ terior, this agency’s mission is “to fulfil trust responsibilities and prom ote self-determina­ tion” of American indigenous peoples.” A c­ cess: h ttp ://w w w .d o i.g o v /b u re a u -in d ia n - affairs.html. • In d ia n and N o rth ern Affairs Canada. This is the central federal depart­ m ent for aboriginal matters in Canada. This site provides access to digitized historical trea­ ties and contem porary legal cases, primary documents, community profiles, images, re­ search reports, maps, statistics, and examples of Indian and Inuit art. The site is organized by name of item and geographic region. Ac­ cess http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/index_e.html. N orth A m e rica n p rim a ry resources • Canada’s Digital Collections—First Peoples. Under the subject heading “First Peoples,” this site provides links to resources in museums, schools, historical societies, and First Nations cultural centers. Materials in­ clude im ages, descrip tio n s of Aboriginal gam es, m u se u m collections, art im ages, sound clips, and transcribed interviews with elders. A ccess http://collections.ic.g c.ca/e/ index, php. • Edward S. C u rtis’ “The N orth A m erican In d ia n .” T his site c o n ta in s se le c te d im ages a n d text from this early 20th-century w o rk a n d has ex cellen t re ­ la te d r e s o u rc e s . A ccess: h t tp : // lc w e b 2 . I o c . g o v / a m m e m / a w a r d 9 8 / i e n h t m l / curthom e.htm l. • In d ia n Land C e ssio n s in th e United States. This site contains the sec­ ond part of the two-part Eighteenth A n n u a l Report o f the B u rea u o f A m erican Ethnol­ ogy. It features 67 maps, schedules of trea­ ties, and land cessions compiled by Charles C. Royce. Access: h ttp ://lc w e b 2 .lo c .g o v / am m em/amlaw/lwss-ilc.htm l. culturalsuivival.org http://www.nativeculture.com/ http://intelligent-internet.info/ http://www.aboriginalcanada http://www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs.html http://www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs.html http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/index_e.html http://collections.ic.gc.ca/e/ http://lcweb2 Ioc.gov/ammem/award98/ienhtml/ http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ 18 / C&RL News ■ January 2004 • The Jesuit R elations and Allied Documents. These missionary texts are one of the major sources of information about the early years of French contact and colo­ nization in North America; they describe aboriginal societies and economic, cultural, demographic, and religious impact of con­ tact. This site contains the entire English trans­ lation of the original late 19th-century docu­ ments. Each file contains the total English co n te n ts of a single p u b lish e d volum e. Access.- h ttp ://p u ffin .cre ig h to n .e d u /je su it/ relations/. • K appler’s Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. This site contains the fully searchable digitized text of all seven volumes from the original 1903-04 U.S Government Printing Office publication. Based at Okla­ homa State University Library, these volumes contain U.S. governm ent treaties with Native Americans from 1871- 1970 as well as U.S. laws and ex­ ecutive orders. Information can be accessed from the table of contents, through the index of each volume, or by keyword search. Access: http://digital.library, okstate. edu/kappler/. • Native American Constitution and Law Digitization Project. H oused at the University of Oklahoma Law Library, this project is a cooperative effort betw een the University of Oklahoma Law Center, the Na­ tional Indian Law Library, and Native Ameri­ can tribes. The site pro­ vides access to consti­ tutions, tribal codes, a digitized version of the H a n d b o o k o f F ederal In d ia n Law (1941) by Felix S. Cohen, d o cu ­ m ents of Indian land cessions, Indian Reor­ ganization Act Era Constitutions and Char­ ters, and many other resources for research­ ers of Native American legal issues. Access: http :// thorpe .ou.edu. Latin A m e rica and South A m erica • AILLA-The Archive o f the Indig­ en o u s Languages o f Latin America. This digital archive contains recordings and texts, including narratives, ceremonies, ora­ tory, conversations, and songs, in the indig­ enous languages of Latin America. Some areas require special access. The archive also con­ tains materials about these languages, such as grammar, dictionaries, ethnographies, and bilingual teaching materials. Access-, http:// www.ailla.org/site/ w elcom e. html. • Amazon Watch. This site presents a wide range of environmental and rights is­ sues for indigenous peoples throughout the Amazon region. It contains digital maps, video clips, photos, reports, news clippings, annual reports and overviews of specific coun­ tries. Extremely valuable and visually attrac­ tive site. Access: http://w w w .am azonw atch. org/. • Latin American Network Informa­ tion Center (LANIC). Affiliated with the University of Texas-Austin, this site supports LANIC’s m ission “to facilitate access to Internet-based information to, from, or on Latin America.” Information is organized by topic as well as by region and country. A c­ cess: h ttp ://w w w .la n ic .u te x a s .e d u /in d e x . html. • SAIIC—The South and Meso American Indian Rights Center. This site provides access to the advocacy work of SAIIC on behalf of Latin America’s in­ digenous peoples. It contains news, publi­ cations, and full-text articles from the SAIIC’s biannual journal, Abya Yala News. Access-. http ://saiic. nativew eb. org/. Europe, A frica and A sia • APFT—A venir des P eu p les des Forets Tropicales. Funded by the Euro­ p e a n C om m ission, this o rg an iz atio n re ­ s e a rc h e s h u m a n e c o lo g y o f ra in fo re s t peoples and indigenous knowledge. Prima­ rily focused on Africa and Pacific-area coun­ tries, the site provides maps, publications, legal aspects, and bibliographies. Access.- http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/Rainforest/pagelg.html. • IPACC—The Indigenous Peoples o f Africa Co-ordinating Committee. This http://puffin.creighton.edu/jesuit/ http://digital.library ou.edu http://www.ailla.org/site/ http://www.amazonwatch http://www.lanic.utexas.edu/index http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/Rainforest/pagelg.html http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/Rainforest/pagelg.html C&RL News ■ January 2004 / 79 site presents a network of indigenous peoples’ organizations in Africa, as well as publica­ tions, statements, speeches, a photo gallery, new s/events, and an excellent introductory docum ent “W ho is Indigenous in Africa?” Access: http://w w w .ipacc.org.za/ • Tebtebba-Indîgenous Peoples’ In­ ternational Centre for Policy Research and Education. This site provides access to the organization’s w orldw ide advocacy work. It includes online documents, news briefs, maps, and links to other research sites; two extensive sections are “issues of the day” and “indigenous concerns.” Access: h ttp :// w w w .tebtebba.org/. Oceania • ATSIC-The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Com m ission. ATSIC is A ustralia’s principal d e m o c r a t i c a l l y e le c te d in d ig e n o u s organization. This site contains extensive in­ form ation abo u t the issues affecting a b ­ original a n d Torres Strait Islanders. Also in clu d e d are new s briefs, research reports and other online docu­ ments, maps, educational curriculum, and m e­ dia. Access: http://www.atsic.gov.au/. • Australian Institute o f Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. This extensive W eb site of resources includes bib­ liographies, publications, and inform ation about Native Title research, indigenous lan­ guages, and links to many m ore W eb sites. Access: http ://w w w . aiatsis. gov.a u . • Jam es H enare Maori R esearch Centre. Based at the University of Auckland, this academic site provides information, pub­ lications, reports, and links regarding Maori p eo p les. Access: h ttp ://w w w .jh m rc .ac .n z / index.html. • Message Stick. Created by the Aus­ tralian Broadcasting Corporation, this site pro­ vides access to its extensive listings of indig­ enous radio and television productions. It is also a gatew ay to sites abo u t indigenous Australians, including businesses, arts, food, education, event listings, and discussion forums. Access: http://www.abc.net.au/message/. • Treaty o f Waitangi. This site p ro ­ vides access to primary and secondary docu­ m ents related to Maori-European relations, including the Te Reo Maori Report, the Treaty in Maori and English, guides to the Treaty, and the Waitangi Tribunal Reports. Access: h t tp : // w w w .a r c h i v e s .g o v t .n z /h o l d in g s / tre aty_frame. htm l. E-jo u rn a ls, m a ilin g lists, and d isc u ssio n fo ru m s E-journals • Cherokee Observer. Archives back to 1997. Access: http://w w w .cherokeeobserver. org. • First Nations Periodical Index. Pro­ vides access to approximately 20 scholarly jour­ nals of mainly Canadian indigenous content. Many are available in Rill text on tire Internet. Access, http://www.lights.com/sifc. • The First Persp ective: News o f th e In d ig en o u s P eo p les o f Canada. Indigenous o w n ed and operated. Current issu e s only o n lin e. Access: h ttp ://w w w . firstperspective. ca/. M ailing lists • NAGPRA-L-Native Am erican Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, majordomo® world.std.com . • NATIVELIT-Native Am erican litera­ ture, idoy@ cruxl.cit.cornell.edu. • NATIVE-L-Native cultures, listserv® ta m v m l. tam u. e d u . Discussion fo ru m s • American Indian Tribe. General threads about history a n d culture. Access: h ttp :// www.americanindiantribe.com/Discuss/. • Hopi Information Network. Access: http://w w w .recycles.org/hopi/. • Potawatomi Language Issues Fo­ rum: Focus is the R evitalization and Preservation o f the Potawatomi Lan­ guage. Access: http://w w w .netw ork54.com / Hide/Forum /8243. • Turtle Island Native Network Dis­ cussion. A forum w ith m any discussion stream s inclu d in g yo u th , events, elders, w o m en , a n d o th e r specific issues. Access: http://www.turtleisland.org/ dis- cussion/index.php. ■ http://www.ipacc.org.za/ http://www.tebtebba.org/ http://www.atsic.gov.au/ http://www.jhmrc.ac.nz/ http://www.abc.net.au/message/ http://www.archives.govt.nz/holdings/ http://www.cherokeeobserver http://www.lights.com/sifc world.std.com mailto:idoy@cruxl.cit.cornell.edu http://www.americanindiantribe.com/Discuss/ http://www.recycles.org/hopi/ http://www.network54.com/ http://www.turtleisland.org/