Indigenous Studies

Traditional citation styles are based on a Eurocentric view of knowledge, which has traditionally prioritized written, rather than oral, sources of information. Often, researchers citing Elders or Knowledge Keepers have been advised to cite these sources as "personal communications', thus putting traditional knowledge on a footing with an email or brief conversation.

Indigenous scholars have long called for a better way for Indigenous voices and knowledge to be recognized in academia. Indigenous scholar and librarian Lorisia MacLeod  has developed templates for citing Elders and Knowledge Keepers, using both in-text citations and references. She details these templates, and the process by which they were developed, in the article More Than Personal Communication: Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers. 

To date, templates have been developed in APA style and MLA style.

APA Style Template:

Last name, First initial. Nation/Community. Treaty Territory if applicable. Where they live if applicable. Topic/subject of communication if applicable. personal communication. Month Date, Year.* 

For example: 

Cardinal, D. Goodfish Lake Cree Nation. Treaty 6. Lives in Edmonton. Oral teaching. Personal communication. April 4, 2004.

* Use hanging indent paragraph style: after the first line of each citation, indent 0.5″ from the left margin.

MLA Style Template:

Last name, First name. Nation/Community. Treaty Territory if applicable. City/Community they live in if applicable. Topic/subject of communication if applicable. Date Month Year.* 

For example: 

Cardinal, Delores. Goodfish Lake Cree Nation. Treaty 6. Lives in Edmonton. Oral teaching. 4 April 2004.

* Use hanging indent paragraph style: after the first line of each citation, indent 0.5″ from the left margin.