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History

First Nations people in button blankets at Quatsino Sound
First Nations people in button blankets at Quatsino Sound, 19-- Photo Credit: Ben W. Leeson (VPL #14079)

Related Guides

The Vancouver Public Library has many resources for researching Indigenous peoples' history in British Columbia and Canada.

British Columbia Historical Source Material

Comparative Vocabularies of the Indian Tribes of British Columbia: With A Map Illustrating Distribution

William Fraser Tolmie and George Mercer Dawson

Call Number
497 A11t6
Publication Year
1884

Jesup North Pacific Expedition

Call Number
970.1 J58p

Tsimshian Mythology

Franz Boas

Call Number
398.2097 B66t
Publication Year
1970

British Columbia Legislative Library Newspaper Index

This index is on microfilm and is selective, covering articles of permanent value historically, economically, and politically between 1900 - 1990.

The following newspapers are included in the index:

  • Vancouver News Herald
  • Vancouver Province
  • Vancouver Sun
  • Victoria Times
  • Victoria Colonist

The newspapers containing articles retrieved from the British Columbia Legislative Library Newspaper Index can be found on microfilm on Level 5 as well as the Special Collections Division on Level 7.

The Fur Trade

The Guide Canadian History - The Fur Trade will help you find material in Vancouver Public Library on the Fur Trade in Canada. The Fur Trade was a very important part of the Canadian economy and from the 17th to 19th centuries attracted European merchants and settlers to Canada. Material on this subject can be found throughout the Central Library (350 West Georgia Street). Please ask the Information staff if you need help.

Louis Riel and the Red River and North-West Rebellions

Louis Riel helped to lead two resistance movements against the Canadian government: the Red River Rebellion and the North-West Rebellion. Material on these subjects can be found throughout the Central Library (350 West Georgia Street). Please ask the Information staff if you need help or access the guide Canadian History - Louis Riel and the Red River and North-West Rebellions

Useful Websites

Canadian Indigenous television network.

Vancouver Public Library guide with information on researching Indigenous ancestry.

Learn about the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada, their contributions to the various historical wars, the consequences of residential schools, reconciliation and more.

Government records including historic photographs, and genealogical and residential school records.

Permanent home for all statements, documents, and other materials gathered by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

Map of Indigenous territories in Canada.

Inuit-sponsored and Inuit-led social justice inquiry into RCMP destruction of qimmiit (sled dogs) between 1950 and 1975.

Provides links to First Nations resources in many subject areas.

Recommended Books

See our Honouring Our First Nations Veterans list for more recommended fiction, web resources, and history of First Nations members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Cover Image for An Act of Genocide: Colonialism and the Sterilization of Aboriginal Women

An Act of Genocide: Colonialism and the Sterilization of Aboriginal Women

Karen Stote

Call Number
303.66 S88a
Publication Year
2015
Cover Image for Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life

Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life

James W. Daschuk

Call Number
970.412 D22c
Publication Year
2013
Cover Image for A Concise History of Canada's First Nations

A Concise History of Canada's First Nations

Olive Patricia Dickason

Call Number
970.41 D54co2
Publication Year
2015
Cover Image for 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance

500 Years of Indigenous Resistance

Gord Hill

Call Number
970.1 H64f
Publication Year
2009
Cover Image for An Illustrated History of Canada's Native People: I Have Lived Here Since the World Began

An Illustrated History of Canada's Native People: I Have Lived Here Since the World Began

Arthur J. Ray

Call Number
970.41 R26i2
Publication Year
2010
Cover Image for Makúk: A New History of Aboriginal-White Relations

Makúk: A New History of Aboriginal-White Relations

John S. Lutz

Call Number
970.411 L97m
Publication Year
2008
Cover Image for Price Paid: The Fight for First Nations Survival

Price Paid: The Fight for First Nations Survival

Bev Sellars

Call Number
970.5 S467p
Publication Year
2016
Cover Image for Prison of Grass

Prison of Grass

Adams, Howard

Call Number
970.41 A21p1
Publication Year
1989

A Stó:lō-Coast Salish Historical Atlas

Keith Carlson, Albert Jules McHalsie, Steven L. Point, and Stó:lō Heritage Trust

Call Number
970.3 C65S875c
Publication Year
2001

Digital Library Resources
Culture and History Subject Icon

Finding tool for historical information about BC in books, magazines and newspapers in the Vancouver Public Library collection.

Access:
Everywhere for everyone
Culture and History Subject Icon

A selection of historical images of Vancouver and British Columbia from the 1880s to the 1980s.

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Everywhere for everyone
Culture and History Subject Icon

Searchable primary source material dating from as early as the 16th century to modern times. Excellent for historical research. *Also suitable for research at the elementary, high school and post-secondary levels.

Access:
Everywhere for everyone

Contact Us

Northwest History Index

This card index in Special Collection provides access to the Northwest History Collection, a heritage collection covering the early history and exploration of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest.

The collection includes:

  • magazine and newspaper articles
  • pamphlets
  • books
  • chapters in books
  • many other resources

As of August 1998, no new material has been added to the Northwest History Index. It is continued by the British Columbia Index.