This Guide is about...
This is a general guide to help you research Indigenous Law in a Global context. For Australian Indigenous Law, see also:
This research guide was compiled in consultation with members of the Indigenous Law and Justice Hub at Melbourne Law School, which is on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nations, Traditional owners of the land on which we learn.
This research guide is a “work in progress” and we welcome your comments and suggestions.
Indigenous Law
The study of Indigenous or Aboriginal law includes:
- the laws of Indigenous peoples (for example, the tribal codes and constitutions of Native Americans)
- treaties between Indigenous groups and the Crown (government)
- government laws that create rights and obligations specifically and only affecting Indigenous people. These can be:
- entire Acts - for example, Canada's Indian Act; or
- specific provisions in Acts - for example s 718.2(e) of the Canadian Criminal Code, which applies to sentencing of Aboriginal offenders.
- the relationship between Indigenous people and the general legal system (for example, Indigenous people and the criminal justice system)
This Research Guide will help you research Indigenous law in Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America.
Indigenous law often involves human rights and discrimination law. To research Indigenous peoples in the context of human rights law, see our Human Rights Legal Research guide - the National/Domestic Human Rights tab links to pages for Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA.
A note on terminology when researching Indigenous law - 'Indigenous' is a generic term, as are First Peoples and Aboriginal / Aborigine. Terminology also changes over time. Remember to use additional variants depending on the jurisdiction you are researching. For example:
- USA = Native American or American Indian. Also use 'Tribal Law' when researching.
- Canada = Aboriginal or Indigenous is the generic term used for the three major groups: First Nations (or Indians), Inuit and Métis
- Australia = Indigenous Australian, Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islanders (Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Island peoples are indigenous peoples), First Nations. 'Native Title' is a term used for the rights of Indigenous people to land.
- New Zealand = Maori. Maori groups include whānau (extended families), hapū (sub-tribes) and iwi (tribes).
International Subject and Research Guides on Selected Indigenous Law Topics
Indigenous Justice: new tools, approaches, and spaces by Call Number: eBookPublication Date: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018
Indigenous peoples' cultural heritage : rights, debates and challenges by Call Number: eBookPublication Date: Brill Nijhoff, 2017
A Mosaic of Indigenous Legal Thought: Legendary Tales and Other Writings by Call Number: KL 8 BLACPublication Date: Routledge, 2017
The Land Is the Source of the Law: a dialogic encounter with indigenous jurisprudence by Call Number: e-bookPublication Date: Routledge, 2010
Decolonizing Law : Indigenous, third world and settler perspectives by Call Number: eBookPublication Date: Routledge, 2021
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by Call Number: KC 200 Q43 UNPublication Date: Oxford University Press, 2018.
The Requirement of Consultation with Indigenous Peoples in the ILO: between normative flexibility and institutional rigidity by Call Number: E-bookPublication Date: BRILL, 2018
