The Politics of Citation: Is the Peer Review Process Biased Against Indigenous Academics? (CBC)
CBC Radio interview published February 25, 2018. Kyle Powys Whyte (Potawatomi, Michigan State University faculty) and Sarah Hunt (Kwakwaka'wakw, UBC faculty) identify problems with dominant citational politics.
We thank the University of British Columbia X̱wi7x̱wa Library for this knowledge.
Introduction
The official MLA and APA citation style guides do not have guidelines for citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers.
NorQuest College has developed the following templates for citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers (CC BY-NC 4.0) in the spirit of wahkôhtowin and reconciliation, and we thank them for sharing their template.
For information on the development of these templates and how to use them in practice, please see:
Lorisia MacLeod. "More Than Personal Communication: Templates for Citing Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers." KULA: Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies 5, no. 1 (2021). https://doi.org/10.18357/kula.135
APA Style
Unlike other personal communications, Elders and Knowledge Keepers should be cited in-text and in the References list.
In-text citation:
The in-text citation should follow APA guidelines for formatting in-text citations for paraphrasing and direct quotes. Include the Elder or Knowledge Keeper's last name and the year of communication. For example:
Delores Cardinal described the nature of the... (2004).
OR
The nature of the place was... (Cardinal, 2004).
Corresponding References list entry format:
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.
MLA Style
Unlike most other personal communications, Elders and Knowledge Keepers should be cited in-text and in the Works Cited list.
In-text:
The in-text citation should follow MLA guidelines for formatting in-text citations for paraphrasing and direct quotes. Include the Elder or Knowledge Keeper's last name. For example:
Delores Cardinal described the nature of the...
OR
The nature of the place was... (Cardinal).
Corresponding Works Cited list entry:
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.
Note: If you would like to approach an Elder or Knowledge Keeper for teachings, remember to follow protocol or if you are unsure what their protocol is, please ask them ahead of time.
Chicago Manual of Style
Work is underway to develop guidelines for citing Elders and Knowledge Keepers with Chicago Manual of Style. Please check back for updates.