Welcome to Indigenous Foundations, an information resource on key topics relating to the histories, politics, and cultures of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. This website was developed to support students in their studies, and to provide instructors, researchers and the broader public with a place to begin exploring topics that relate to Aboriginal peoples, cultures, and histories. Indigenous Foundations was developed by the First Nations Studies Program at the University of British Columbia, located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people.

Looking for a specific topic?

Type a term into our search bar, above. Or visit the list of Topics A-Z to the left.

Not sure where to begin?

Select a broader theme in the navigation bar, to the left, and explore from there.

About the project

To learn about the Indigenous Foundations project, including our banner and navigation system, click here.

Featured Pages

Indian Residential Schools. On November 1, 2011 the UBC First Nations House of Learning, in collaboration with the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, hosted a day-long event addressing the history and legacy of the Indian Residential Schools. For a description of this event and two ways of exploring the video records, see UBC Dialogue: Nov 1, 2011. For an introduction to the topic of the Indian Residential Schools, see Government Policy: The Residential School System.

Special Project: The Berger Inquiry. This site now includes a special project on the MacKenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry that, in the 1970s, held extensive hearings in Aboriginal communities in the north on the potential effects of the building of a pipeline through their territories. The findings of the commission are as relevant today as they were then. Click here to explore this special project material.