Investigating your heritage now easier

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Library and Archives Canada has introduced a new online guide to help people trace their heritage in its virtual Canadian Genealogy Centre. Launched Feb. 23, the guide Researching Your Aboriginal Ancestry provides tips on genealogy searching and suggests links to government records.

Records on Aboriginal people are grouped into the categories of Indian, Metis and Inuit as defined by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). Access to files that contain information such as school and land records, band membership, vital statistics and military service can be found with this guide. The site will also direct the researcher to the types of records they will need to advance their search, and it may explain why and how records were kept.

"The guide itself is not something that gives you immediate answers, it leads you to the appropriate finding aids," said Richard Collins, the author of the guide and a genealogy expert at Library and Archives Canada.

"The guide tries to help the people by letting them know what's important and what's not, what to look for and what not to look for."

Because every source has limitations, Collins warned that it is important to consult multiple sources in order to trace ancestry accurately.

"Indian Affairs' records don't go back very far in terms of genealogical information because the legal definition given for the government was written in 1850 only. Obviously, there was an understanding of Indian people before, but not in a legal sense that would define who they were ... so it's only after that really that the government started maintaining information on individuals. So they would have information about bands, they would have information about reserves, about numbers of people here in that band, how many in that reserve and things like this," Collins said.

He said most people have used the online guide to enhance their cultural understanding of where they came from, but others want to know if they qualify for INAC benefits or programs.

The Web site suggests that people who wish to prove their Aboriginal ancestry for those purposes should contact INAC for details. The guide can be viewed online at http://www.archives.ca/02/020202_e.html.