The Indigenous Style Guide

Indigenous writers, or anyone writing about Indigenous Peoples in Canada, or any writing about anything in Canada really, should have a copy of Elements of Indigenous Style on their desk. It’s the first published guide to common questions and issues of style and process.

The guide is more than just a list of principles and references—though it does provide those—it’s a backgrounder, an engaging book that describes Indigenous engagement with scholars, academics and the media, and which unpacks the complex process of Indigenous people offering their voices to a mediator.

The way we write can be political, whether intentional or not. For example, Canada doesn’t “own” the First Nations, Métis or Inuit Peoples who live in what is now called Canada, which is why writers should avoid the phrases “Canada’s First Nations” or “Canadian Indigenous.” Instead, they should use “Indigenous People in Canada,” or “First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples in Canada.”

For an in-depth look at the guide, its applications, and its significance, see this additional style guide put out by the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada.

The full Elements of Indigenous Style features:

• Twenty-two succinct style principles.

• Advice on culturally appropriate publishing practices, including how to collaborate with Indigenous Peoples, when and how to seek the advice of Elders, and how to respect Indigenous Oral Traditions and Traditional Knowledge.

• Terminology to use and to avoid.

• Advice on specific editing issues, such as biased language, capitalization, and quoting from historical sources and archives.

• Case studies of projects that illustrate best practices.

The Elements of Indigenous Style is an engaging guide that all Canadian writers should have in their back pockets.