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MLA Style (9th ed.)

Oral Communications with Indigenous Elders & Knowledge Keepers

The Basics

The modified version presented here in the spirit of reconciliation was created by librarian Lorisia MacLeod of James Smith Cree Nation in partnership with the staff of the NorQuest College Indigenous Student Centre. We thank them for sharing the templates. For more information on the development and rationale of these templates please see:

 

MacLeod, Lorisia. "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. PDF download.

For Indigenous knowledge that has been published in a retrievable format (e.g., book, video, or audio), use the in-text and reference rules for that type of source. Please remember, your professor may have different citing expectations than library staff. Always check at the beginning of term and before starting assignments.

Modified MLA Example

General

Only use this example for non-retrievable oral communications with Indigenous Elders & Knowledge Keepers. Use in-text citation guidelines.

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.

Cardinal, Delores., Goodfish Lake Cree Nation. Treaty 6. Lives in Edmonton. Oral teaching. 4 April 2004.

Your professor may have different citing expectations than library staff. Always check at the beginning of term and before starting assignments that the citing rules you are using are appropriate for your class.