Read and Discuss: Elements of Indigenous Style, Second Edition

Next month, the academic editing book club will host Warren Cariou, the lead editor of the revised Elements of Indigenous Style, for a 60-minute Q&A. This book club is run by the Academic Editing Special Interest Group, a collaboration of Editors Canada and the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA).

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review the second edition of Elements of Indigenous Style, written by Gregory Younging and updated by Warren Cariou and colleagues. The first edition was released just after I became an editor, with high praise for the late Gregory Younging’s efforts, but I hadn’t had a chance to read it until now. 

I was initially struck by the patient and inclusive tone of the book. It contains generous and thorough explanations and advice for non-Indigenous and Indigenous editors, while acknowledging that there is a broad range of Indigenous perspectives and knowledge. 

Respecting Indigenous stories

The second edition remains centred around Younging’s 22 principles of Indigenous style. These outline how editors can work respectfully and appropriately with Indigenous people to help them share their stories. The principles, which “reflect Indigenous realities as they are perceived by Indigenous Peoples” (Principle 1, p. xx), are listed in the front matter and are cross-referenced throughout, making it easy to flip to the full context for a particular principle.

Part I of the book contains the same chapters as the original version — with some needed editorial updates, such as reflections on the issues of fraudulent Indigenous identity that have developed since the last edition. Key topics include the need to change how Indigenous Peoples are portrayed in literature (chapters 1–3), the cultural rights of Indigenous Peoples (chapter 4) and how editors can better collaborate with and support Indigenous authors and nations as they are telling their stories (chapter 5). 

Something I had not previously considered regarding cultural rights: the copyright of Oral Traditions and Traditional Knowledge remain in perpetuity with the Indigenous People the content came from. 

Choosing the right words

Chapters 6 and 7 highlight the importance of respect when choosing terminology. These chapters include capitalization conventions, lists of appropriate and inappropriate words, tips on avoiding ingrained biases when writing about Indigenous Peoples and the names currently used by the various Nations. Detailed explanations as to why accompany each of these. 

As a non-Indigenous editor, I found this information to be quite valuable. For example, some words I thought of as neutral had negative connotations that I was not aware of. 

Younging emphasizes that acceptable conventions and terms are constantly changing. He advises editors to “plan on not getting it right. Make your best effort to make informed, mindful choices” (p. 45). An editor should always make this effort, but it is especially important when working with Indigenous material.

Diversifying the publishing process

Part II of Elements of Indigenous Style contains new chapters that advance the discussion of how to incorporate diverse Indigenous voices into publishing practices. There is still much work to be done in these areas, but the new content in this edition raises important issues that editors should consider when working with Indigenous authors or communities. 

Collaboration and respect are key in any editor-author relationship, but even more so when working with Indigenous authors. Indigenous authors might choose to write in a way that reflects their own or their community’s linguistic style rather than traditional English rules. Similar challenges exist when recording Indigenous stories (whether formal Oral Traditions or informal oral narratives) through transcription and translation. Transcriptionists and editors must take care to preserve the language, ethos and cadence of the performance. It is important to properly acknowledge both the source of the story and permission to tell it. (Don’t just cite it as a “personal communication”! See chapter 11, page 138, for APA and MLA citation formats.) 

As an academic editor, I was interested in the discussion of how the double-anonymized peer-review process — the standard for evaluating academic publications — affects Indigenous scholarship. Anonymous reviews can disadvantage Indigenous authors when the reviewers are not aware of the author’s positionality to the work. Anonymity can also be difficult to preserve if the expert reviewer and author are from the same community. 

Final reflections

Throughout the book, I was struck by the intersectionality of the challenges facing Indigenous authors, editors and publishers. For many, telling these stories involves multiple levels of personal and collective trauma, and the working relationship requires special care from non-Indigenous editors and publishers. The essay by Indigiqueer author Joshua Whitehead in chapter 10 explains, “When we are published, we are expected to become teachers, role models … all the while not allowing our stories, or ourselves, to be as multifaceted and complex as the life we live as colonized and marginalized intersectional people” (pp. 127–128).

I highly recommend the updated Elements of Indigenous Style for any editor, author or publisher, even if you do not directly work with Indigenous clients. 

Join the discussion

The Academic Editing book club will host Warren Cariou for a Q&A about Elements of Indigenous Style, second edition, on Friday, April 4, 2025, at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET. Our host for the conversation will be Kaitlin Littlechild. Please join us for what promises to be a compelling conversation. RSVP here to receive the Zoom link.

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