An understanding of Canadian First Nations history is derived from several different sources. The histories of Native economies, political systems, and social patterns are better understood by amalgamating these sources so as to gain insight from diverse perspectives. Until the eighteenth century, written documents were primarily created by European males. Consequentially, Native histories are often hidden or obliquely represented. In constructing the history of First Nations peoples in Canada, the historian does not rely exclusively on written sources. Instead, a cross-disciplined, multi-layered approach is required. Below is a listing of possible approaches to and perspectives of Native history:

Ethnohistory

Ethnohistory is a hybrid discipline that embraces the study of both history and anthropology. Knowledge of historical and ethnological methods and materials is applied to the nature and causes of change in a culture. The diachronic dimensions of history and the synchronic sensitivity of ethnology are combined to research the history of peoples without written record. Ethnohistory recognises social and cultural change within the historical record of a given time period. James Axtell's The European and The Indian: Essays in the Ethnohistory of Colonial North America discusses the benefits of an ethnohistorical approach as well as the drawbacks of this perspective.

Challenge
The nature of ethnohistory is to meld together two distinct methods of examining the lives of people from the past. Unfortunately, there exists a possibility of favouring one discipline over another. Or perhaps, watering down historical or anthropological theory in an attempt to address both at the same time.

Social History

Social history is an examination of a society's social patterns, interactions, and transformations. The public lives of individuals and groups are examined, as well as the private lives of individuals. Social historians study not only the written word created by a few literate individuals, but also the indirect clues found in documents, which illustrate the lives of other members of a society. Hence, history is no longer a sequence of events manufactured by a self-appointed, elite group. Social historians incorporate methodologies from other social science disciplines to gain a broader view of Canada's history. Social history is an approach applicable to First Nations history because written sources were rarely generated by Native communities before the nineteenth century. Knots In A String: An Introduction to Native Studies in Canada by Peggy Brizinski, is an example of social historical approach because of its anthropological view of Native history in Canada.

Challenge
The social historical approach is subject to shifting social theory. For example, anthropologists prior to the 1950s participated in "salvage ethnology", the objective of which was to collect data from dying cultures. These anthropologists did not examine First Nations people in continuum of adaptation or as participating in urban environments. Another challenge to the social history perspective is the assumption of the universality of human experience. First Nations groups are diverse by definition of cultural, ethnic, and regional divisions, yet contemporary ideology expects a united, singular definition of First Nations peoples. This paradox of viewing Natives in terms of a whole social unit or as individual cultures is not fully explained within the social historical perspective.

Biography

Biographies of First Nations individuals before the nineteenth century are rare due to the limited number of people whose lives were well documented or considered extraordinary by European historians. Biography permits a closer view of an individual and their interaction with culture and environment, a view that would not exist in any other form of historical perspective. Donald Smith's Sacred Feathers: Peter Jones is an in-depth view of a Metis missionary who ministered to his Mohawk people in the eighteenth century. Creation of this biography was possible because of the amount of documentation that exists on Peter Jones, including his correspondence and the correspondence of others in his life.

Challenge
A fundamental aspect of biography that is not associated with First Nations culture is the elevation of an individual over the group. Native political systems are based upon rule by consensus and preference of the group over individual concerns, and this creates histories that do not concentrate upon the efforts of one person. The group as a whole unit of individuals is considered responsible. Therefore, biography is not an applicable historical approach in a cross-culture scenario in which First Nations individuals are lionised for their role in European generated histories.

Women's History

The history of Native women in the historical record of Canada is different and unique because of their role in the fur trade. They intermarried with European traders and were a fundamental part of the fur trade industry at fur trade posts and within their own societies. Although written historical records regarding First Nations peoples were created by European males and contain only their perspective, the interaction with Native women is nevertheless recorded. The transcription of oral histories recounted by Native women would enhance the historical record, all the while creating a women's history. Anthropologist Anna Flannerty transcribed an oral record from a James Bay Cree woman named Ellen Smallboy. The text provides glimpses into the life of a Cree women during the mid-nineteenth century, which would otherwise be unrecoverable history.

Challenge
The role of First Nations women is nor accurately reflected in the archaeological record. For example, women were the primary gatherers in hunting and gathering societies and their gathering tools were often made from leather, plant fibres, or hemp. These materials do not persevere well in the acid soils, unlike stone tools employed in hunting activities. This has resulted in undue focus upon hunting practices, thereby minimising women's roles. Another challenge to First Nations women history is the anthropological collection of oral records. Early anthropological studies often only involved a male to male communication. Women were not a part of the information exchange and therefore were often misrepresented or overlooked. Historians who research written documents face the challenge of women's exclusion from input into political and economic documents. Hence, it is difficult to ascertain how political policy or economic flux impacted women as individuals and as collective groups.

Political History

An understanding of the political histories of First Nations groups is acquired from multiple sources. Anthropological theory, derived from research on living societies and historic records, provides insight into the internal and external political relationships of First Nations groups. Various forms of stratified bands and stratified nations were prevalent at the time of contact. First Nations communities were formed on diverse political models, but most were built upon the ideology of community consensus. P.A.W. Wallace demonstrated Iroquois political structure in his 1946 publication entitled the White Roots of Peace. He illustrated how the co-operative peace philosophy of the Iroquois League of Six Nations was a model for the United Nations, which formed after the Second World War.

Challenge
First Nations political history does not fit within a European imperial model of historiography. Historians had to step outside of the European model to identify the hierarchical social systems that existed within bands, as well as the unique nature of interrelations that existed between neighbouring bands. Alliances and confederacies between First Nations political groups were formed and dissolved from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Historians are often trying to separate these shifts by identifying whether of not they occurred due to European trade or not.

Economic History

The economic history of the pre-Contact era is difficult to re-create because of the absence of written records. Since European contact, however, First Nations economic history is well known because of the amount of documentation available, spanning from explorers' journals in the initial contact era in the fifteenth century to fur trade post records of the twentieth century. Arthur Ray's Indians in the Fur Trade examines how Native participation in the fur trade changed their relationship with the land. The introduction of the computer into this research has facilitated quantitative and qualitative applications to Native economic patterns.

Challenge
Historians are faced with the difficulty of deciding whether or not the application of European-modelled economic theories against First Nation trade patterns is accurate or misrepresentative. Anthropological research and archaeological records are also pieced together to gain an insight into the trade and exchange patterns that existed prior to European contact. These constructions are then used as models of traditional behaviour that was transformed by contact. Instead, an evolving model is more relevant to First Nations and European relations.