Historical Indian Affairs Agents Application Profile
This application profile is under construction and may not fully reflect the current dataset. The pattern examples and Turtle data samples are subject to change.
Purpose
The purpose of this application profile is to document how Historical Indian Affairs Agents data is modelled for compatibility with the wider LINCS data model. This document provides patterns used in the mapping of Historical Indian Affairs Agents data which correspond to the categories outlined in the main LINCS Application Profiles.
This document introduces classes and properties as used in this specific context (LINCS and the Historical Indian Affairs Agents dataset), without providing complete definitions for them. You can find the full definitions in the documentation of CIDOC CRM version 7.3.1 and other reference ontologies and vocabularies.
As part of the Canadian History dataset collection, the Historical Indian Affairs Agents application profile is integrated with the Cabinet Conclusions and Historical Canadians application profiles. See the respective documents for more information.
Ontologies & Vocabularies
This section reports the ontologies, vocabularies, and authority files used in the Historical Indian Affairs Agents dataset. The acronyms are used throughout the document to refer to the terms defined in these ontologies. The prefixes are used to compose the URIs in Turtle code throughout the examples found below.
Ontologies
For more information about ontologies, see Linked Open Data Basics – Ontologies.
Acronym | Prefix | Ontology | Purpose |
CIDOC-CRM | crm: | CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model | Main reference ontology |
CRMdig | crmdig: | CRM Digital | To represent digital objects |
Vocabularies & Authority Files
For more information about vocabularies, see Linked Open Data Basics – Vocabularies.
Acronym | Prefix | Vocabulary or Authority | Purpose |
Event | event: | LINCS Event Vocabulary | To represent event types |
GeoNames | geo: | GeoNames | Authority for place URIs |
LAC Reports | N/A | Library and Archives Canada – Indian Affairs Annual Reports | Source of URIs for Indian Affairs reports |
LINCS | lincs: | LINCS minted entities | To represent entities not described elsewhere |
Occupation | occupation: | LINCS occupation vocabulary | To represent people's occupations |
VIAF | viaf: | Virtual International Authority File | Authority for people and group URIs |
Wikidata | wikidata: | Wikidata Knowledge Base | Authority for people, group, and place URIs |
XSD | xsd: | XML Schema Datatypes | For literal datatypes |
Main Classes
The classes listed below are imported from CIDOC CRM and use prefix crm:
except where otherwise noted.
Entity Type | Class | Declaration Snippet (Turtle Syntax) |
Agent | E21 Person |
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Name | E33 E41 Linguistic Appellation |
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Birth | E67 Birth |
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Agency | E74 Group |
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Type | E55 Type |
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Department | E74 Group |
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Place | E53 Place |
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Occupation | E7 Activity |
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Report | D1 Digital Object (CRMdig) |
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DCB Entry | D1 Digital Object (CRMdig) |
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Overview Diagram
The Historical Indian Affairs Agents dataset is a collection of biographical entries about Indian affairs agents, i.e., people who worked with the agencies of the Department of Indian Affairs. This dataset is part of the Canadian History project along with the Cabinet Conclusions and Historical Canadians datasets. See the respective application profiles for more information.
The image below shows an overview of the entire Historical Indian Affairs Agents application profile. Each section of the diagram is described in detail in one of the sections of this document. Click here or on the image for a large-scale, more readable version.
Nodes
Basic Patterns
This section describes basic patterns that are reused across the Historical Indian Affairs Agents dataset.
Type
Diagram | ||
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Pattern | Definition | An entity has a type. |
Abstraction | E1 CRM Entity →P2 has type →E55 Type | |
Applies to | Agency. Every agency has one or more types.
Name. Every name has one or more types. Occupation. Every occupation has one or more types. | |
Values | Type of Value | Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). |
Expected Value | URI from vocabulary or minted by LINCS. | |
Authorities | LINCS Biography for the name type. Personal names have type biography:personalName .
LINCS Event. All occupations are assigned type event:OccupationEvent .
LINCS Occupation for the specific occupation type. | |
Examples | Typical Example | The Assiniboine Agency was a government agency and an employer. |
Example Abstraction | lincs:uHpXmbg9zxY →P2 has type → wikidata:Q3053337 , wikidata:Q327333 . | |
Generalized Pattern (Turtle) |
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Sample Data (Turtle) |
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Note | Class E1 CRM Entity represents all entities, but is not actually found in the dataset.
More specific classes are applied instead (see Main Classes above). |
Agent
An agent is a person who has worked with one or more agencies of the Department of Indian Affairs. Each agent has a name and one or more occupations. Agents may also have a birth event if the agent has been matched to a person with a DCB entry and their parent also has a DCB entry.
Name
Diagram | ||
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Pattern | Definition | An agent is identified by an appellation (name). |
Abstraction | E21 Person →P1 is identified by →E33 E41 Linguistic Appellation →P190 has symbolic content → xsd:string | |
Applies to | Agent. Each agent has at least one name. | |
Values | Type of Value | xsd:string (a string of text). |
Expected Value | A string of text that identifies the entity. | |
Authorities | XSD for the datatype. LINCS for the appellation type. | |
Examples | Typical Example | Oronhyatekha has name "Oronhyatekha". |
Example Abstraction | lincs:K7Eq2y5IYbi →P1 is identified by →E33 E41 Linguistic Appellation →P190 has symbolic content → "Oronhyatekha" | |
Generalized Pattern (Turtle) |
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Sample Data (Turtle) |
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Occupation
Note | For information about the modelling of an agent's occupation, see the Employer & Employee section below. |
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Birth
Diagram | ||
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Pattern | Definition | An agent is born through a birth event. |
Abstraction | E21_Person →P98i_was_born →E67_Birth | |
Applies to | Agent. Every agent has exactly one birth. | |
Values | Type of Value | Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) |
Expected Value | LINCS-minted URI | |
Example Values | <TEMPORARY_BIRTH_URI> | |
Examples | Typical Example | Pītikwahanapiwīyin was born in 1842 in Saskatchewan. |
Example Abstraction | viaf:106198432 →P98i_was_born →<http://temp.lincsproject.ca/birth/pitikwahanapiwiyin_11> | |
Note | In this dataset, the birth date and place are missing because they are not found in the source data. There is also no information about people's deaths due to lack of data. |
Parent
Note | The modelling of parent-child relations is described in the Historical Canadians application profile. See that profile for more information. Agent records were manually reviewed to merge them together when they represent the same person. Variations in names remain based on how they were written in different records. |
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Occupation
An occupation is an activity carried out by an agent (a person) with an agency of the Department of Indian Affairs.
Employer & Employee
Diagram | ||
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Pattern | Definition | An agent has an occupation with an agency. |
Abstraction | E21_Person →P14i_performed →E7_Activity →P2_has_type →E55_Type | |
Applies to | Person. Every agent has at least one occupation (if known). | |
Values | Type of Value | Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) |
Expected Value | LINCS-minted URI that identifies the occupation activity. LINCS-minted URI that identifies the occupation type. event:OccupationEvent as a type for every occupation. | |
Example Values | lincs:0w2KstqiD5H (occupation)lincs:DkVxYJIb3gI (occupation type)event:OccupationEvent (occupation type) | |
Examples | Typical Example | Sister Leblanc was a hospital nurse starting in 1910. |
Example Abstraction | lincs:0w2KstqiD5H →P14 carried out by →lincs:OdGRhxx2WiJ →P2 has type →lincs:DkVxYJIb3gI event:OccupationEvent P11 had participant →lincs:2EChJkPZ4LC , lincs:U3kQTohZuA9 | |
Generalized Pattern (Turtle) |
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Sample Data (Turtle) |
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Place
Diagram | ||
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Pattern | Definition | An occupation is carried out in a certain place. |
Abstraction | E7 Activity →P7 took place at →E53 Place | |
Applies to | Occupation (Activity). Every occupation happens at a location. | |
Values | Type of Value | A URI uniquely identifying the place. |
Expected Value | Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). | |
Authorities | GeoNames for the place URI. | |
Examples | Typical Example | The Senior Clerk occupation of Joseph W. Mackay took place in Victoria County, Nova Scotia. |
Example Abstraction | lincs:00WN9HDL4m9 →P7 took place at →geo:6174034 | |
Generalized Pattern (Turtle) |
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Sample Data (Turtle) |
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Date
Diagram | ||
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Pattern | Definition | An occupations begins on a certain date. |
Abstraction | E1 CRM Entity →P4 has time-span →E52 Time-Span →P82 at some point within → xsd:string
P82a begin of the begin → xsd:dateTime
P82b end of the end → xsd:dateTime | |
Applies to | Occupation (Activity). Every occupation begins on a certain date. | |
Values | Type of Value | xsd:string for the human-readable date.
xsd:dateTime for the date's begin of begin. |
Expected Value | A string of text expressing the date of the occupation. A datetime value expressing the earliest possible beginning time of the occupation. | |
Authorities | XSD for the datatypes. | |
Examples | Typical Example | The Senior Clerk occupation of Joseph W. Mackay started in 1895. |
Example Abstraction | lincs:00WN9HDL4m9 →
P4 has time-span →
lincs:aGgJ6C0zZs3 →
P82 at some time within → "1895"@en
P82a begin of the begin → "1895-01-01T00:00:00"^^xsd:dateTime | |
Generalized Pattern (Turtle) |
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Sample Data (Turtle) |
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Note | In this dataset, only the starting year of each occupation is known, while the specific month or day of beginning is not found in the source data and the end date is also unknown.
Therefore, the property P82b end of the end is not applicable. |
Type
Diagram | ||
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Note | The modelling of occupation types follows the basic pattern for Types. See the corresponding section for more information. Occupation types have been kept as specific as possible and have been connected to broader terms via P127 has broader term . |
Agency
An agency is a group within a department of the Canadian government. An agency has one or more Indian affairs agents as members. It also has one or more types. This dataset only includes agencies within the Department of Indian Affairs.
Membership
Diagram | ||
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Pattern | Definition | A department may have a number of agencies. |
Abstraction | E74_Group →P107_has_current_or_former_member →E21_Person | |
Values | Type of Value | Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) |
Expected Value | A URI identifying an agency of the Department of Indian Affairs. | |
Applies to | Agency. Each agency employs one or more agents. | |
Example Values | lincs:mJ6Twv9ZEoS (John McKenzie) | |
Examples | Typical Example | John McKenzie was a miller for the Carlton Agency starting in 1897. |
Example Abstraction | lincs:8MWD2pGOkf7 →P107_has_current_or_former_member →lincs:mJ6Twv9ZEoS | |
Generalized Pattern (Turtle) |
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Sample Data (Turtle) |
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Type
Diagram | |
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Note | The modelling of department types follows the basic pattern for Types. See the corresponding section for more information.
Each agency has types wikidata:Q327333 (government agency) and wikidata:Q3053337 (employer). |
Department
A department is a branch of the Canadian government. A department has a number of agencies and is assigned one or more types. The only department represented in this dataset is the Department of Indian Affairs.
Membership
Diagram | ||
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Pattern | Definition | A department has a number of agencies and agents. |
Abstraction | E74_Group →P107_has_current_or_former_member →E39_Actor | |
Values | Type of Value | Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) |
Expected Value | A URI identifying an agency or agent of the Department of Indian Affairs. | |
Applies to | Department. Each department has one or more agencies and one or more agents. | |
Example Values | lincs:0FCofNQkjI0 (Red Deer Industrial School) | |
Examples | Typical Example | Red Deer Industrial School was an agency of the Department of Indian Affairs. |
Example Abstraction | lincs:U3kQTohZuA9 →P107_has_current_or_former_member →lincs:0FCofNQkjI0 | |
Generalized Pattern (Turtle) |
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Sample Data (Turtle) |
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Note | A department has both agencies and agents. The class E39 Actor does not actually appear in the dataset, where it is replaced by the more specific E21 Person for agents and E74 Group for agencies, using the same pattern. |
Type
Diagram | |
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Note | The modelling of department types follows the basic pattern for Types. See the corresponding section for more information.
The Department of Indian Affairs has types wikidata:Q111190932 (Canadian federal department), wikidata:Q3053337 (employer), and wikidata:Q422404 (Government of Canada). |
Report
A report is a document that contains information about the activities of one or more agencies of a governmental department. A report may mention the names of one or more agencies and one or more agents. The dataset contains Indian Affairs Annual Reports provided by Library and Archives Canada.
Mention
Diagram | ||
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Pattern | Definition | A report refers to an agency or an agent. |
Abstraction | D1 Digital Object →P67 refers to →E39 Actor | |
Applies to | Department. Each report may refer to one or more agencies or agents. | |
Values | Type of Value | Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) |
Expected Value | A URI identifying an agency or agent of the Department of Indian Affairs. | |
Example Values | viaf:16905756 (T. Mayne Daly)wikidata:Q1585303 (James A.J. McKenna)lincs:1pqGsL1xMjS (Caroline Reiffenstein) | |
Authorities | VIAF, Wikidata, or LINCS (agent or agency). | |
Examples | Typical Example | The Dominion of Canada Annual Report of the Department of Indian Affairs for the Year Ended 30th June 1895 refers to Henry C. Ross. |
Example Abstraction | <http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=indaffannrep&id=10303&lang=eng&ecopy=1895b004> →P67 refers to →lincs:Mpg0Sh4uy0B | |
Note | The class E39 Actor does not actually appear in the dataset, where it is replaced by the more specific E21 Person for agents and E74 Group for agencies. |
DCB Entry
A Dictionary of Canadian Biography entry is a webpage that reports biographical data about an agent. The modelling of DCB entries is described in the Historical Canadians application profile.
Subject
Diagram | ||
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Note | The full modelling of DCB entries is described in the Historical Canadians application profile. |
Place
A place is a geographic location that can be identified by coordinates.
Coordinates
Diagram | ||
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Pattern | Definition | A place is identified by a geographic reference such as coordinates. |
Abstraction | E53 Place → P168 place is defined by → xsd:string | |
Values | Type of Value | xsd:string |
Expected Value | A string of text representing geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude). | |
Authorities | Geonames for the place URI. Wikidata and Geonames as sources of coordinates. | |
Example Value | POINT(-63.29844 46.39808) (coordinates of Prince Edward Island) | |
Examples | Typical Example | Prince Edward Island has latitude 46.39808 and longitude -63.29844 |
Example Abstraction | geo:6113358 → P168_has_spatial_coordinates → POINT(-63.29844 46.39808) |
Spatial Containment
Diagram | ||
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Pattern | Definition | A place may fall within another place. |
Abstraction | E53 Place → P86 falls within → E53 Place | |
Applies to | Place. A place may fall within one or more places. | |
Values | Type of Value | xsd:string |
Expected Value | A URI representing a place. | |
Authorities | Geonames for the place URI. | |
Example Value | geo:6113358 (Prince Edward Island) | |
Examples | Typical Example | Tyne Valley, Prince Edward Island falls within Prince Edward Island. |
Example Abstraction | geo:6171537 → P86 falls within → geo:6113358 |