Book excerpt: This is a listing of the tribal, band, group and/or geographic affiliations of persons recorded in western Canadian history. This coding is used in all our publications and in the Heritage Databank website www.inewhist.com. It is a shorthand that allows researchers to quickly identify where a person was, who he/she was affiliated with, and how these affiliations changed over time. It also allows for better identification of and distinction between peoples of the same name. For those who do extensive research, it is a mnemonic device that allows for quick recollection of facts associated with that person and that group.