The formal APA and MLA style do not have a format for Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers. Canadian universities and colleges have worked together to create guidelines.
APA Style
In text:
Use the person's name, nation or indigenous group, location or other appropriate details, and cite it as "personal communication".
Example:
(Carolin Jennings, Cherokee Nation, lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, personal communication, October 2019)
If the format is an oral teaching it should follow the same guidelines noted for a paraphrase or direct quote:
Name of Elder/Knowledge Keeper with year of communication.
Delores Cardinal described the nature of the... (2018).
OR
The nature of the place was... (Cardinal, 2018).
Reference:
Last name, First initial., Nation/Community. Treaty Territory if applicable. Where they live if applicable. Topic/subject of communication if applicable. personal communication. Month Date, Year.
Example:
Cardinal, D., Goodfish Lake Cree Nation. Treaty 6. Lives in Edmonton. Oral teaching. Personal communication. April 4, 2004.
MLA
In text:
The in-text citation format should be formatted as:
Delores Cardinal described the nature of the... OR The nature of the place was... (Cardinal).
Reference:
The citation for the reference list follows the following format: Author. Title. Date. Optional add-on.
Last name, First names, Elder, Nation/Community. Topic/subject of communication if applicable. Personal communication, Date Month Year. Territorial Acknowledgement of where the information was shared/collected.
For example: Lekeyten, Elder, Kwantlen First Nation. Community Justice. Personal communication, 4 April 2019. Shared on the traditional unceded territory of the Kwantlen, Musqueam, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Tsawwassen, Qayqayt and Kwikwetlem Peoples.