The fonds consists of material related to David Aberle's research activities, academic work and writing. It includes the notebooks and journals of his fieldwork beginning in 1940-41 and continuing through 1991. These consist primarily of field notes and other notes made during and after those trips. The vast majority of this material relates to Aberle's work with the Navajo in Arizona. The fonds also includes notes, articles, data and codes relating to Aberle's research into kinship and language among the Navajo, Mongols and Athapaskans, and extensive research into Navajo culture and economy. The fonds also includes correspondence on a variety of academic subjects, including Aberle's teaching materials from UBC's Department of Anthropology and Sociology. His work includes several reports written as part of the Navajo-Hopi land dispute. The fonds includes research notes for many of Aberle's essays and articles, as well as chapters and appendixes of his books.

The fonds consists of field notes and transcripts of interviews with the Dane-zaa gathered between 1965 and 1969.