Course talk:ARST573/First Nations Archives

Following up on my daily CBC news (to tie in with our nice visit today), George made a post concerning first nation residential school art and how they were 'rediscovered' in an archives. From what I gathered in the article, it appears to have been a university archives.

http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/alt-news/residential-school-students-rediscovered-art-goes-on-display.html

I hope this might be a good lead for your truth and reconciliation section. I'll try and keep an eye out for more resources. I'm also following the Journey to Nishuu right now, perhaps something else might come up!

L

Hi Lady,

I also came across this today. It is an interesting interactive website furthering the discussion on residential schools. I know it is a little out of the scope for your wiki, but it has photographs listed that are sourced from an archives (Archives Deschâtelets). Perhaps it will be of use: http://www.lesenfantsdevenus.ca The resources page might be helpful.

Thanks Lady! Both great sources. I'll see how I can sneak them in somehow. I read that first article in the newspaper and definitely sat there thinking "Those pictures were never lost! They were in an archives all along!"

Hi Alexandra, This is looking great so far! I'm looking forward to reading the final product, particulkarly the diplomatic analysis of oral records.

A few thoughts I had while reading your entry:

-It may be helpful to provide a bit more of an introduction to RCAP, what is is (or was?) and why it was formed. Not too much detail, just enough to orient the reader.

-When you mention the ACA Code of Ethics, you may want to spell out "Association of..." for readers who don't know what ACA stands for. Also, perhaps provide a link to the Code.

-It could be beneficial to provide some examples of Aboriginal archives and/or archives with Aboriginal holdings, either as case studies or just a list.

Katie

Thanks Katie! Yeah, I expanded the RCAP section a little. It definitely needed... something. I really like the idea of adding some examples or maybe even a case study. Not so sure about a list, unless I make it clear that this is just a selection of Aboriginal archives/archives with Aboriginal sources. Hmm... will think about it.

Hi Alexandra,

I was reading through your wiki and found a small typo:

"The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has defined Traditional Cultural Expressions (TCE)as cultural materials created by a community, which demonstrate that "community's cultural and social identity" and form part of a "community's heritage.... handed down from one generation to another."" - there should be a space between (TCE) and "as."

Also, I see you mention the ACA Code of Ethics in your "Intellectual and Cultural Property" section. Perhaps you could provide an external link in the body of your wiki article to the Code? This would make it easier for lay persons to see the primary source.

Chelsea

Oops, thanks for catching that! Good idea on linking the ACA Code of Ethics in the body of the wiki; makes it more accessible to people who might be unfamiliar with it :)

Hi Alexandra, I was on the ACA website and came across the following booklet, Aboriginal Archives Guide, published by ACA in 2007 and thought it might be useful: http://archivists.ca/sites/default/files/Attachments/Outreach_attachments/Aboriginal_Archives_English_WEB.pdf

Yes, it's a great source! I talked to Krisztina about it when we were at MOA. It's going to make an appearance somewhere in the wiki for sure. Thanks for mentioning it :)

Hi Alexandra, I agree with Chelsea that this is a great start so far, and I am really interested to see how it develops. I am especially interested in the Intellectual and Cultural Property section as well as the section on the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. One category that I think could be reworked is Challenges. I think the two sections beneath this category (Aboriginal Archives and Archives with Holdings Concerning Aboriginal peoples) do have their challenges, as you point out. But, by focusing on challenges alone, you might miss some of the strengths of Aboriginal Archives and changes in theory and practice, which is the angle you've taken with some of the other sections. I also think that Intellectual and Cultural Property could be seen as a Challenge and might belong under that category if you decide to keep it.

Have you heard of Project Naming, a participatory description project? http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/inuit/index-e.html

Hi Cristen, Thanks for your thoughtful comment; I really appreciate it! It made me reconsider the organization of the wiki. I agree with you, I'm not really comfortable with "challenges" so I'm considering "Unique characteristics of Aboriginal Records" and "Approaches to Aboriginal Archives and Records" which can cover some of the same topics, but don't have the same connotations as "challenges" And thank you so much for the link! I will absolutely use that in my wiki.

You might want to also look at the Delgamuukw ruling with regards to the admissibility of "oral history" in a court case. This case is in relation to First Nation's right in British Columbia that relied on oral history as a record. For your entry, this could open another stream of enquiry in terms of the role of oral histories in both archives and the law.

To follow my last post, here's another reference I came across: Verne Harris and Sello Hatang, "Archives, Identity and Place: A Dialogue on What It (Might) Mean(s) to be an African Archivist", ESARBICA Journal 19 (2000). This might me outside the scope of your wiki, but still might provide some insight regarding Oral Histories.

Hi Alexandra, Looking good so far! Just in case you are in need of references, I came across a couple of articles that might be useful. Rob mentioned the possibility of referencing first nations in other countries. This Laura Millar article, "Touchstones: Considering the Relationship between Memory and Archives", Archivaria 61, p.105-126, references a website that provides information about how The Maori in New Zealand and "the government – have come together to establish specific archival services for the country’s aboriginal people, addressing specific Maori concerns such as language and tra- ditions, genealogy, and land rights"(Millar, p.124). The site that Millar references is defunct, but try this one: http://archives.govt.nz/about/te-pae-whakawairua. There is also some interesting stuff about oral history in the article too.

Jess

Hey Alexandra! You might consider a brief discussion on first nations in other countries as well. Namely the United States of course!

Good luck!

-Robert

Helloooo Alexandra!

I had a question about the distinction you make in the first section of your wiki: "First Nations Archives may refer to cultural institutions that contain records about First Nations or Aboriginal peoples. The term can also mean the body of recorded information created by a group or community of First Nations peoples."

Will you be continuing this distinction throughout the wiki, or will you be approaching both First Nations Archives and Archives with First Nations-holdings as a single entity throughout? Just curious if you're going to keep them separate and address each in the sections, because they may have certain characteristics that are unique to each of them and can't be generalized? Or it may be that because your focus is on the records themselves, therefore they can be approached as the same entity!

Just some random thoughts!

Hey Alexandra, Just a quick note about wiki categories. I think we're supposed to have ARST, ARST 573, and Archival Studies categories linked to our articles. You can do this by copying and pasting the following to the end of your article:

Perfect! Thanks Chelsea!

Added them.

Great suggestion Chelsea, I am going to add that to mine as well.

Hi, Alexandra.

This is a great start so far, and I am very intrigued to read more as we go along. I wanted to share an ahhh-mazing dissertation I found last year while working on our arrangement and description paper:

• Rydz, Michelle. “Participatory Archiving: Exploring a Collaborative Approach to Aboriginal Societal Provenance.” University of Manitoba (Canada), 2010.

You may consider including something about participatory archiving with First Nations communities to ensure that the systems of knowledge for those communities are incorporated into the arrangement, description, etc. This is sort of related to the issue which you raise of treating First Nations cultures as contemporary and not static or a thing of the past. Rydz also does a survey of archivists working with First Nations materials to find out how many are from First Nations communities themselves (not many), and this might be an interesting thing to explore, too.

I hope this is helpful!

Thanks Chelsea! It's a good thing I really really like reading :) Thank you for the reference; I didn't have much literature for this topic, so this is perfect. I'll have to get back to you on the issues you raise after I've taken a look at it. This is most definitely helpful!

Hi Alexandra,

If you're looking for more sources you might want to approach members of SLAIS’ First Nations Interest Group or professor Lisa Nathan who runs the First Nations Concentration program. You might also want to look at the Squamish Lil'wat cultural centre ( http://slcc.ca/ ) located up in Whistler.

Hi Alexandra, I'm looking forward to reading the "Truth and Reconciliation" section. Mariko suggested (based on the class visit with Blair and Melanie at the Anglican and United archives) that I include some information about the involvement of religious archives in this issue. Conflict, if any, around the types of archives that are holding records related to truth and reconciliation might be something for both of us to look into to fill out our respective wikis. If I find any resources I will pass them along to you. I an also wondering if the Museum of Anthropology and their Archives could be discussed as an example of a museum that has taken a more contemporary approach to the representation of First Nations cultures. See you at the LAC :)

Hey Alexandra, I think it would be a good idea to format your sections a bit differently, instead of having "First Nations Archives" as section 1, perhaps delete that and have the brief introduction statement fall directly underneath your header, and before the table of contents, then History, Challenges...etc. etc. would each be a section of their own instead of a sub-section!

Thanks Taryn! Yes, that totally makes sense and makes the page look better, too. I'll try to make that change this afternoon... If I can't figure it out, you'll be hearing from me for directions on how to format it :)

Hey Alexandra, Just a suggestion: you might want to clarify the distinction between "First Nations" and "Aboriginal" (aboriginal=First Nations, Inuit, and Metis) :)

Great point! Thanks, I'll fit that in there :)