Community-led archives and participatory archival description initiatives play an important role in accurately reflecting historical events and identities in archival records. These efforts have created space for “representational belonging” (Caswell, Cifor, Ramirez, 2016), ownership of culture, traditions, and knowledge for Indigenous Peoples. This poster, created for non-Indigenous archivists and memory workers, provides examples of important community-led and participatory archival initiatives, and highlights the impact of these practices on Indigenous Peoples. Included are important considerations for archivists, historians, and curators about our approach to memory work and calls to shift the traditionally settler-rooted retelling of history to a more accurate, whole picture. Users of this online poster are encouraged to visit the linked community-led and participatory projects highlighted here as a guide for such work.
Jacqueline Sedore is a language education resource developer and current MLIS student at the University of Alberta residing on the unceded territories of the Mi’kmaq and Wolastoquiyik Peoples in Fredericton, New Brunswick. She is passionate about accessible education and alternative approaches to education and archival work. Having lived in Spanish-speaking Chile for 10 years, Jacqueline draws on her experience abroad to understand and consider diverse approaches to these passions.