Thinking Outside the Box: Indigenous Digital Archives

First semester I spent a significant amount of time thinking and reading about the usefulness of digitization for Indigenous societies as a way to manage historic and cultural records. With an upcoming discussion in my Public History class on First Nations involvement in Canadian Museums, I thought it would be appropriate to share some of my findings...

Indigenous archives have long been associated with colonization as a reflection of the alienation of knowledge, culture and physical property.1 Like museums, libraries and other cultural institutions, archives face spatial as well as cultural constraints in preserving Indigenous cultural materials, but they are also recognized as being powerful places which house valuable information that for Indigenous societies can help them to "reassert their rights and reclaim the past."2 In recent years, archives have joined communities and other cultural institutions to design new digital technologies to improve archives recognizing that the digital environment offers accessibility and platforms for collaboration which can provide a broader perspective of cultural collections. However, digital technologies, like these institutions, pose a new set of concerns for Indigenous groups and those caring for collections. Here I will take a brief look at three factors which should be considered when planning an Indigenous digital archives.

1.) Accessibility: ensuring that digitization is an appropriate way for communities to have access to their records, either through the Internet or shared computers at community centers.

Computer access for Indigenous communities varies across Canada. Statistically it has been looked it in the context of education, so mainly access has been provided to communities for uses in schools and community centers. Due to geography, some reserves, or more rural areas of the north however still have not been provided with Internet access. In these cases, efforts should be made to provide them with computers or digital surrogates. Telecommunications can offer the opportunity to share culture and history. The negative point remains, however, that Indigenous societies run the risk of being exploited if they do not have control over their involvement with technology which could result in further undermining cultural values rather than empowering. 3

2.) Recognizing that there are limitations to digitization which can be carried over from the physical archives, for example the quality of collections documentation.

The process of archives going "digital" has for many analysts been one that involves rethinking the space in which archives will be presented.4 What seems to be the key difference is that the the physical archive is displaced in favor of digitization which appears as a more ideal alternative which can transcend space and time. Everyday new Internet archives are appearing on the World Wide Web. Some believe that it is merely "old wine in new bottles?"5. Others feel that digitization can make information more available and allows for more dynamic interpretations of data than what is possible on paper. Hypertext for example offers what one historian has described as: "a non-linear narrative, a form that, by providing the reader with multiple links, presented choices that involved him or her in the process of interpretation."6 This is arguably more immediate than the interpretive linking that occurs in a physical archives.

Generally speaking though, an Internet archive must be "defined" before it comes into existence.7 Selection in this space has the power to shape historical memory, so understanding history and culture before presenting archival information on the Internet is vital. The example of Maori Land Court records management illustrates this point.8 This involved the digitization of historical materials that were considered tapu (meaning sacred and forbidden), so access should have only been made available to particular groups instead of being posted on the Internet. This further demonstrates that only Indigenous peoples can decide what approach is appropriate for digital media.

Archivists and historians have important roles to play in historical research and archival practices which are both key components in the creation of digital archives. Past systems of records management pose difficulties as seen in the example of maps, which have been described and understood differently throughout history. This is reflected in the ways they have been recorded and categorized in archives or within different archival institutions.9 For Indigenous peoples this could effect the research of land ownership or genealogy for instance. Answers to the questions: Who created the map? When was it created? When was it cataloged? Where/how was it acquired? help to determine the reliability of records. Challenges with archival practices are not limited to understanding old cataloging systems, but can also be seen in conservation issues whereby maps are too fragile to actually digitize due to their natural curvature or poor condition, making them unavailable digitally and thus, left out of the digital historical record. The limitations of this media are due to circumstances that exist within records management and have carried over into the "virtual" world. These examples demonstrate that physical archives and digital archives both offer very different experiences, but they are by no means completely independent from one another.

3.)Acknowledging that artifacts in their physical form have special meaning in society is important because although digitization can offer improvements in caring for cultural collections, it cannot always replace what objects symbolize in their physical form and the feelings they evoke.

Withers and Grout have stated that: "there remains an emotional and aesthetic relationship between the observer and the original object that the digital image-viewer relationship cannot replicate."10 However, it is possible that digitizing records can support the access, loans or repatriation which bring communities closer to cultural materials. The Indigenous Management Project(IMP) based out of the University of Queensland, Australia with the Museum of the American Indian explores this concept by"enable[ing] traditional owners to describe and conceptualize museum context in their own words and from their own perspectives."11 IMP highlights the possibilities of emerging grid technologies which provide a digital infrastructure that supports communication, collaboration and what the project has termed "digital repatriation" programs. Maori for example require strict privacy laws which the IMP project supports. Access can be maintained through tools, which enable traditional owners to define the specific rights requirements associated with digital objects, for example the tribe or gender. This new programming element is an extremely valuable asset for collections management. Also, IMP has proposed through a digital repatriation program to relocation digital versions back to a local repository because although gaining control over materials may be ideal, actually having the resources to physically care for them has posed problems.12

I could go on forever with this discussion - but I won't! From what I have outlined here though, it is possible to see that there are numerous considerations when designing ways to present and preserve history in digital form. There is a lot to be gained particularly from the collaborative possibilities that go along with computing. However, in a world increasingly shaped by non-Indigenous people and driven by differing value systems and forms of knowledge, it is in the best interest of Indigenous societies to control the degree to which they will participate in the digital medium.

For further information I recommend checking out these projects as well as the citations listed below:

Project Naming (2005-current) based out of Library and Archives Canada which involves the identification of photos dating back to the 1800s in Nunavut. Local youth were hired to take laptop computer with these images to visit elders from communities where the images originated. This project also aimed at strengthening the bond between elders and youth while tackling a major issue with digital accessibility.

Ara Irititja (‘stories from a long time ago’) is a community-based initiative in Australia. The software engineer’s instructions demonstrates the complex considerations for developing this archive. They were to create a database that handles different media, incorporates cultural restrictions, and is easy to use for an audience with limited literacy and often, failing eyesight.

1. Evelyn Wareham, "Our Own Identity, Our Own Taonga, Owr Own Self Coming Back': Indigenous Voices in New Zealand Record-Keeping" Archivaria, no. 52 (Fall 2001): 27.
2. Ibid., 26.
3. Cora J. Voyageur, Telecommunications, Technology and Native Americans: Opportunities and Challenges, Journal of Distance Education, (2001) http://cade.athabascau.ca/vol16.1/voyageur.html (accessed Dec. 7, 2007).
4.Bernadine Dodge, "Places Apart: Archives in Dissolving Space and Time,"Archivaria, no. 44 (Fall, 1997, 118-131).
5.Lilly Koltun, "The Promise and Threat of Digital Options in an Archival Age,"Archivaria , no. 47 (Spring, 1999), 117.
6. Stephen Robertson, "Doing History in Hypertext," Journal for the Association of History and Computing, vol VII, no. 2 (Aug. 2004)
http://journals2.iranscience.net:800/mcel.pacificu.edu/mcel.pacificu.edu/JAHC/JAHCVII2/ARTICLES/robertson/robertson.html
(accessed December 4, 2007).
7.Koltum, "The Promise and Threat,"119.
8.Wareham, "Indigenous Voices," 41.
9.Charles W.J. Withers and Andrew Grout, "Creating a Digital Web-based Map Archive," Archivaria, no. 61 (Spring, 2006), 39.
10. Ibid., 45.
11.Jane Hunter, Ronald Schroeter, Beavan Koopman & Michael Henderson. "Using the Semantic Grid to Build Bridges between Museums and indigenous Communities,"
http://metadata.net/filmed/pub/GGF11_SemanticGrid.pdf (accessed Dec. 4, 2007),1.
12.Ibid.

The Modern Museum: Caring for Collections and Cultures

In Museology class last week we discussed the issue of loaning museum objects to indigenous and special interest groups for important occasions, ceremonies or other specific uses. One student in our class questioned this suggesting that there was a risk that just anyone might decide they wanted to borrow museum objects (I think the example given was a classic Rolls Royce of which we would all enjoy taking a spin). Another student focused on the conservation problems, as it goes against what museums have traditionally stood for - collecting and caring for treasured historic materials for the future. I wanted to take the chance to discuss this further, as it is not a question that is only stumping our class, it's part of a much larger discussion on the role of the museum, specifically in the area of collecting.

While working at Puke Ariki caring for their European textile collection, I experienced how sensitive historic objects can be to physical risk. Textiles particularly require special care; cotton gloves are worn to prevent oil from damaging them over a long period, a temperature-controlled environment and handling considerations - often being carried on trays to not break the aging fibers. All this and more is important for the long-term preservation of the object. Museum conservator Miriam Clavir has explained this controversial loan activity as one of the biggest challenges facing conservators because many of them see objects as their "fundamental clients." Also, the idea that conservators see their role as being one that facilitates the long-term preservation of objects for future generations, not necessarily for current-day use.1 I would argue that a move from this direction is inevitable because museums are no longer viewed or exhibiting materials in the same context as they once were - places where history that is "over and done" is maintained. Museums contain materials that are living history; some artifacts are still central points of reference for particular groups of people and desired for usage.

I think the major issue here is that there has to be flexibility within the museum collection policy to make decisions on when this type of loan activity is appropriate. In New Zealand, Maori work much closer than indigenous peoples in Canada, mainly because the Waitangi Treaty has granted Maori ownership rights over their taonga (meaning all material and non-material, heirlooms, significant places and geneology). They are involved in the collections process and making these decisions, seeing it from both a conservation standpoint as well as the present-day needs. If museums deny people the right to objects that originated with them, most importantly the objects lose meaning or connection to their history and secondly, it is more than likely that the objects will be removed. Like the example of New Zealand, museums need to collaborate right from the beginning with indigenous and other groups who are looking to reconnect with their history and culture using objects. It's really just the way of the future and it's how museums do it that counts.

Source:
1. Miriam, Clavir, "Reflections on Changes in Museums and the Conservation of Collections from Indigenous Peoples," Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, vol. 35, no. 2 (Summer, 1996), pp99-107.

Notes on Images:
The image of the wood-carved face was taken while in New Zealand in the city of Wanganui. I can't remember if I took it or my friend Sarah Patterson (if so, thanks Sarah). It was located outside in a public space, I don't know anything about the provenance - but it's quite striking. If anything, for the sake of this discussion, it's an example of a carving that needs some serious conservation treatment or it will be damaged by the weather beyond repair.

The second image is of a Maori cloak. I came across this example on the Hallie Ford Museum website which I hope they won't mind me using. It was woven by Kahutoi Te Kanawa in 1989, an accomplished NZ weaver who has named the cloak Korowai: Nga Taonga Tuku Iho. It toured with the NZ museum exhibition, The Eternal Thread. Cloaks are of great interest to me not only because they require impressive traditional weaving techniques called whatu but like other types of taonga, it is believed that they embody ancestors. So one can see why it would be of interest to wear these as link to the past - we can relate to this connection as like having an ancestor at a wedding, graduation, celebration, etc. If they are restricted to only a museums use, their original purpose is lost.