Society of American Archivists (SAA) Receives Mellon Foundation Grant to Support Pilot Program for Indigenizing Archival Practices

From a SAA Announcement:

The Society of American Archivists (SAA) Foundation has received a $98,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to develop a yearlong pilot program that centers Indigenous needs and perspectives in the archives profession.

The new program is aimed at Tribal archivists, Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, museum professionals, and leaders and focuses on reframing Western-created “best practices” in archives and recentering Indigenous values and traditional stewardship practices. This program will also be invaluable to non-Tribal colleagues and leadership working in colonial institutions, who will benefit from community-based approaches to responsible stewardship. The goal is for the program to fulfill the need for training for archivists working in Tribal libraries, archives, museums, and cultural organizations who often lack access to expensive graduate and professional training.

This grant funding will allow for piloting core content for this initiative. An in-person workshop held at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the fall of 2023 will kick off the program, and lead to the development of a series of free, educational webinars. These will be made available for free on the SAA NAAS website and on the Sustainable Heritage Network.

This pilot project will inform the development of a formalized certificate program, Indigenizing Archival Practices (IAP). The development process will be conducted by SAA in collaboration with SAA’s Native American Archives Section (NAAS) and the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM).

Source

Filed under: Archives and Special Collections, Associations and Organizations, Funding, Libraries, Management and Leadership, News, Preservation