University of Maryland Awarded $3.6M Mellon Foundation Grant to Advance Indigenous Archives
From UMD Today:
Indigenous researchers often face significant barriers when seeking records of their communities: outdated catalog systems, inaccessible descriptions and limited access to materials of deep cultural and historical significance. The University of Maryland is taking a groundbreaking step to address these challenges with a new $3.6 million grant from the Mellon Foundation.
The project, led by Diana Marsh, assistant professor in the College of Information, and Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner, assistant professor in the College of Arts and Humanities and director of UMD’s Indigenous Futures Lab, will create systems that make it easier to find and access archival collections related to Indigenous knowledge. Over three years, the team will build tools and standards that respect Indigenous traditions and values, improve how archives are organized and help repair the way information is described.
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A growing movement is transforming archival practices to prioritize Indigenous names, identities and cultural narratives. At the forefront, UMD researchers are collaborating with the Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC) Cooperative, a free online resource hosted at the University of Virginia Libraries that helps users uncover biographical and historical information about individuals, families and organizations connected to primary sources from cultural heritage institutions worldwide. Additionally, the UMD team is partnering with four Tribal/First Nation organizations and an Indigenous advisory board to shape the initiative.
“The team we’ve assembled so far isamazing and comes from such a diversity of backgrounds and training,” Meissner said. “UMD has the potential to be a key hub for Indigenous research, especially on the East Coast. This is a great opportunity for us to establish best practices for archival sovereignty.”
The project builds on foundational progress, including the development of a guide for best practices in describing Indigenous groups and individuals in archival records. It also draws on the efforts of the Indigenous Description Group, a volunteer-based task force within SNAC that focuses on making archival collections more accessible to Indigenous communities, repairing the harm caused by exploitative collection practices and improving descriptions of Indigenous materials across systems.
Ultimately, the team hopes to elevate Indigenous narratives and bridge the gap between scholars and the communities whose histories they study, Meissner said.
“We want this project to demonstrate how Indigenous and non-Native collaborators can work together,” she said. “By doing so, we can reshape archival practices to reflect the needs and aspirations of Indigenous communities striving to reclaim and revitalize their knowledge.”
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About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.