Library and Archives Canada Supports Indigenous Documentary Heritage

The initiatives cover the acquisition, preservation, description and accessibility of Indigenous records and collections, while also supporting greater involvement of Indigenous communities in how their documentary heritage is identified and managed.

Programs include Project Naming, which invites communities to help identify people, places and activities depicted in historical photographs, and the Day Schools Project, which is working to increase access to records relating to Federal Indian Day Schools. LAC’s Listen, Hear Our Voices initiative also provides services and funding to support Indigenous communities in digitising and preserving documentary heritage.

Other work includes the Indigenous Heritage Action Plan, which outlined 28 actions relating to Indigenous rights, cultural and language preservation, and Strategic Pathways for Indigenous Heritages, which establishes long-term principles for LAC's work with Indigenous documentary heritage.

Together, the initiatives demonstrate evolving approaches to the description, preservation and accessibility of archival collections, including greater participation by the communities represented within those records.

Source: Library and Archives Canada, Indigenous documentary heritage initiatives.