Rewriting Canada’s memory banks: Archivists ‘decolonize’ collections
Reconciliation is rewriting Canada’s memory banks as archivists across the country work to make their collections more open to and sensitive towards Indigenous people.
Library and Archives Canada is leading the way with a $12-million project to hire Aboriginal archivists to work in First Nations communities and to give more control over materials gathered there to the people who created them.
“Decolonization” is a hot topic among those charged with storing, organizing and making accessible the country’s historical record.
“It’s huge,” said Camille Callison, Indigenous service librarian at the University of Manitoba.